Who’s the Real Animal Here? By Holly Moniz

Who’s the Real Animal Here? By Holly Moniz

A bed hanging on the far wall of a young man’s room, a backlight illuminating the silhouette of a massive insect, a human head peeking through the covers and a mouth speaking to its family while hands press against ears and eyes squint in pain at the “noise” coming out of the young man’s mouth.

At the start of the Lyric Hammersmith-Vesturport production of Metamorphosis, an adaptation of Franz Kafka’s novella, the set and the light design of the stage at The Paramount Theatre in Boston, MA make it simple for the play’s audience to understand protagonist Gregor Samsa’s transformation from human son to strange bug, a tremendous accomplishment considering actor and co-director Gísli Örn Gardarsson’s costume never truly changes his human appearance once throughout the play.

Most crucial to this continuously seeing this transformation is the use of a split stage. The audience views the majority of the set as the cross section of the interior of the Samsa home. However, we are shown Gregor’s bedroom from a bird’s eye view, as though we are looking down on a bug crawling across the floor, a choice Gardarsson’s incredibly athletic and acrobatic performance makes entirely believable.

On the other hand, moments of seamless execution of what I can only assume to be precise direction by David Farr and Gísli Örn Gardarsson unveil the real transformation at the heart of this play: the family’s attitude toward Gregor.

From the moment the play begins, the audience gets the uncomfortable sense that the Samsa family pays close attention to the details as we watch the family’s musically choreographed morning routine. Herman Samsa, Gregor’s father played by actor Ingvar E. Sigurdsson, appears particularly obsessed with the particulars, whether it be the manner in which he closes his newspaper after he finishes reading an article or the way he clicks his heels while in uniform after he is forced to find work when his bug-son is not permitted to venture beyond the boundary of his bedroom.

And although the father’s already stern attitude worsens toward Gregor as the story unfolds, sister Greta’s attitude (played by actress Selma Björnsdóttir) undergoes the most significant change in the play, as marked by the simultaneously beautiful and horrific scene in which Greta beats her brother into submission as the lights in Gregor’s room flash on and off in black and white stripes that mimic prison cell bars. While she had initially been the only family member willing to feed and care for her brother Gregor, her inability to understand him frustrates her to this breaking point, and she, too, treats Gregor as an inferior.

The Lyric Hammersmith-Vesturport adaptation of Metamorphosis revitalizes Kafka’s story and artfully addresses the issues surrounding discrimination and dehumanization around the world in a new, never-before-seen way that will captivate its audience members. But while Gregor may have transformed into a literal bug during the first scene of the play, the piece begs the question: Who is the real animal here?

Music Transforms a Play About a Cockroach Into Something Beautiful by Catie Wildman

Music Transforms a Play About a Cockroach Into Something Beautiful by Catie Wildman

            The play Metamorphosis was codirected by David Faar and Gisliron Gardarsson and was located in the Paramount Theater. The music used provided a rhythm for the play, and amplified emotions portrayed by the actors. This play was about a man, Gregor, who had to support his parents and little sister that he loved dearly, until he turned into a giant cockroach. This transformation wrecked Gregor’s and his family’s lives, who he could no longer support. In the beginning of the play, right after the curtain went up, the actors entered stage and went about the daily lives of their characters. The music playing at this time had a beat that easily could be found, and this beat acted as a playground of sorts for the actors. The actors were able to synchronize their movements to the flow and beat of the music, manipulating their timing to match up with the music. This enforced the organization of the family’s life, and the flow of the music became one with the flow of the play.

            The play Metamorphosis was executed in such a way that the audience could feel the flow and tempo of the play and the emotions being portrayed.  The actors played off the music and interacted with the set in a way that intrigued the audience.  The execution of this play stood out over the plot and added an original feeling to the old tale that is Metamorphosis. 

Metamorphosis by Callie Parsons

Metamorphosis by Callie Parsons

          “He needs more space!” Lucy exclaims as she and her daughter clear every piece of furniture from Gregor’s room. Gregor screams, desperately trying to communicate—but they understand nothing. Gregor can do nothing but watch as his mother and sister remove both his belongings and his humanity. Both terrifying and beautiful, Metamorphosis tells the story of Gregor Samsa, the breadwinning son in an average family, who awakes from a nightmare to find he has been transformed into a giant insect. Diverging from the typical monster movie transformation plot, Gregor’s family makes no effort to discover the reason for his peculiar situation. Gregor’s parents insist on keeping him locked in his room while they pretend he no longer exists. Though for a short while his sister, Greta, attempts to create peace between Gregor and their parents, it is only a matter of time before she, too, finds it impossible to live with a giant bug.

               Metamorphosis shines a harshly realistic light on human nature and our fear of the unknown. I found it hard to watch at times—at first disgusted with the family’s treatment of Gregor, then terrified of how similarly I might react in their situation. Directors David Farr and Gisli Orn Gardarsson have adapted this Kafka fable into a breathtaking piece of artwork. Aside from the ominous and stunning soundtrack composed by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, the curious set designed by Borkur Jonsson is truly exceptional. The split-level set combines the family’s ordinary dining room below with Gregor’s upright, bird’s eye view bedroom above. In an incredible feat of agility, Gardarsson—who also plays Gregor—scales the walls and truly creates the eerie feeling of a giant insect in a small room. As the play progresses, the set allows the audience to see the Samsa family attempting to carry on with their ordinary lives, while also seeing Gregor neglected and abused. Filled with incredible attention to detail, Metamorphosis tells a thought-provoking, beautiful, and tragic story of a boy who awoke from a bad dream into something even worse.