The play begins with the sound of the violin - a reference perhaps to Gregor’s one desire - and the arrival of the four main characters onto the stage. Upon arrival, each of the characters mimes a series of actions; through these movements the audience is invited to determine who is which member of the Samsa family.
Once on stage, the characters visualize Kafka’s words, through expressive movements of their bodies, innovative use of stools, lighting and, most effectively, their voices. Each takes a line or two and emphasises aspects of the text, creating crushing crescendos as they beg Gregor for more money, until the weight on his back becomes palpable.
In this minimalist stage interpretation of Kafka, lighting becomes the main extravagance and is used to unite or divide the cast, depending on its direction and force of projection.
No clumsy beetle costume here: Patrick Netherton plays an avidly believable beetle, through the scrambling on the woods, to the inhumane sounds uttered from his lips as apples are thrown his way. His sense of discomfort filled the theatre, a feeling heightened by the accompanying frenzied shouting of his mother, father and sister as they squabbled over money, food and that thing that was once their brother.
The cast are delightful, at equal measure comic, compassionate and bile-inducing; the attitude of the father is particularly well visualized as he changes from an old man, back into the head of the household. Alys Denby gives a strong performance as the sister who comes out of the shadow of her brother, to become simultaneously his chief carer and despiser. She brings out her character’s change by altering the tone of voice Greta uses to address her parents and the beetle/Gregor.
The use of one actress to portray the three lodgers was interesting, and it worked. Through the use of ‘we’, Emma Stephany managed to conjure an image of these three old sticklers and followers to match.
This play is a wonderful interpretation and the viewer is made to feel the itch of Gregor that is partly his frustration, but ultimately his loyalty towards his family.
The run finishes at the end of the week and comes fully recommended; it’s a great adaptation and one that strengthens the themes and motifs that began in a short story about a man who turned into a beetle.
Once on stage, the characters visualize Kafka’s words, through expressive movements of their bodies, innovative use of stools, lighting and, most effectively, their voices. Each takes a line or two and emphasises aspects of the text, creating crushing crescendos as they beg Gregor for more money, until the weight on his back becomes palpable.
In this minimalist stage interpretation of Kafka, lighting becomes the main extravagance and is used to unite or divide the cast, depending on its direction and force of projection.
No clumsy beetle costume here: Patrick Netherton plays an avidly believable beetle, through the scrambling on the woods, to the inhumane sounds uttered from his lips as apples are thrown his way. His sense of discomfort filled the theatre, a feeling heightened by the accompanying frenzied shouting of his mother, father and sister as they squabbled over money, food and that thing that was once their brother.
The cast are delightful, at equal measure comic, compassionate and bile-inducing; the attitude of the father is particularly well visualized as he changes from an old man, back into the head of the household. Alys Denby gives a strong performance as the sister who comes out of the shadow of her brother, to become simultaneously his chief carer and despiser. She brings out her character’s change by altering the tone of voice Greta uses to address her parents and the beetle/Gregor.
The use of one actress to portray the three lodgers was interesting, and it worked. Through the use of ‘we’, Emma Stephany managed to conjure an image of these three old sticklers and followers to match.
This play is a wonderful interpretation and the viewer is made to feel the itch of Gregor that is partly his frustration, but ultimately his loyalty towards his family.
The run finishes at the end of the week and comes fully recommended; it’s a great adaptation and one that strengthens the themes and motifs that began in a short story about a man who turned into a beetle.