Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

 “When it became clear in my organism that writing was the most productive direction for my being to take, everything rushed in that direction and left empty all those abilities which were directed toward the joys of sex, eating, drinking, philosophical reflection and above all music.”

Franz Kafka (diary excerpt, dated January 3, 1912)

Talented and refreshing, Drama of Works engages audiences with their latest piece, “puppet KafKa”, now playing at the HERE Arts Center. A Brooklyn-based collective of artists headed by Director Gretchen Van Lente, Drama of Works (DOW) aspires to be one of the city’s leaders in cutting-edge stage performance. Coming up on ten years of experience in this market and with innovative material such as “puppet KafKa” as part of their collection, I feel DOW might just be off to a good start.

Based on the writings of Franz Kafka, “puppet KafKa”, weaves materials from “The Metamorphosis”, “The Trial”, and Kafka’s own journal entries into an 80 minute semi-biographical stage performance. Opening on Kafka’s earlier years, we learn about the relationship between him and his father, at one point witnessing the author’s own transmutation into something sub-human. Portrayed by the letters ‘k’ and ‘K’ –engineered by Jason Howard and John Ardolino– the audience begins to understand how Hermann Kafka dominated his son, and how ‘small’ Franz felt as a result.

Segueing from Franz Kafka’s fictionalized alphabetical transformation into his work, “The Metamorphosis”, an endearing bug-like, Gregor Samsa (Scott Weber), interacts with his fellow performers much as it is played out in Kafka’s novella of the same name. At this point the audience is now forced to obey the first rule of law of theatre- suspension of disbelief. While we have already been asked to 'buy into' the performance of a puppet typing his correspondence to a colleague, followed immediately afterwards by letters from the alphabet having a dialogue with one another as father and son, these vignettes are only the beginning of how our collective imaginations will be stretched. Continuing on, we witness a wicker basket with added wire and feathers move about the stage –a wicker basket, portraying a bug who was recently transformed from a man– interacting with other live, "non-puppet", actors, representing members of this man-bug's family. In writing, this sounds absurd; in the hands of DOW, it’s something quite magical.

Ordinary items are now extraordinary: an old mop becomes a charwoman with her own personality and character; a suit becomes a confusing and terrifying investigator, and reading lamps become Gestapo members. It is still our choice as the audience to believe or disbelieve in what’s presented on stage, though with skilled and talented company members, we are pulled in to the puppets world and are thrilled to discover "What happens next“".

Complemented by light, sound, props, and an incredibly versatile set/performance space, Drama of Works delivers a solid performance that is helping to bring about a new period of renaissance in both puppetry and stage performance. Not as prominent, though equally important, compliments must also be given B. Walker Sampson, Miroslav Trejtnar, Pete Dimas, for their work in playwrighting, marionettes, and video (respectively). Without collaboration between each member in this type of ensemble, performances like “puppet KafKa” would never come to light.

Supported in part by subsidies from the HERE Arts organization, the Henson Foundation, and the Nea/Chashama Rehearsal Development grant, “puppet Kafka” continues to play at HERE through Sunday, May 10th.