Adapted from Franz Kafka’s bizarrely comic tale about alienation, Canberra’s The Street Theatre will present Steven Berkoff’s stage play, Metamorphosis for a limited season from 17 August 2019.
Directed by Adam Broinowski with an ensemble of four actors, the story of a young man’s loss of humanity and the impact on him and his family unfolds.
Gregor Samsa is a young man with a bright future. He has served as a soldier, he works hard and is unfalteringly polite. He plans to support his sister’s violin education and keeps his mother and father in the comfort they have become accustomed to in their retirement. Until one day, Gregor oversleeps his morning alarm and discovers he has become a gigantic insect. Feelings of revulsion turn to resentment with horrifying results.
“We’re creating three worlds: the family of the everyday world, Gregor’s world symbolised by a cage, and the world of emotions, dreams and subconscious in-between them,” says Adam Broinowski. “With many people from diverse contexts and backgrounds who experience marginalisation, isolation, the abjection of being stigmatised and voiceless, this is an important theatre work that speaks to Australian audiences now.”
Metamorphosis features Dylan Van Den Berg as Gregor Samsa, Christopher Samuel Carroll and Ruth Pieloor as parents Mr S and Mrs S, and introduces Stefanie Lekkas as sister Greta in her debut on The Street Theatre stage.
The Metamorphosis was written in 1912 in German with Kafka using the word Ungeziefer translating to vermin, or more literally, an inedible/unclean creature. The enigmatic novella, a literary classic that continues to be in the top 10 novellas of all time, has been the subject of much interpretation and speculation over the years. It provided a young Berkoff in 1969 with the opportunity to give form and shape to Kafka’s bizarre vision with Gregor becoming more real and tragic.
Theatre director Adam Broinowski continues his work on adaptations of classic writing, bringing his trademark stylisation to this live dissection of outsiders and ’the pack’ with a creative team including award-winning designer Imogen Keen, Andrew Meadows (lighting) and Kimmo Vennonen (sound). Design elements are informed by a sense of creative freedom as audiences follow the evolution and ultimate release of Gregor. Expect a darkly funny and deeply disturbing modern masterpiece.
Metamorphosis
The Street Theatre, 15 Childers Street, Canberra City West
Season: 17 – 31 August 2019
Information and Bookings: www.thestreet.org.au
Image: Christopher Samuel Carroll, Stefanie Lekkas, Ruth Pieloor and Dylan Van Den Berg star in Metamorphosis – photo by Shelly Higgs