No Bugs in this 'Metamorphosis'

I awoke today to find I'd turned into an enormous insect. Sorry, wrong blog.

 

The Dublin Fringe Theatre Festival is upon us. Janet's featuring ina bold experiment to stage three plays with three directors, but featuring the one cast and crew. The three plays include an early work by Chekhov, 'Platonev'; a black farce with more than a hint of Hitchcock's 'Rope' called, 'Mr Kolpert'; and 'Metamorphosis', an adaptation of Kafka's classic story by Stephen Berkoff. Previews for all three are currently on, and last night (after a better than expected meal in Tante Zoe's), I took myself along to 'Metamorphosis'.

 

The venue, Smock Alley Studio, is also the former church where I was christened. I must confess, nostalgic though this made me, I couldn't say the place had changed much, given that I couldn't remember how it once was to begin with. Certainly the basement, with its crumbling brick walls, suited the play well. The sparse design (stools and subdued lighting) contributed to the despair that underlies Gregor's dilemma.

 

For those of you who don't know (come on!), Gregor Samsa, industrious breadwinner for his family, awakes one morning to find he has become a giant dung beetle. These things happen, particularly in my home town, but it causes no end of 'to-do' for his father, mother and sister. How they deal with this inconvenience lays bare the family dynamics, and selfish needs, that really drive each character.

 

The cast are excellent. The lead in particular, all contorted limbs and stuttering spits, conveys poor Gregor's bewildered pain in a wonderful display of physical acting. To single any one actor out gives the wrong impression though, and each gives a tremendously convincing performance. Physicality is required by all, and the work of the movement director shines through.

 

Kudos too must go to director, David Horan, who shines a light on many facets of the story, not usually obvious. For one, the concept of a family living with a disabled member was particularly clear to me. The pain of losing one's autonomy is clear not just in Gregor's predicament, but also in his father's, while the effect of his growing dependence becomes more insidious. Conversely as the rest of the family are forced to support themselves they become increasingly more assertive, and distant from their son. The complex interplay of dependence and autonomy is a fascinating theme throughout.

 

The performance last night was a preview, but to my eyes it worked as smoothly as clockwork. It bodes well for its festival run next week, and if you get the chance it's very much worth catching.