KAFKA PARABLES
Columbia University
New York, 2009
Kafka’s stories come to us in fragments and shards. If the pieces are parabolic, they are mutations of this literary form. They function allegorically, but meanings remain elusive.
Max Brod wrote that no one was more conscious of God’s distance. This skeptic mysticism is evident in Kafka’s characters, whose transcendent aspirations seem destined to go unfulfilled. They search, construct, self-martyr and are martyred. When awakening seems possible, the machines of mankind suddenly arrive and bring nightmare into reality.
This was not an attempt to dramatize Kafka’s literature. It was a glimpse of his searches, his saints, and his terrors, which are ours as well.
Inspired by Franz Kafka
Concept/Director | Jonathan Vandenberg
Scenic | Scott Dougan
Costumes | Katherine O'Neill
Lighting | Simon Cleveland
Dramaturg | Erik Grathwohl
Performers | Michael Abourizk, Alla Bronskaya, Timothy Clark, Alexandra Cohen-Spiegler, Megan Cooper, Michael Markham, Chester Poon, Adam Roper, Douglas Stone
Columbia University
New York, 2009
Kafka’s stories come to us in fragments and shards. If the pieces are parabolic, they are mutations of this literary form. They function allegorically, but meanings remain elusive.
Max Brod wrote that no one was more conscious of God’s distance. This skeptic mysticism is evident in Kafka’s characters, whose transcendent aspirations seem destined to go unfulfilled. They search, construct, self-martyr and are martyred. When awakening seems possible, the machines of mankind suddenly arrive and bring nightmare into reality.
This was not an attempt to dramatize Kafka’s literature. It was a glimpse of his searches, his saints, and his terrors, which are ours as well.
Inspired by Franz Kafka
Concept/Director | Jonathan Vandenberg
Scenic | Scott Dougan
Costumes | Katherine O'Neill
Lighting | Simon Cleveland
Dramaturg | Erik Grathwohl
Performers | Michael Abourizk, Alla Bronskaya, Timothy Clark, Alexandra Cohen-Spiegler, Megan Cooper, Michael Markham, Chester Poon, Adam Roper, Douglas Stone
