Kafka On the Shore at Steppenwolf Transfixes Audience

Steppenwolf Launches into its Exploration of the Imagination with

Kafka On The Shore

 

Kafka on the Shore at Steppenwolf theatre is Frank Galati's latest bold theatrical undertaking that exposes the audience to an incredibly thought-provoking work that is both disconnected and connected at the same time.

Haruki Murakami, author of Kafka has intertwined two story lines in this work, one involving a fifteen year old boy named Kafka who journeys to find his mother and sister whom he doesn't remember, with the story of an elderly man, Nakata, who has been a victim of a military attack that has left him without his complete mental capacities and an unusual ability to speak with cats.

Both men travel in search of something that they are missing in their lives. Kafka searches for the pieces of his lost family (his mother and sister), while Nakata searches for lost cats that have disappeared from their owners. It is this common point, to find what has been lost, that connects these two men's stories.

We see through a convergence of moments in both men's lives that they are somehow connected by the circumstances of their existences, even though they never meet. Both men share the death of an adversary:Kafka's father becomes victim to his young son, and an evil avatar portrayed as Johnny Walker is stopped by Nakata when he threatens to continue destroying the cats he has captured for torturous purposes.

 Ensemble member Francis Guinan (Johnnie Walker) and David Rhee (Nakata) in Kafka on the Shore

As a viewer, it is often easy to get caught in the immediate story line and actions on stage, without stepping back to see what bigger picture may be coming into focus. There is a sense of a mystery or a puzzle being revealed, and yet it isn't easily discernible. One may think, what does one story have to do with the other? Is there a connection? The answer is undoubtably, yes.

There are subtle references throughout Kafka to ancient Greek mythologies, Japanese culture, pop culture, religion, and of family dynamics that underline the odysseys that both men are on. They are from different worlds, different realities, which bleed into each other as the past and present layer upon each other.

 Christopher Larkin (Kafka) and Lisa Tejero (Miss Saeki) in Kafka on the Shore based on the book by Haruki Murakami, adapted and directed by ensemble member Frank Galati. 

The sound design by Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman punctuates the performance in a powerful way. And the set design by James Schuette is at once simple and complex, creating beautiful transitions from one scene to the next. James F. Ingalls does a marvelous job of creating mood and nuance with his incredible lighting design.

There is not a weak performance to be found among the actors who grace the stage of Kafka. A round of applause to Christopher Larkin (Kafka), David Rhee (Nakata), Lisa Tejero (Ms. Saeki), Andrew Pang (Otsuka), Jon Michael Hill (Crow), Aiko Nakasone (Sakura), Gerson Dancanay (Oshima), Many Anne de la Cruz (Mimi), Francis Guinan (Johnny Walker), and Christine Bunuan (Setsuko).

 

Christopher Larkin (Kafka) and the cast of Kafka on the Shore  

Steppenwolf Theatre has proven its leadership in the theater community not only in Chicago but also on Broadway. With still another incredible production such as Kafka on the Shore under its belt, Steppenwolf Theatre, and by extention Chicago theatre, is once again taking a step forward with new innovative productions, while it seems more and more cities are clinging to the idea of producing revivals.

Kafka on the Shore runs from Sept 27th-November 16th. For more information visit the Steppenwolf website at www.steppenwolf.org.

On the Cover:

Ensemble member Jon Michael Hill (Crow) and Christopher Larkin (Kafka) in Kafka on the Shore based on the book by Haruki Murakami, adapted and directed by ensemble member Frank Galati. 

Photos By Michael Brosilow

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