Q&A: EDINBURGH 2024: Matt Chiorini on KAFKA'S METAMORPHOSIS: THE MUSICAL! WITH PUPPETS!

BWW caught up with Matt Chiorini on bringing Kafka's Metamorphosis: The Musical! With Puppets!  to the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

How did you first get involved in the world of theatre?

As a wee lad in the Church Christmas Paegent, I played Caesar Augustus reading a proclamation.  I wore a bathrobe and looked sternly at a scroll.  It's all been downhill since.

Can you tell us about your show, Kafka's Metamorphosis: The Musical! With Puppets!?

We've combined Kafka's most famous novella with some of his other works and a letter Franz wrote to his father to create a play within a musical within a play that takes audiences on a tour through one of the most unique minds of the 20th century.  Plus, there are puppets!

What made you want to take a story like The Metamorphosis and turn it into not only a musical but a musical with puppets?

To us, the genius of Kafka's work is its tone - you're able to get fully immersed in his stories while also holding back some of your suspension of disbelief, as an audience does in a musical or a puppet show.  We wanted to create a theatrical event that told a story but also recreated the experience of reading Kafka - is this real? Is it fantasy? Should I be laughing at this? Is there something wrong with me, or is there just something wrong with Franz?  Plus, we thought the idea was too absurd not to attempt, and we thought it would be a fun title to put on a poster!

What was the creative process like for Kafka's Metamorphosis: The Musical! With Puppets!?

We've been working on different versions of this show since 2017.  It's performed on stages at festivals in Montreal, New York and Washington D.C. and had an Original Cast Recording produced by Broadway Records.  The last few years have really seen it take flight with Emmy-Award-winning director Alan Muraoka (from American television's long-running Sesame Street) coming onboard to reimagine and shape the production into this version we're bringing to Fringe.   

What is it like bringing Kafka's Metamorphosis: The Musical! With Puppets! to the Edinburgh Fringe from North America?

We couldn't be more excited to present our longtime labour of love on the world's biggest stage at Edinburgh Fringe, especially in 2024 - the 100th anniversary of Kafka's death. It's a big logistical operation, but every bill, email, or hurdle has all been worth it.

What do you think it is about Kafka’s work that has kept his name in popular culture a century after his death?

Before all of the horrors and absurdities of the 20th century, there was an insurance clerk who just felt something was a little askew.  He was born into the wrong body in the wrong family in the wrong city at the wrong time, but something about his antenna was just tuned to a different frequency and he was able to sense (and then write down!) a worldview that was alien in his time but has become completely recognizable in ours.  One of the lyrics in our show sums it up well - “Before the world got Kafkaesque, a little man scribbled at a little desk”

What do you hope audiences take away from Kafka's Metamorphosis: The Musical! With Puppets!?

People who are familiar with Kafka are going to have an unforgettable ride and a fresh, modern perspective on his life and works.  People less familiar with Kafka (or totally unfamiliar) are going to be introduced to one of the most unique, fascinating, confounding, and labyrinthine minds of the 20th century who had a better understanding of our world 100 years ago than we do today. 

How would you describe Kafka's Metamorphosis: The Musical! With Puppets! in one word?

Kafka contains multitudes, so too must this answer - "Strange/silly/smart/surreal"

Kafka's Metamorphosis: The Musical! With Puppets!  runs from 31 July to 26 August (no performance on 13 August) at Pleasance Dome - Ace Dome at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Photo Credit: Matthew Turner

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