Review: EDINBURGH 2024: KAFKA'S METAMORPHOSIS: THE MUSICAL! WITH PUPPETS!, Pleasance Dome

“As though a giant hand were dictating my every action”

Written by Matt Chiorini and Travis Newton, Kafka's Metamorphosis: The Musical! With Puppets! is pretty much what is written on the tin - an adaptation of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis told using songs and puppets. Walking into the theatre, audience members are greeted by a performer sitting on stage, facing away from them towards artwork of an insect. Fun facts about The Metamorphosis and Kafka play in the background. 

Blake DuBois stars as both the author himself and the main character of the Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa, who “awoke one morning from uneasy dreams” and “found himself transformed in his bed into an enormous insect” (the iconic opening line of the work). He wears a puppet of Kafka on his hand who, at times, has a mind of his own, breaking the fourth wall and speaking with the audience. DuBois is joined by Morgan Smith, Kaia Fitzgerald and Luis Rivera as the other members of the Samsa family, who are happy to exist in their own world without the existential dread of Gregor haunting them. 

The puppets, designed by Spencer Lott, range from simple to quite complex, but each fulfils their purpose, making for some fun visuals throughout the show. I particularly loved the puppets used to represent the insect that Gregor transforms into, especially those that used shadows on a sheet behind the performers to emphasise the unsettling nature of the transformation. Some of the more minor characters are made out of household objects like brooms and plungers, including a lodger interested in moving into the Samsa household. 

Of course, one cannot discuss a musical without discussing its songs. Most of them are not very memorable, though they are enjoyable to listen to. I particularly loved the opening number that throws us immediately into the sad life of Franz Kafka through a foot-stomping, book-slapping upbeat song. Many of the songs take advantage of Kaia Fitzgerald’s stellar riffing abilities, though that is not to say the other cast members do not have great voices - they all work together with some fantastic harmonies and individual solos. Unfortunately, the music does overpower the vocals at times, making it difficult to decipher some of the song’s lyrics. 

One of the most heartbreaking aspects of the show is just how much it illustrates the links between Franz and Gregor, with Franz finding himself unable to speak to his father out of fear and Gregor literally unable to speak the language of those around him, expressing his thoughts and his family only hearing strange noises. We are able to learn more about Kafka himself through a published letter to his father that he never sent, which is seamlessly woven in with the tale of The Metamorphosis - at times, it is difficult to tell when it is the Kafkas or the Samsas, which works with the show as a whole. 

But, even with all of the existential dread one might expect from a Kafka-based work, including an incredibly Kafkaesque nightmare sequence, there are some hilarious moments that break through the darkness of the tale. A particular highlight is one in which Franz is thrown into a game show called “Who Wants to be A Kafka Scholar?” to which he responds, as one might do if they were trapped in a game show about them, “What the f*ck is this?” There is also a bit about “The Comedy of Franz Kafka,” which ends up being super depressing jokes, so sad that Franz himself declares, “When I die, please bury these jokes.”

Ultimately, Kafka's Metamorphosis: The Musical! With Puppets! is a surprisingly deep yet still fun musical adaptation of not only Kafka’s most famous work but the life of the author himself, tying the two together in a transformation not unlike the one Gregor Samsa goes through. 

Kafka's Metamorphosis: The Musical! With Puppets! ran until 26 August at Pleasance Dome - Ace Dome.

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