Kafka's Metamorphosis at the (Brooklyn Academy of Music) BAM Harvey

A young man falls ill with a debilitating illness. Unaware of the gravity of his
situation he struggles to, but can no longer work. He loses his job and soon lo
ses the respect of the family with whom he shares a home. This is Kafka's Metam
orphosis, a chilling piece of theatre, which speaks to us from the onset of a ch
illing time. Published in 1915, and as witnessed by the text, written before the
onset of the first World War.
Metamorphosis, performed December 1 - 5th at the (Brooklyn Academy of Music) BAM
Harvey is an ingenious adaptation of the work by David Farr and Gisli Orn Garda
rsson for the Vesturport Theatre of Iceland. In this production Mr. Gardarsson's
role as Gregor Samsa, the unfortunate soul who's fate it is to transform overni
ght into a large insect, is riveting. Mr. Gardarsson a trained Olympic gymnast h
angs from the fixtures of a distorted room, one turned on its side, climbing the
walls, or hiding under the bed. Gregor the elder son of this Czec household, is
attended to in his affliction for a time, by his sister Greta, who's violin pl
aying he often requests, but no longer receives. At one point Greta makes clear
that because Gregor role as bread winner for the family is no longer tenable, he
can not expect his privileges as a family member to continue. Soon even the scr
aps of food she once offered him are denied, his room is stripped bare of the fi
xtures of a normal life by his mother, and he is brutally attacked by his father
. Soon he is left to die in the darkness of his ravaged room. Kafka's play is a
world stripped of human caring, a time when love no longer plays a role. The gra
ve outline of this distorted world is characterized in Gregor's own distorted re
ality, and in the foreshadowing statements that arise in the text. For example a
statement by a visitor to the household, Herr Fischer that soon "the vermin of
society will be removed" harkens the rise of Totalitarian terror. Kafka draws th
e thin line that separates us from total isolation, and those we love. It is als
o the line that defines the limits of sanity and reason. In a time when many are
in fear of losing their jobs and with that their roles in a society, this produ
ction is a chilling check on reality.
The brilliant performances by Mr. Gardarsson, Nina Dogg Filippusdottir who plays
Greta, Ingvar E. Sigurdsson who plays the father Hermann Samsa, Kelly Hunter pl
aying his mother Lucy, and Jonathan McGuinness who stars in two visiting roles,
are accompanied by the haunting music of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis both veteran
s of the band the Bad Seeds.