Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
Contents
1. Franz Kafka
2
2. The Works of Franz Kafka
7
3. Synopsis
9
4. Cast and Creative Team
11
5. A Report to an Academy
12
6. Kafkaesque
13
7. The German-speaking, Czech-born Jew
15
8. Anthropomorphism
17
9. Interview with Walter Meierjohann, Director
19
10. Interview with Colin Teevan, Adaptor
23
11. Interview with Kathryn Hunter, Actor
25
12. Interview with Ilan Reichel, Movement Director
27
13. Rehearsal Diary by Mia Theil Have, Assistant Director
29
14. Bibliography
40
If you have any questions or comments about this Resource Pack please contact us:
The Young Vic, 66 The Cut, London, SE1 8LZ
T: 020 7922 2800 F: 020 7922 2802 e: info@youngvic.org
Compiled by: Adam Penford
Young Vic 2009
First performed at the Young Vic on Saturday 14th March 2009
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
1. FRANZ KAFKA
Franz Kafka was born in Prague in 1883. He began writing as a child and continued until his death in 1924.
Writing as an intellectual and cathartic exercise, Kafka was uninterested in critical or public acclaim and
little of his work was published during his lifetime. The few short stories which were printed by publishers
specialising in avant garde work were well-received, but failed to reach a wider audience. After his death
however, Kafka became one of the most acclaimed writers of modern literature - more books have been
written about his life and work than any other writer with the exception of Shakespeare.
Franz Kafka
His middle-class Jewish parents, Hermann Kafka and Julie née Lowy, ran a fancy goods and accessories
shop just outside Europe’s oldest ghetto1, Josefov in Prague. They had six children: two boys (who died
before the author was seven) and three girls. Kafka was the oldest. He was an emotionally-troubled child,
blaming his mother’s absence (the children were predominantly brought up by household staff whilst their
parents worked) and his father’s overbearing and bullying personality which seemed to be particularly
1
An area of a city where members of a minority group live, usually through socio-political pressure.
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
directed to his eldest son. In order to comprehend his work it is vital to understand Kafka’s relationship
with his father as it permeates all his writing.
Hermann Kafka was born into poverty in a small village and worked as a travelling salesman before
establishing his own business in Prague; he worked incredibly long hours and was proud to employ fifteen
staff. His son described him as “a true Kafka in strength, health, appetite, loudness of voice, eloquence,
self-satisfaction, world dominance, endurance [and] presence of mind.” In turn, Kafka Senior was
disappointed that his son was a Schlemiel [a ‘good-for-nothing’] and constantly told him so. Kafka’s
earliest stories explored this father-son dynamic. In The Judgment a young man looks after his ailing
widower father who treats him with distain. He tells the old man he is engaged to be married and his father,
feeling abandoned, loses his temper, telling his son that he could jump in the river for all he cares. The
story ends with the son committing suicide. However, it is his now infamous Letter to His Father which
provides the greatest insight into the affect of this relationship upon the young writer. Written in 1919, the
fifty-page document begins “You asked me lately why I’m afraid of you”; the following answer is not only
a list of accusations against his father but also reveals the extent of Kafka’s self-loathing. The diaries of his
youth contain imaginative and complex methods of dying intermingled with reports of illnesses (Kafka
was a lifelong hypochondriac). He constantly complained about his body, resenting his weak-chest,
inverted knees and skinniness; again, an obsession which stayed with him through adulthood.
After studying at the local boys’ elementary school, Kafka gained a place at the prestigious Altstadter
Deutsches Gymnasium where he learnt the classics, passing his exams in 1901. He then went to the
Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague to read chemistry, but switched courses after two weeks and
graduated in 1906 with a degree in law. After completing a compulsory year as a law clerk, he got a job at
an Italian insurance firm. However the role required him to work night shifts and, after a year of
complaining he had no time to write, Kafka moved to the government institute for Worker’s Accident
Insurance. Although he often bemoaned the bureaucratic nature of his job, it is clear that the role gave
Kafka a sense of worth. He felt some pride in contributing to the reduction of industrial accidents which
had formally been prolific, and having composed the institute’s annual report, was so pleased with the
results that he distributed copies to his friends.
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
Simultaneously, he established with his life-long university friend, Max Brod, Der enge Prager Kreis [the
close Prague circle], who were a group of German-Jewish writers. Brod introduced Kafka to Felice Bauer
in 1912 with whom he had a five year relationship. Kafka’s diaries of the period reveal that Bauer’s arrival
coincided with Kafka’s decision that marriage was the only way to escape his Father. The fact that she
lived in Berlin meant that he could also keep a certain amount of distance between them. The body of
letters he penned to her is both extensive in volume and remarkable in content. However, the wary and
self-destructive author ensured that they met rarely and once they were betrothed (which actually happened
twice) he began to feel claustrophobic:
‘“No, leave me alone! No, leave me alone,” I shouted endlessly all along the streets, while again
and again she grabbed at me, again and again the siren’s clawed hands struck sideways or over my
shoulders at my breast.’
In 1917 (the year he wrote the short story A Report to an Academy that Kafka’s Monkey is adapted from)
he contracted tuberculosis, an illness that reoccurred throughout the rest of his life. It also meant he could
not travel to Berlin, granting him an excuse to end the relationship with Bauer.
The novels The Trial and The Castle and the novella Metamorphosis have become Kafka’s most famous
works as they epitomise his writing style and thematic concerns. Metamorphosis, one of the few works to
be published during his lifetime, was written in 1915. It contains perhaps the most famous opening line in
twentieth century literature: “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning after disturbing dreams, he found
himself transformed in his bed into an enormous insect.” Gregor, a hard-working salesman who supports
his family, turns into an insect. At first his sister Grete looks after him, but soon the family becomes
embarrassed and frustrated with his presence in the house. His father looses his temper and throws an apple
at the creature which becomes embedded in his shell and rots - Gregor dies neglected and unloved. Instead
of regret, the family feels relief and the story ends unpredictably with their positive recognition of Grete’s
recently-developed womanliness and her marriage potential. The novel is striking because Kafka
sympathises with the negative effect of Gregor’s transformation on the family to the same extent that he
does with its effect on Gregor himself, reflecting the writer’s own feelings of inadequacy and his own
position in his family.
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Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
This inadequacy, revealed during Kafka’s childhood through his self-body loathing, extended into his
adulthood in the form of clinical depression and social anxiety. Subsequently the writer’s health was
affected and he periodically suffered from insomnia, migraines, boils and constipation. He was also
incredibly sensitive to noise and frequently complained of the difficulties of writing in his family home. In
an attempt to counteract these real, and psychosomatic, conditions he was obsessed with exercise and
homeopathic regimes. He became a vegetarian (to the distain of his father, the son of a butcher) and, after
reading that mastication could cure all illnesses, insisted on chewing each mouthful of food ten times. Sex
was also a taboo subject for the author, an early encounter with a shop-girl in a hotel left him feeling
repulsed and he says in his diaries: “Sex is a disease of the instincts.” However, there has been speculation
that Kafka was a frequent visitor to local brothels and in 2008 James Hawes published a book about the
graphic pornography which was found amongst Kafka’s possessions, accusing academics of deliberately
ignoring the literature to protect the author’s image. Yet despite Kafka’s negative self-opinion most of his
contemporaries described him as suave and attractive, and in 1919 Kafka met Milena Jesenska, the wife of
one of Kafka’s intellectual friends Ernst Polack. She was thirteen years his junior and his only non-Jewish
girlfriend. Their year-long relationship took the form of intense letter writing beginning in 1921. Based on
his diary entries and correspondence, she appears to be the only woman he ever loved. A journalist and
writer, Jesenska was able to challenge Kafka’s inhibitions in an intelligent and forceful manner, something
the writer admired. They only met twice, on the first occasion spending four days in Vienna (something
they both treasured for the rest of their lives), but Jesenska was unable to leave her husband and Kafka
broke off the relationship.
In 1914 Kafka began to write The Trial, taking several years to complete and published posthumously. It
begins (like Metamorphosis) with a famous opening sentence: “Someone must have been telling lies about
Josef K., for without having done anything wrong he was arrested one morning.” The novel explores the
protagonist’s failed attempts to discover his alleged crime in order to clear his name. Typically nightmarish
in tone, the story can be interpreted as a comment on twentieth century bureaucracy. This theme is
continued in his latter novel The Castle (1922), in which a Land Surveyor arrives in a village after being
summoned by the all-powerful Count. Attempts to gain access to both the Count and the castle prove futile
however, as the protagonist (now simply called ‘K’) meets one unhelpful official after another. Kafka
never completed the novel, ensuring ‘K’ would forever remain lost in the village, battling with the
hierarchical society.
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Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
Whist writing The Castle Kafka’s tuberculosis worsened and he was forced to retire from his insurance job
to be nursed by his sister. In 1923 he met Dora Diament, a teacher, and moved to Berlin to be with her in
the hope that escaping the family home would allow him time to write. He seems to have found more
personal contentment with Diament than in his previous relationships but still struggled to create. The
following year his condition deteriorated and he was forced to admit himself into a sanatorium near
Vienna. It is an irony typical of Kafka that whilst dying of starvation (the condition affected his throat
making it impossible to eat) he was proofing his final short story, The Hunger Artist. The once prolific
touring performer of the title finds that the public’s taste for watching the physical feat of starvation is
fading and is forced to take up residency in a second-rate circus. Realising customers would prefer to see
the animals, the protagonist decides to beat his personal record of fasting for forty days. Immeasurable
time passes before one day the supervisor demands to know why his staff has left a perfectly usable cage
empty only to discover the hunger artist underneath the straw. After the hunger artist dies of starvation,
they put a young panther in the artists’ cage whose powerful, noble presence instantly draws an audience.
The story can be interpreted as an allegory for a misunderstood artist, constantly striving for artistic
perfection in an isolated world, the panther’s virility providing a dramatic antithesis to the protagonist’s
inherent weakness.
Franz Kafka died in 1924, a relatively unknown writer. One of his final wishes to his literary executor,
Max Brod, was that his literature, diaries and letters (with a couple of acceptances) should be burnt unread
after his death. Brod disobeyed, later claiming that if Kafka had intended his wishes to be carried out he
would have performed the act himself whilst alive. Upon publication of the work, Kafka’s profile rapidly
grew and attracted critical acclaim. Milena Jesenska described Kafka in his obituary as “a man condemned
to regard the world with such blinding clarity that he found it unbearable and went to his death.”
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Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
2. THE WORKS OF FRANZ KAFKA
Although Kafka only wrote one play (The Warden of the Tomb in 1917), his narratives and the worlds he
creates lend themselves to theatrical adaptations (Metamorphosis for example has been reinvented for the
stage several times) and the Young Vic production of Kafka’s Monkey is based on a short story, A Report
to an Academy. The vast majority of his canon exists in the form of short stories, novellas and novels,
although there is now as much academic focus on his diaries and letters as on his fictional work. In 1933
the Gestapo seized twenty notebooks and thirty-five letters which were in the possession of his last
girlfriend, Dora Diamant, and an international search is currently underway to retrieve them. Also, little of
Kafka’s work was published during his lifetime, and upon his death much of it remained incomplete;
chapters were unnumbered and unfinished. The writer’s old friend Max Brod prepared them for
publication, and appears to have taken a few liberties in the process, editing the text and reordering
chapters.
Short Stories
Description of a Struggle (1904-05)
Wedding Preparations in the Country (1907-08)
Contemplation (1904-12)
The Judgment (1912)
The Stoker (1913)
In the Penal Colony (1914)
The Village Schoolmaster (1914-15)
Blumfeld, an Elderly Bachelor (1915)
The Hunter Gracchus (1917)
The Great Wall of China (1917)
A Report to an Academy (1917)
Jackals and Arabs (1917)
A Country Doctor (1919)
A Message from the Emperor (1919)
An Old Leaf (1919)
The Refusal (1920)
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
First Sorrow (1921)
Investigations of a Dog (1922)
A Little Woman (1923)
The Burrow (1923)
A Hunger Artist (1924)
Josephine the Singer, or The Mouse Folk (1924)
Novellas
The Metamorphosis (1915)
Novels
The Trial (1925)
The Castle (1926)
Amerika (1927)
Diaries and Notebooks
Diaries 1910-1923
The Blue Octavo Notebooks
Letters
Letter to His Father
Letters to Felice
Letters to Ottla
Letters to Milena
Letters to Family, Friends, and Editors
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
3. SYNOPSIS
An Academy has invited “Red Peter”, a chimpanzee turned human, to give an account of his former life as
an ape. As he appears in front of the Academy, he states that he cannot comply with their request. He
explains how he has lost contact with his origins and the memories of his youth in his journey towards
humanity. The cost of adapting to the human world has been the loss of his memory.
Instead he takes the Academy on a journey through his five years of becoming a human being. He starts his
story at the moment of his capture from his home, the Gold Coast in Africa. He was with a group of fellow
apes, drinking by the pools in the evening, when he was shot by a hunting party from the firm of
Hagenbeck - once in the face, and once below the hips. Then he was put in a narrow cage nailed to the wall
on a steamship and taken to Hamburg.
Kathryn Hunter in Kafka’s Monkey
His own memory gradually begins on board the steamship as he regains consciousness from his injuries. In
the beginning he is frightened and desperate in his cage, anxiously trying to escape, but after a while he
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Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
turns his face towards the wall to hide. He reflects that he would have died if he had not found a way out of
his cage, and his way out became ‘the way of humanity’. He starts watching the men on board the ship
who gather around his cage out of curiosity and for entertainment. They tickle him, make coarse jokes and
spit at him. Despite this, Red Peter finds comfort in their crude company, and starts imitating their slow
heavy movements and through this finds an inner calm that keeps him sane. He finds it easy to imitate;
only the rum bottle causes him great difficulty. One of the men repeatedly comes back to teach him the art
of drinking rum, and shows him how to hold and uncork the bottle and drink. But much as Red Peter wants
to learn and please his teacher, he throws the bottle down in disgust one time after another. Until one
evening, he grabs a full bottle of rum and drains it completely. The whole company is watching him and he
calls out a human word, ‘Hallo’. The crew are pleased and they conclude he is suitable for training.
When he arrives in Europe he realises that two choices are laid out before him: the Zoological Garden or
the Variety Stage. He decides to devote himself to becoming human enough to be an able performer, for
‘what is the zoo but another cage’. In Hamburg he is handed over to his first trainer and soon many more
as he drives them insane with his eagerness and effort to learn. He earns the name Red Peter because of the
scar on his cheek.
He soon becomes a famous performer, with his own manager, giving performances every night,
surrounded by the press. Despite this success, he admits in front of the Academy that he is still overcome
with disgust for human beings - no one in particular, but he cannot stand the smell of humanity that clings
to his body and mingles with the smell of his native land. He is a very lonely character. He managed his
transformation and struggle to become a human being on his own. Those who cheered him on did so from
the safety of the stands. And now at the height of his career, he returns home alone in the evenings where a
half trained female chimpanzee sits waiting for him. He takes comfort from her, but by day he cannot bear
to see her, as she has the insane bewildered look of the half broken beast in her eyes.
He concludes to the Academy that he has achieved what he set out to achieve, and that he looks for no
man’s approval. He only wants to impart knowledge, to make a report.
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Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
4. CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM
Creative Team
Direction
Walter Meierjohann
Set Design
Steffi Wurster
Costume Design
Richard Hudson
Lighting
Mike Gunning
Sound and Music
Nikola Kodjabashia
Movement Direction
Ilan Reichel
Assistant Director
MiaTeilhave
Cast
Kathryn Hunter
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
5. A REPORT TO AN ACADEMY
Kafka wrote A Report to an Academy (Ein Bericht für eine Akademie) in 1917. The tale is narrated in the
first person by a chimp called Red Peter who tells the story of his life from being captured in Africa, to
being taught human qualities and becoming a variety star. Kafka’s Monkey has been adapted for the Young
Vic production by playwright Colin Teevan from the short story, but this is not the first time the fable has
been turned into performance.
In 1996 John Metcalf (composer) and Mark Morris (librettist) used the material to create an opera, Kafka’s
Chimp, which premiered at the Banff Centre in Canada. The show dramatised the fable with all the
characters from the story appearing on stage. They also elaborated the narrative so as Red Peter became
more human and his teacher became more apelike. Ten years in the making, the opera was applauded by
critics for its imagination and wit. Turkish theatre director Mahir Gunsiray used the story when devising In
the Penal Colony with his company, Theatre Oyunevi, in Istanbul in 2000. The play, which aimed to create
the hallucinogenic world of Kafka’s work, also drew upon his short story, The Judgement and novel, The
Castle as inspiration. Gunsiray is also famous for being prosecuted under Turkey’s anti-terrorism laws for
protesting against the Government. In court when asked whether he was guilty or not guilty he quoted lines
from Kafka’s The Trial: “Why are you so silent now? Who are you? What are you doing here? Of course
you are just obeying your orders. When you leave here you’ll go to your home and hug your wife and
daughters. Do you have a conscience? Do you know what one is?” This is also not the first time the Young
Vic itself has staged the story either - actor/director Michael Pennington staged a two-week run with Roger
Booth performing the role of Red Peter in the old building under the former artistic directorship of Tim
Supple.
This Young Vic production is the world premiere of Teevan’s adaptation. The play sticks closely to
Kafka’s original story, although interestingly director, Walter Meierjohann, has cast seasoned actress
Kathryn Hunter in the male role of Red Peter. After experimenting with using other actors on stage during
the workshops for the play last year [see Chapter 10], the creative team decided the play should be a oneperson monologue which Teevan has adapted using the form of verse [poetry] instead of prose [everyday
speech].
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Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
6. KAFKAESQUE
Franz Kafka is a member of the prestigious list of writers whose name has entered the English language as
an adjective. Orwellian, Shavian, Dickensian, Shakespearian, Brechtian and Pinteresque all denote work,
ideas or situations which have a quality which is associated with that writers’ work. Kafka did not have a
particular world-view or socio-political philosophy so Kafkaesque tends to be used to describe a mood or
atmosphere, something that is nightmarish, sinister, or illogically complex. Academics and other writers
have tried to pin Kafka down to a defined movement, but many contemporary commentators suggest that
in the process of this classification people have missed the essence of Kafka’s work. By placing an equal
emphasis on Kafka the man, it is common to view the writer as the stereotype of an isolated and lonely
writer battling with the world, and focus on the depressing, gloomy side of his work. They propose that
Kafka’s work is actually less about his personal struggles and more about how people in general invent
their own neurosis. They also point out the stream of subversive Jewish humour which runs throughout his
canon and Kafka’s contemporaries frequently emphasised that Kafka always brought out the humour when
reading his work aloud in public.
Despite his refusal to conform to a certain literary movement or political group, Kafka has been widely
interpreted by scholars and claimed by varying factions over the last eighty years. French philosopher
Jean-Paul Sartre believed that the absurdity and hopelessness exhibited in Kafka’s work was symptomatic
of existentialism. This nineteenth and twentieth century philosophical movement developed as a response
to traditional philosophy which it believed was too academic and removed from the actual experiences of
humankind. The movement’s proponents sort to make sense of the confusion and disorientation which man
feels in an apparently meaningless world. Albert Camus then later claimed Kafka for absurdism, an
extension of the existentialist movement.
Kafka also belongs to the modernist literature movement. Modernism, originating in the 1870s, was a
rejection of the old enlightenment way of thought2. Its advocates believed that a new form of thinking
needed to be developed to echo the rapid progression of humanity in the industrialised world and placed
less emphasis on God. Writers such as D.H. Lawrence, Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce began
2
Originating in the 17th century, the Age of Enlightenment placed reason at the centre of its philosophy.
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Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
radically to experiment with the form and content of traditional literature. Elements of Kafka’s style such
as the lack of logical narrative bears similarities to these modernist writers.
Kafka’s canon exhibits qualities associated with magic realism. Originating in the 1920s, magic realism
was the term applied to painters who painted from an altered perspective. It later widened to include any
artist who incorporated magical, fantasy or illogical elements into an otherwise seemingly realistic
scenario. In Metamorphosis for example, Gregor and his family do not question why he has transformed
into an insect, they simply accept the situation and the narrative journey continues.
Kafka has also become associated with the political influences of Marxism and anarchism. Based on the
writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Marxists believe that the class struggle is at the heart of the
problems in society and suggest public ownership as a solution. Similarly, Anarchists suppose that a
compulsory Government is undesirable and harmful to society. Kafka’s satirization of Austro-Hungary’s
highly efficient bureaucracy in works such as The Trial and The Castle can be viewed as a criticism of the
inaccessibility of the social hierarchy.
Many commentators have also noted the Freudian element in his work. Sigmund Freud was an Austrian
psychiatrist who developed theories on the unconscious mind and created psychoanalysis (a dialogue
between patient and psychoanalyst) as a cure for psychopathology. Freud’s emphasis on the major role
childhood plays in shaping one’s personality can be used to explain the themes of Kafka’s work in relation
to his family experiences.
As A Report to an Academy adaptor Colin Teevan mentions in his interview (chapter 10) Kafka can also be
described as a Fabulist, a writer of fables. Fables are short stories which contain a moral lesson; they differ
from other forms of these kinds of stories as they contain anthropomorphism. There is a discussion of
Fables in chapter 8.
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Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
7. THE GERMAN-SPEAKING, CZECH-BORN JEW
An initial interpretation of Kafka’s work (put forward firstly by Max Brod and later by the famous German
writer Thomas Mann), was that like many Jewish artists, he was searching for an unreachable God. This
theory has since been rejected by many critics who cite several diary entries which demonstrate that Kafka
resented his Jewish heritage: “Sometimes I’d like to stuff all Jews (myself included) into the drawer of a
laundry basket... then open it to see if they’ve suffocated.” However, despite his negative comments, it
seems highly implausible that being a Jew in the location and period in which Kafka grew up did not have
some influence on his work, no matter how subconscious.
Kafka was a Czech-born, German-speaking Jew. German was the official language (and spoken by many
Jews as it was similar to Yiddish [a language of Jewish origin]) but at this time Czech nationalism was
rapidly growing in response to neighbouring Germany’s predominance. The Germans treated the Czechs
with contempt, and both the Germans and the Czechs disliked the Jews. Even within the Jewish
community there was a divide between those (like Kafka’s father) who had assimilated into western
culture, and the poorer eastern Jews who tended to adhere to their traditions. The ghetto which Kafka grew
up in was one of the oldest in Europe consisting of dark, narrow alleyways and a dense population. Kafka
once described it as “my prison cell – my fortress”, but he chose to live there most of his life, even when
he was earning a comfortable salary from the government and could have moved out of the family home.
Anti-Semitism was rife in Prague and the mystery of what lay inside the ghetto proved too great for the
rumourmongers. Claims of ritual murder against the Jewish community were frequent. Many believed that
Christian blood was used in making Matzo [bread] instead of water. These accusations came to a head in
1899 when a Christian girl was found dead just before Passover [a Jewish holiday]; stories that she had
been made kosher [literally ‘fit to eat’] in compliance with Jewish dietary laws led to a spate of antiSemitic attacks on Jewish businesses. Kafka was only sixteen at the time and the effect of the political
climate must have resonated with the writer. Despite Kafka Senior ensuring that his family was distanced
from the Jewish community (he officially registered them all as Czech), he did take Kafka to the
synagogue a few times each year (which bored Kafka), and also had him bar-mitzvahed.
Kafka’s connection to Judaism in his adult life is ambiguous and contradictory. In 1911 he became very
interested in Yiddish theatre when a touring troupe visited Prague, watching the show every night of the
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Adaptation Colin Teevan
run. Other middle-class Jews (including Max Brod who chastised Kafka’s interest) saw Yiddish theatre as
crass melodrama and the Yiddish language as inferior when compared to formal Hebrew [the language of
the Jewish bible, the Tanakh]. Similarly, Kafka enjoyed Talmudic [an ancient Jewish text] and Hasidic
tales and legends [a form of Judaism which places an emphasis on spiritual enjoyment rather than
academia]. His diaries are full of references to Yiddish writers whose work he enjoyed. Alongside these
more traditional forms, he often expressed an interest in learning Modern Hebrew and employed a
university student from Palestine, Pua Bat-Tovim, to assist him. Whether it was Bat-Tovim’s teaching
methods (she chose Yosef Haim Brenner’s famous book Breakdown and Bereavement to translate in
lessons which Kafka found dull) or, as some people believe, Kafka’s actual disinterest (for he was clearly
an intelligent man), the writer never did master the language.
In 1897 Theodor Herzl started the Zionist movement which held that all Jews should return to their
homeland in Palestine. It is known that Kafka was interested in Zionism; he attended the 11th Zionist
Congress [a week-long discussion of the issues] and discussed moving to Tel Aviv to open a restaurant
with his final girlfriend Dora Diamant, an Orthodox Jew. He never made any attempts to realise their
dream apart from half-heartedly studying the Talmud. However, some of his literature has been interpreted
as Zionist including Investigations of a Dog and A Report to an Academy. Red Peter’s attempts at
humanisation and befriending of his captors has been said to mirror Jewish attempts to assimilate into
western society. Conversely however, it can also be read as a criticism against Jewish efforts to establish a
nation-state to flee anti-Semitism, instead of conquering the hatred.
World War I broke out when Kafka was thirty and Czech nationalists seized the opportunity to use the
anti-German feeling to promote their cause. As the Jewish community spoke mostly German they were
further vilified, and consequently supported Germany in the war. By 1918 the Allies had won and Prague
was no longer a part of the Kingdom of Bohemia but in the new Republic of Czechoslovakia. Again Jews
were targeted, this time for their support of the Germans, and a three day riot in Prague led to the public
burning of Hebrew manuscripts. During the following years over six million Jews left the country for
Palestine.
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Adaptation Colin Teevan
Kafka died before World War II; however his three sisters all died at the hands of the Nazis, two in either
the Lodz Ghetto or concentration camps, and Ottla at Auschwitz. Had Kafka lived, almost certainly this
would have also been his fate.
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
8. ANTHROPOMORPHISM
Anthropomorphism derives from the Greek words meaning ‘human’ and ‘shape’ and refers to the process
of attributing human characteristics to non-human items such as animals, objects or the supernatural. It is a
device frequently used in art, particularly in literature and film, and one which Kafka used in Investigations
of a Dog, Josephine the Singer, The Burrow and A Report to an Academy.
One of the most obvious examples of anthropomorphism in contemporary popular culture is the films of
Walt Disney. From old Disney favourites such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Pluto to newer Pixar
animation films such as Finding Nemo, animals have featured who can talk, and furthermore, display
human emotions and have human relationships. The technique is much older than Walt Disney however, in
fact as old as humankind. Evidence of anthropomorphism can be found in the earliest art-forms,
particularly in the strand of anthropomorphism called anthropotheism; the giving of human characteristics
to divine beings. Presumably developed as way of understanding an intangible concept, the practise of
giving a God a human body and human traits occurs in most religions and mythologies. The
anthropomorphises of animals is also an ancient technique and the one which Kafka most frequently makes
use of (in the form of a dog, mouse, mole and ape respectively).
Aesop’s Fables is perhaps the most well-known example. This collection of Greek fables were actually not
all written by the historical figure of Aesop but were rather a compilation of tales from various writers
(some who lived long before Aesop) that were collated around 300 BC. The majority of these stories
featured animals as their protagonists such as the Ant and the Grasshopper and Tortoise and the Hare.
Each of Aesop’s Fables carries a moral lesson and the anthropomorphism of animals is often used to teach
children (and indeed adults) ethics; consider the tales of Beatrix Potter and the Jungle Book. As well as
engaging the reader (humans have a desire to project themselves on to the world around them), the form
also makes the lesson less of a lecture and more digestible. The technique has also been used for more
serious means however, as a way of allowing the author to address subjects which would otherwise be too
controversial and dangerous - Animal Farm by George Orwell is a classic example of this. Written in 1945
the novella is a satire on the Stalinist regime in Russia and authoritarian governments in general. Set on a
farm, Orwell tells the story of how the animals rise up and overthrow their human owners only to create
just as brutal and hierarchical a society in its place. Each animal character can be claimed to represent a
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
historical figure or group: Napoleon the pig, Joseph Stalin; Boxer the horse, the proletariat.
Anthropomorphism gave Orwell distance from the politics of the subject, allowing the reader to
simultaneously see the ridiculousness of the book’s events and their similarities to contemporary human
society. It also attracted more attention to the novella as it was viewed as a more controversial form Orwell’s original publisher refused to print it as he was convinced Russians would be offended by being
portrayed as pigs, and the book was banned in parts of China as they believed comparing humans to
animals to be disrespectful.
As with Orwell, the technique allows Kafka to gain perspective on the subject through detachment,
particularly if you consider the animals to be Kafka himself. The Burrow is the most obvious example of
this theory as it is written in a first person narrative. Kafka never actually specifies the species of animal in
The Burrow, presumably so the reader has to exercise his imagination and instead concentrates on the
atmosphere created rather than the specific narrative. He also forbade his publisher from placing an
illustration of Gregor transformed into an insect on the front cover of Metamorphosis for the same reason.
The mole-like creature in The Burrow enjoys the peace and quiet of his underground existence but is
haunted by the threats not only from outside, but also from noises he constantly hears coming from the
tunnels underground. Kafka hated the noisy household conditions he had to write in, and wished he had a
peaceful place in which to create; presumably the underground threat is his own mind and emotions. A
Report to an Academy is a more ambiguous story, but as with all of Kafka’s work it seems likely that the
protagonist represents the author, if only partially. Kafka’s ability to see the world from the point of view
of the animal, to get inside the head of the creature, is one of his greatest and least-recognised talents as A
Report to an Academy demonstrates, and this is why the story appeals to actors and theatre-makers.
19
Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
9. INTERVIEW WITH WALTER MEIERJOHANN, DIRECTOR
What attracted you to this particular story?
I joined the Young Vic in October 2007, and I saw Kathryn Hunter perform in Fragments, and I didn’t
know many actors in England but I saw her and was mind-blown. The first thought was, ‘who is this
woman’, and the next thought was, ‘I know this piece of literature’, which hasn’t been done very often in
England, and immediately after the performance I introduced myself. We started talking about it – she
didn’t know the piece so I copied it for her and went after her – she was in Southampton on tour with
Fragments – and we read through the piece together in a hotel lobby. In front of my eyes, she transformed
into a monkey and I absolutely knew it was right to do it with her.
I think it is a remarkable text. I’ve always loved Kafka and it hasn’t been done very often here. In
Germany, acting students do this piece a lot because they want to show off how much they can do! But I
mean, how do you go to a woman and say, would you like to play a monkey?! It’s quite rude in a way, but
she said that she has always wanted to play a monkey.
Is she playing it as a female?
No, as a male. But the interesting thing is that with Kathryn she has this androgynous appearance anyway,
and I think that this is exactly the right thing for this text, because this creature is stuck between a monkey
and a human being – something in between, it’s not fully a person. I think the equivalent is that you watch
Kathryn and sometimes you don’t know because she has this amazing deep voice and she can be really
quite hard but very charming at the same time. I think the more confused the audience gets – ‘who is this?’
- the better.
Have you directed Kafka before?
When I was in Germany studying directing, Kafka was my first piece of work. They set us this task to do a
story which was only half a page long, and to come up with something. There was no drama in it and we
had to invent a lot of things, and I really enjoyed it. I think that is why I wanted to return to it.
What is it that attracts you to Kafka’s work?
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
I think he is an amazing writer, he thinks in paradoxes all the time. Your perception of the world changes
and you feel quite unsettled. He changes perspectives and also your idea of how to look at the world. He
does that with his characters, like in Metamorphosis. It is one of the most remarkable stories because you
actually go inside the head of a beetle which is a human mind but still on the outside is a beetle. And here
again in A Report to an Academy, there is a former monkey, and he looks at human beings and asks the
question, are you human beings really so superior to animals, or are you not? I’m attracted to all these
questions.
What kind of research have you done?
I always feel like I haven’t done enough! On the practical side, we did two workshops with Kathryn to
work out whether she was going to be on her own or whether there was there going to be a partner on
stage. At the beginning, I thought I would focus on the vaudeville and variety stage aspect of the piece, and
I thought I would make it quite light. But the more I read about Kafka, the more I realised it was quite
disturbing. One of the key lines is ‘Yet essentially alone’ so although we did these workshops with a
pianist, we worked out by the end of it that it should just be about her completely on her alone on stage. It
is about breaking down the fourth wall between her and the audience – we are the partner, there shouldn’t
be another partner on stage.
Reading wise, I have read this wonderful biography of Kafka which was very useful because it describes
his sense of isolation. He was a German Jew in Prague, which at the time was made up of one third Czech,
one third German and one third Jewish. He never felt he belonged to either, and the question of
assimilation, which is one of the key questions in the text – trying to belong, trying to adapt – is of course a
Jewish question in the text.
It is not just an historical question though. It is also about looking at the world nowadays and thinking
about people who come from say Africa or Pakistan who need to adapt in order to survive, and who take
on all these cultural differences, but without ever really belonging. I think that’s how one should look at
the text as well. I find that the text is also about globalisation in a way – what does it mean if you loose
your roots and you have to live somewhere else and having to struggle. The monkey is an image of that – a
metaphor.
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
But what I am also really interested in is the emotional side of the piece, because what this monkey has
experienced is quite traumatic. How do you deal with trauma? It is quite a painful story. In a way it is the
history of mankind in one story – being driven out of paradise and then since then, our history is a history
of violence. There is also this philosophical idea of living inside a cage, and Kafka described himself as
living inside a cage but he said the cruel thing is that there are no bars. I could leave it, but I don’t.
Academics are very keen to label Kafka as part of a particular school such as an existentialist or an
absurdist – what do you think of that?
I have read many interpretations of what this story is about. Max Brod – who was perhaps his greatest
friend in a way because he didn’t burn all his manuscripts like Kafka instructed him to – said that this is
such a Jewish story. He said this was the best story about Western Jews trying to adapt. It is one the few
works that was published in a Jewish magazine, which was remarkable because Kafka himself didn’t think
his work was so Jewish. So even at that point people were already trying to interpret only what they are
interested in, whereas Kafka always makes a statement and then in the next line he destroys it, so that’s
why so many people are struggling to interpret so many things in his work. This story has so many colours.
For me, I don’t have one interpretation I would like to follow, I am just really interested to find out who
this character is and make that as colourful as possible. If we can work out this character as lovable but
also not really graspable, then I think we will have achieved a lot. It is hard to put Kafka on stage! It is
literature not a play.
Why do you think we keep trying to put him on stage?
One of the big things in acting is transforming – being able to be someone else and something else. In this
text and in Metamorphosis – every actor would dream of playing in a beetle in a way! But if you then have
a human being playing a monkey, it touches on the ridiculous in a way. While you are reading it, it is fine,
because your imagination does it, but if you actually see a human being trying to do that….. This is theatre
– you’re watching it and going this is a monkey and then you realise it isn’t. You have to be quite honest
with that.
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
One of the things that isn’t clear in the text is who is the Academy and why is he making a
presentation to them – what are your thoughts on this?
At the beginning I thought I would get rid of the Academy. I thought we didn’t need it because it was
about the relationship between Kathryn and the audience. But then, actually thinking about Kafka’s love of
paradoxes, there is not a bigger paradox in a monkey in front of an academy of scientists. He is taking
things to the extremes. If you don’t do that, then you are loosing something, most importantly the
language. At the beginning, for example, he is firing off these incredibly huge and elaborate images to
impress them, so if you don’t have that feeling of formality, it doesn’t make sense.
But I am still trying to work out what is at stake for him. He must have a message, he must have anger. But
he is trying to hide it while at the same time he is trying to make a message which is of course - don’t look
at me, look at yourself. That is the message that the monkey is making. It is also interesting to play around
with his status. It is not like a famous Hollywood actor appearing before the Academy at the Oscars – the
monkey and the Academy are not of the same world. With the set designer we have talked about making
the Academy quite a hostile place – we’re going to have a very shiny white floor and a huge image of a
monkey, so that the audience has the expectation that the Academy wants to view him as a monkey, but his
whole struggle is to show them that he is a human being and that he is actually superior.
What is your rehearsal process going to be?
Colin Teevan wrote an adaptation of the piece and he has made it into verse, so one of the things I will be
working on will be the language. In the mornings we are going to do lot of physical and movement work,
and in the afternoons really work on the text. Because it is a work of literature, it is not about what
entrance you come in on and exit - it’s not clear what we’re going to do! I think it’s going to be a very
collaborative process and Kathryn is such an incredible performer so I think things are going to change a
lot every day. And the interesting thing is, is that in the whole creative team, there is only one English
person so I think we are well equipped to deal with some of the questions in the text.
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
10. INTERVIEW WITH COLIN TEEVAN (ADAPTOR)
You have previously translated works from many languages. Did you work from the German
original of A Report to an Academy when adapting or from a particular translation? To what extent
do these decisions affect the work?
I have translated work for the stage directly from Greek, French, Italian and Spanish but unfortunately
my range of languages is pretty bound to the Southern and Western fringes of Europe so I was unable to
work directly from the German on the Kafka piece. However, there exists eight or nine translations of this
short piece and between these and the constant feedback from director, Walter Meierjohann, who is
German born and bilingual, I was able to examine Kafka's text pretty closely. From Walter I learned that
Kafka's use of language is particular, original and complex even to German speakers. Many times Walter
was unable to find satisfactorily correlative English words and phrases because German puts words
together to create new concepts and this would lead to lengthy discussions even to fix on one word in the
English, but this tight scrutiny of both the text and the meaning was invaluable for us both in terms of
really investigating what Kafka was trying to express, and for Walter in understanding the choices I was
making.
What initially attracted you to the story?
Kafka is an ingenious Fabulist. He uses a classical form, the fable, in a modern context to explore new
perspectives on humanity. The key concept behind A Report to an Academy is quite simple; a monkey who
has learnt how to speak is invited by the academy to give a talk on his former life as an ape. Kafka shifts
the perspective by having the monkey say that in order to become human he has had to give up all memory
of his ape-ness and instead he switches the focus to the former ape's view of humanity. It is simple and
ingenious yet gives rise to the exploration of the most complex of emotional journeys.
The second thing that attracted me to the project was working with actress Kathryn Hunter again. We have
collaborated on two other modern fables, The Bee and The Diver [based on Japanese stories], with
Japanese theatre-maker Hideki Noda. These have been joyously creative and intellectual journeys,
so Kafka's Monkey seemed like a logical next step for us.
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
Were there any particular considerations and/or challenges in the process of adaptation?
The most crucial consideration in adapting this piece was ‘where are we?’ The ‘what, where, when and
who’ of it. The piece is a direct address to an audience and when you move it from page to stage, the
audience become a living factor; the human other to whom the monkey tells his story. We debated long
and hard as to whether we should relocate the piece to the theatre, since we would be performing it in a
theatre and since the monkey has a history in music hall, or to update the piece. But each time we changed
the location or period, or tried to create an artifice whereby the audience were academics or something
other than they are, it seemed to reduce the metaphorical power of the piece. So, the academy became
something vaguer - more Kafkaesque, perhaps - by which we mean a nightmare, a construct within the
mind of the monkey. The second challenge for me was the question of an 'other'. Like Krapp's Last Tape [a
one-man show by Samuel Beckett] there are several monkeys lurking in the narrator's narrative; the
civilised one, the wild monkey who was caught, and the monkey who is learning to become human.
Beckett, by means of a reel-to-reel recorder, presents us with three Krapps and we played around with
many ideas as to how we might do something similar. There exists an entirely different version that I wrote
for two Kathryn Hunters, but that one proved a bit difficult to realise.
How do you interpret the themes of the narrative? What do you think Kafka was trying to say with
this story?
I think Kafka is always trying to hold a mirror to human behaviour and human society. As in The Trial or
Metamorphosis, the protagonist's 'otherness' gives them a different perspective on 'normal' society. The
results are that humans can often seem quite brutal. I think he also calls into question our ideas of what is
'civilised' behaviour, and ultimately what is human freedom when human existence is simply a series of
learnt and repeated routines. He does this by having a 'wild' animal address the pinnacle of human
achievement, the 'academy', and challenges us to question whether we are really different from, or superior
to, animals. Metaphorically this raises the whole question of racial, gender or class difference.
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
11. INTERVIEW WITH KATHRYN HUNTER, ACTOR
What attracted you to this project?
I was attracted to the originality of the story and also wanted to work with Walter [director]. The story is
depicted from the point of view of the chimpanzee, and questions what being a human being is. It also
bears resonances to the theme of assimilation and the cost of that assimilation; it asks what our common
humanity is. If we think of the story as being from a foreigner’s point of view, we also question the cruelty
inherent in the tale.
What preparation and research did you do in advance of rehearsals?
We had two workshops before rehearsals began. In the first we explored whether to have a live musician
on stage as well as the actor, part of this exploration involved depicting the musician as the trainer of the
chimp. In the end we decided on a solo performance. In the second workshop Colin [writer] had made a
deconstruction of the piece, where the chimp was in a laboratory and we were devising around the original
story. But we decided that it was stronger to stay close to Kafka's original version. We also had trips to the
Zoo to study chimpanzees.
Kathryn Hunter in Kafka’s Monkey
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
Can you say something about the vocal and physical elements of the role?
Finding the chimp physically is a challenge and we are keen to avoid clichéd monkey acting. We have
done this by working on the animal’s different rhythms, and by exploring the creature’s structure, both
inside and out. I'm interested in the combination of strength and flexibility, and calmness and violence
which chimps have. Vocally, I have been working on a quality of voice which suggests a male persona as
Kafka's monkey is a male chimp but I have tried to avoid a false, clichéd quality. The chimp has modelled
himself on different people, so there is also a great level of imitation in his vocal quality.
Is there any element of the production which presents particular challenges to you as a performer?
To create a sense of a creature that is neither human nor chimp is incredibly complex. This is definitely a
challenge physically and vocally, but also for the imagination.
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
12. INTERVIEW WITH ILAN REICHEL, MOVEMENT DIRECTOR
What is the role of a Movement Director?
The role is different for different shows. It can be anything from working with performers on the
physicality of a character, or (especially with poetic drama such as Yeats [Irish poet and dramatist])
exploring images in the plays, or choreographing dances in a more conventional way. It can be a large
range of work. Recently I have been working with Howard Barker [contemporary English dramatist]. I saw
my job as being a translator; translating his writing into an accessible, immediate stage language.
What is your background?
I was always attracted to dance but I trained as an actor in Israel and for a while as an assistant director.
Then I heard of a wonderful Jewish-American choreographer who was starting a dance-theatre company
and I asked if I could audition. I didn’t have any dance technique but she liked me and invited me to attend
the rehearsals. I performed in a few projects and she made me her assistant choreographer. The material
was a combination of music and words. I was also directing modern Israeli plays alongside working for her
company. I moved to London to study which included Alexander Technique [a movement technique
focussing on coordination and self awareness] and ended up teaching movement at RADA [British drama
school] for 21 years which enabled me to evolve my way of working, including animal studies.
What has been your process for working on the chimp in Kafka’s Monkey?
The person on stage is actually a chimp, a chimp with amazing human characteristics, but fundamentally a
chimp. We went to the zoo to study monkeys which was fascinating. In order to create a live creature on
stage you need to discover its physicality in as much detail as possible. It’s also very important to look at
the animal’s senses. You need to discover the dominating sense, for instance the dominating sense of
creatures in the sea is touch (via their skin), or hearing (through vibrations). With a chimp it’s their eyes,
but they’re very tactile and use the sense of touch a lot. Animals also have a self-image of how they
interact with the world. Their sense of their own strength, status and power instantly changes the language
of the body. This area of the work involves studying the animal’s behaviour. One of the characteristics of
chimps and gorillas is that they can reflect on what is happening, they see something and consider it before
acting upon it. Usually animals react by instincts, but chimps and gorillas process the information before
doing anything about it. This relates to the dynamic of movement.
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
What have you been working on in rehearsals?
I use Laban as a basis for my work. It is a technique used to clarify and analyse movement. Movement is
broken down into four categories; body, effort, shape and space, then further sub- categorised. A chimp is
powerful and uses actions such as thrusting and jabbing, so Kathryn and I will explore the physicality of
being a boxer. I use the Laban definitions to be clear and to develop a specific vocabulary because I’m not
interested in superficial imitation. I want to discover the essence of the animal, and then the quality of the
performance will be much more profound. We also explore the bone structure of the animal, where one
thing is located in relation to another thing. For example humans have their shoulder blades on their back,
but most animals (particularly ones that walk on all fours) have their shoulder blades on the side of their
body and this changes how they move. Once we have mastered these fundamental elements we then look
at simple activities such as standing up; the way the chimp pushes itself against gravity, against the earth;
then how they move; their coordination; and what kind of skin or fur they have. Eventually, when we have
a whole range of the basic things, we can do exercises, imagining the animal in its natural environment.
Finally, we will explore using things that humans use. In the workshop I introduced a tea cup and saucer,
and we examined how Red Peter would stir with a spoon, how dexterous his fingers would be. To move
away from just being a photographic imitation of an animal, actors must transpose themselves, move away
from just being an animal and discover a humanised version of that animal.
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
13. REHEARSAL DIARY BY MIA THEIL HAVE, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
WEEK ONE 16th - 21st February 2009
MONDAY 16th
AM
The artistic team of Kafka’s Monkey met in the Maria Theatre, where we will be rehearsing and
performing. Kathryn Hunter is the solo performer and around her sat a great number of enthusiastic people.
A composer, an adapter, movement expert, assistant director, stage manager, director and costume
designer. Everyone had a chance to present themselves. Director, Walter Meierjohann, made clear that he
had chosen an international team. Between us we represented seven countries: Zimbabwe, Israel,
Denmark, Germany, Greece, USA, Ireland and the UK. The play speaks about the difficulties of
assimilation to a foreign culture, and I believe we all have the possibility of identifying ourselves with Red
Peter, the narrator of Kafka’s story.
David Lan, Artistic Director of The Young Vic, came to greet us and wish us the best with the new
production. Walter talked about his ideas for the production in a very open way; about his personal relation
to the story and its importance to be told. He compared the ape’s story with Kafka’s biography and dived
into the meaning of the text, context, and what it might mean to us today.
We then looked at the model of the set, images, costume design, measurements, tap shoes and sound
design and talked about how much the artistic team would be present in the rehearsal space. Then Kathryn
read through the play, after which we had further interesting discussions about style and choices for the
play.
PM
Colin Teevan, the adapter, Kathryn and Walter met to discuss the text and adaptation. We only use the
word Monkey in the title; apart from that we use the word ape in reference to Red Peter. Apparently apes
are closest to human beings, and chimps are a sub-species of the ape family. But the title seems closer to
the Variety style poster and aims to tempt the audience into wanting to “go and see ‘the monkey’”. Walter
would like Kathryn to work on being a human-being suppressing the ape, rather than showing from the
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
beginning that she has the physicality of an ape. Subtle actions like these seem to fit the intimate space.
TUESDAY 17th
AM
Kathryn has started meeting with Lucy, the stage manager, to go over her lines half an hour before
rehearsals start. In the morning Walter, Kathryn and Ilan met. They spoke about Red Peter’s memories
from his former life as an ape and his being transported on a steam boat from the Gold Coast in Africa in a
cage. Ilan suggested we look at photos of a steam boat to imagine how it might have been. Walter spoke of
extreme characters in Kafka’s writing and the absolute will power Red Peter has. In fact the ape is driving
his trainers crazy with his eagerness and will to learn. Walter also spoke about the constant opposition in
the ape between being an entertainer and suffering from a great trauma. The ape is torn between two
communities not really belonging to either. Ilan and Kathryn then worked alone to re-establish some of
their work from the research and development week, exploring ‘the former life as an ape’ physically.
PM
Measurements were taken of Kathryn in order to build a cage, though this is only for rehearsals. This is to
help give Kathryn a physical memory of being locked up in a cage. Walter read some of his notes from
secondary literature and Kafka’s other writings. We spoke about Kafka’s life, and how A Report to an
Academy is a semi-autobiographical story.
Then we had the first rehearsal with Kathryn. Kathryn was put in a much too large suit which had a very
comic effect. She came in the door with a suitcase and did the first part of the speech many times. Each
time she had a new invention and way of varying her way of moving, speaking and handling objects.
Walter was trying to make out how much ape she should be from the very beginning. In the end he
concluded that she should be as human as possible. The audience have ‘come to see the monkey’, they will
have a certain expectation, and Walter would like to surprise them. Walter speaks of a mirror effect
between the audience and Kathryn and the projected image of an ape on stage.
WEDNESDAY 18th
AM
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
Ilan and Kathryn continued their movement work alone. The idea is for Kathryn not to feel she has to
perform straight away, but give her time to find the body and memories of the ape. But I know they have a
DVD of chimps, sound files and many images to take inspiration from. At the end of the session they
asked me to find more sources of inspiration. They wanted to know about where the ape’s home had been
on the Gold Coast, images, and videos of Muhammad Ali boxing. Ilan thought boxers and apes have
physical similarities - the slightly inward feet, bent over and long arms.
PM
As it is a big team around this production and only one actor, Walter preferred to spend the afternoon’s
rehearsal with Kathryn alone. After that I was running lines with her for quite a while. She said she
remembers the text by using images and building thought-bridges between passages.
THURSDAY 19th
AM
Kathryn and Ilan worked on movement, starting from concentrated work on the spine and movements
coming from the pelvis and centre. They looked at images of skeletons of chimps and Ilan showed where
on Kathryn’s body the bones were different. The movements had a really slow rhythm and Ilan also pushed
Kathryn to give resistance, so she became very aware of which part of the body was working. As a way of
going back in Red Peter’s memory, they did improvisations around the idea of a young monkey waking up
in the forest and going on an adventure, right up until the point when it is shot and captured.
Today we also had our first production meeting, where we discussed all sorts of practical matters for the
production. Set, costumes, light and the tech week. Can we afford the floor? Can we use tap shoes on the
floor? Which style of gloves were used in the period? Top hat or bowler? Will the Exit signs by the door
be lit during the performance? When is the raking for the audience being built?
PM
Walter and Kathryn rehearsed alone for a while and called us in for the last hour. Kathryn was extremely
inventive and improvised many versions of the first sections of the play. Each time she came up with a
variation of what she had done previously - a new way with her voice, playing with the text, her stick and
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
suitcase and the space. She stepped out into the audience as she said, “entering the world of men” and
shook hands with us, “The first thing I learned was the handshake”. She would take a sip of her hip flask
as she said “We went down to the pools to drink”. Walter asked her to explore real anger and made her
speak in Greek (her native language). She found a very hoarse and deep roaring quality in her voice. This
rehearsal was also fruitful in exploring Red Peter’s relationship to the image of an ape which will be on a
big screen. She spoke to the image as if it was her former self. For example, addressing the sentence “stop
being stubborn” to the image. She had her back to us almost all of the first section. Steffi Wurster, the set
designer, was present and she thought it might be interesting if the image faded when Red Peter says “This
is where my own memory gradually begins.”
FRIDAY 20th
AM
Walter asked me to create a list of physical actions from the life of Red Peter (such as “tickling” and
“shot”), working chronologically through the text.
This morning we did an improvisation where Ilan and I joined Kathryn recreating the life in the Gold Coast
jungle as chimps playing together with jungle sounds in the background. Then she was shot and became
unconscious, and we put her in a cage. With sounds of a steamship on the stereo, we made a wild
soundscape of whipping and terror on board the ship. Then Ilan and I became the men on the ship trying to
teach her to drink rum.
PM
Walter and Kathryn go over the text again, exploring new physical possibilities and new ways of saying
individual lines.
SATURDAY 21st
AM
Walter worked with Kathryn on memory and the action of remembering - that is, the search for the
memory, almost like an old person. Kathryn did the section below decks in the steamer mostly with closed
eyes recalling how it was. She walked behind the screen and it felt as if we changed time and space and
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Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
boarded the steam boat. Steffi proposed to have a line of carpet right behind the screen so that you can’t
hear her footsteps, as if to create a magic sphere of travelling in time and memory.
Today was the first tap lesson and Kathryn and Tumijan Gill had fun. Walter loved the music number
Tumijan brought in, Fats Waller’s “Ain’t Misbehavin”, and we will keep that for the moment. We had a
look at how the tap shoes work on a small sample of the white glass floor, but they left marks and it was
too slippery. So we decided Kathryn shouldn’t have the metal plates on her shoes.
WEEK TWO 23rd - 28th February 2009
MONDAY 23rd
AM
Walter started the day by going through the week’s schedule. We then talked about the play. He said our
normal perspective as audience members is reversed in this story: the audience have come to see the
monkey but actually it becomes the animal who observes men. Ilan and Kathryn worked with the ‘sea
star’, movements coming from the core and extending into the extremities of the body, the hands, feet and
head. They started from the floor and then moved into the space. They then explored the quality of Tai Chi
steps, seemingly strong and soft at the same time. Ilan introduced various rhythms from the Laban
movement analysis system and they had a look at which ones might be right for the chimp and which
actions they would go with. For example the rhythm ‘wrenching’ seemed to transfer to when the chimps
almost spin around themselves when getting up.
Walter also discovered that the two circles that Kathryn has been doing around the screen are a subtle way
of going back into memory.
PM
The composer Nikola Kodjabashi came to see today’s stagger-run, and had some good feed back. He
thought the “ambiguous creature of the play breathes”, and that the “story has a temperament”. It came
across to him as dark, witty, and he was left with a great sensation of having “No Way Out”. This made
34
Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
him think of a high frequency sound to go with that passage. He is now going away to compose more
music, and will bring in proposals on Wednesday.
Walter noted that we have to look at who speaks in which episode. The choice of the ape being old is good
but the rhythm needs to vary, and it is probably not necessary to illustrate the text too much. In the end of
today’s rehearsal Kathryn explored how the difference between the chimp’s posture and that of say a lord
or a ballet dancer would be. It was extremely funny when she changed between the human and chimp,
especially when she did a Chaplin imitation.
TUESDAY 24th
AM
We all went to Whipsnade Zoo to observe the chimps in their outdoor enclosure. It was excellent to see
them ‘live’ and many of their characteristics were noted down and brought home to explore physically.
Time Out came along to take press photos of Kathryn with the chimps.
PM
In this rehearsal Walter introduced a microphone. He wanted to concentrate on the text and give Kathryn
the chance to be in one specific point of the space. She was asked to move to and from the microphone as
she felt, but that she shouldn’t think of giving a great performance, just concentrate on the text and take
time to explore.
Kathryn’s response to the microphone was that it felt like a barrier between her and the audience. Walter
said that the microphone gives the possibility to have many subtleties and you can hear the breathing.
The last two hours of today was in full tap-dance mode. Kathryn and Tumijan got several steps and formed
them into a routine she can make variations from. Tumijan said that the swing and the confidence to play
are most important in jazz. Walter also asked them to work with some ‘angry moves’, so the tap also can
become a way of expressing anger and frustration in the play.
35
Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
WEDNESDAY 25th
AM
Kathryn and Walter rehearsed for some time alone. It seems important not to have any distractions around,
and for them to really build a good working relationship.
PM
Walter and Kathryn had found some wonderful things in the morning’s work. A narrator’s voice and
various imitations. We worked on the beginning; as Kathryn said, Walter is “collecting beginnings”, trying
to find the best solution.
Nikola brought in music this afternoon, and it gave new life to a piece of text which became almost another
Variety number with the underscoring music.
THURSDAY 26th
AM
Kathryn and Ilan worked with images of chimps, finding useful physical compositions and ways of going
from one image to the next, with a soft quality. They tried to recreate the thoughtfulness of the chimp.
Today Kathryn had a ‘hat trick’ session with a circus artist, Stewart Pemberton. Red Peter in the story has
many teachers, and so does Kathryn! She learnt about five tricks with a specially designed hat that has
more weight to it than a normal bowler.
At today’s production meeting we talked about shoes suitable for the floor and planned a costume fitting.
Another question was where the aisle through the audience should be and right now the thought is in the
centre, as Kathryn goes out into the audience. Walter wanted Kathryn to give out nuts to the audience but
apparently it is not allowed because of health and safety. Maybe bananas will be possible.
PM
We worked on scene 3. Walter introduced a lectern as part of the set. Ilan suggested a moment when
36
Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
Kathryn touches her scar on the cheek, that she uses the thumb as it is a bit more monkeyish.
FRIDAY 27th
AM PM
In today’s tap lesson we worked a dance routine together with a bit of text, so that the words and the
movements fit together.
SATURDAY 28th
Today Walter worked on the sequence of drinking rum, exploring the physical initial revulsion to the rum
bottle. They also improvised a physical scene after Red Peter’s first success in draining a rum bottle. It was
a triumphal scene where Red Peter made the audience clap and performed all sorts of acrobatic movements
completely drunk. Another great discovery was the difficulty of learning to speak. Kathryn spelled out her
own name with great difficulty and it was both comic and disturbing.
WEEK THREE 2nd – 7th March 2009
MONDAY 2nd
AM
We kept exploring the new physical sequences and the speech difficulty idea seemed to be useful for the
words ‘no way out’ which are used several times in the play, and are connected with a particularly difficult
situation.
PM
We explored more possibilities for the beginning of the play and questions came up such as: How should
Kathryn enter, from the screen, the door, the audience? Are we going to use the lectern as part of the set?
TUESDAY 3rd
AM
In today’s rehearsal we worked on the movement for the drinking sequence. Nikola made suggestions for
the music for the tap routine. Walter and Kathryn worked on the beginning, trying to find arguments and to
37
Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
express cynicism through warmth. Walter has always dreamt of being able to “zap” actors onto stage.
Walter tried a version of Kathryn being ‘zapped’ onto stage in a short black out.
PM
Walter worked on the key images in the text such as the cage and the drinking. Kathryn was asked to try
and hide the ape, so as to convince the academy that Red Peter was a human being. We also found out
more about which words are addressed directly to the audience.
WEDNESDAY 4th
AM
We had a look at where the hat tricks could fit into scenes, so they appear as surprises and have meaning in
relation to the text. Kathryn also wanted to find motivations for going behind the screen. In general, she is
finding all the interior logic at the moment. Walter showed a clip from the film Opening Night by John
Cassavetes. It has an excellent scene with an incredibly drunk woman who has to perform. It seemed to
give Kathryn inspiration of how to create her drunk sequence.
In the lunch break Kathryn had her first costume fitting. The costume has been made so that she can move
freely, and Kathryn tested the trousers by going into the splits and they stood the test. A special hat has
also been ordered, one suited for hat tricks as it has more weight to it.
PM
We had a first run through. David Lan was present and he gave very valuable feedback. He asked what’s at
stake for Red Peter, which led to a discussion about who the Red Peter is and could resemble in reality.
Red Peter could be compared with an asylum seeker, who might be accepted or might not get a passport.
The big question was about Red Peter’s relation to the Academy. Who are they to him? Complicit with Mr.
Hagenbeck3? Scientists? Might they put him into a laboratory cage for experiments any time?
3
Carl Hagenbeck (1844-1913) was a merchant of wild animals who supplied many European zoos. Red Peter, Kafka's Monkey,
was captured and brought back on a 'Hagenbeck steamer'. The image of the chimp used as part of the set is from Carl
Hagenbeck's book, Beasts and Men.
38
Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
THURSDAY 5th
AM
This morning Kathryn tried to incorporate the new thoughts from yesterday about Red Peter’s relation to
the Academy. With Colin Teevan and Walter she went through the beginning, making sure that all the
images were clear and came across to the audience. The first scene is quite literary and in the end they
made the decision to cut out a few passages.
At today’s production meeting we discussed next week’s technical schedule. While the audience seating is
put in we will have another space to rehearse in, so no precious time will be wasted. We talked about how
the side lights will be put up because it will influence how Kathryn will move in the space.
PM
The drinking from the hip flask is a sign of nervousness, and now Red Peter turns his back to the audience
the first couple of times he drinks, so as not to show the Academy. Later he cheers with them, talking
complicity about having shared many a good bottle of wine with his capturer. We had a look through the
play to see when he would drink.
Walter works with the principle that every time Red Peter goes too far, showing the monkey in him or
anger, he corrects himself. Red Peter now enters from the door with papers, suitcase and walking stick.
Tumijan came and repeated the tap routine. We try to avoid the text and the steps having the same rhythm,
which seems to give a much better swing and a way of listening to the words. Nikola splices an orchestral
piece and a solo piano number for the dance.
Kathryn and Walter also rehearsed in the evening, exploring more about his relationship to the Academy.
FRIDAY 6th
Nicola had recorded the music and we rehearsed the tap routine. It was quite different from having a live
39
Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
pianist who can follow dance and improvisation. Now Kathryn has to follow the music, so the dance has to
be quite fixed.
We continued laying out the inner journey of Red Peter, and exploring the relationship to the audience.
Kathryn was comparing each passage to a situation in reality. For example when Red Peter says he will
show his scar to anyone he wants, she compared it to a person who has been in a concentration camp
during World War II and has the right to show the number on their inner arm, even though it is unpleasant
for people to see. Walter said that Red Peter is like a jester who is allowed to say truths about humanity.
We had another run through with our first audience members from outside. It seemed to give Kathryn a lot
to have someone there with fresh eyes and ears - someone who had never heard the story before.
SATURDAY 7th
We rehearsed the dance number with a new addition - a little strip tease (only jacket, gloves and hat came
off). It was an exploration of how Red Peter might have sold himself at all costs to become recognised as a
human being, It also had something human-animal about it.
Walter and Kathryn explored the scene on the ship, where Red Peter remembers the crew members. It
became like stepping into a memory, a nightmare, with closed eyes and moving almost as though asleep in
the space, until awakened by the tickling of the crew.
Today we tried out our run-through on a new audience member, and... we should be ready for next week’s
tech and first preview....
40
Young Vic
Kafka’s Monkey
Based on A Report to an Academy by Franz Kafka
Adaptation Colin Teevan
14. BIBLIOGRAPHY
There has been more material written about Kafka than any other modern writer. Below is a list of the
resources used in the compilation of this pack.
Books:
Elizabeth Costello by J. M. Coetzee (Secker & Warburg: 1999).
Franz Kafka: A Biography by Max Brod (Da Capo Press: 1995).
Kafka by Erich Heller (Fontana Modern Masters: 1974).
Kafka for Beginners by David Zane Mairowitz and Robert Crumb (Icon Books: 1993).
Kafka’s Last Love by Kathi Diamant (Secker & Warburg: 2003).
The Lives of Animals by J. M. Coetzee (Princeton Paperbacks: 1999).
The Loves of Frank Kafka by Nahum Glatzer (Schocken Books: 1986).
The Nightmare of Reason: A Life of Franz Kafka by Ernst Pawel (Vintage Books: 1985).
Internet:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080801.wgreatestbook0801/BNStory/Entertain
ment
http://www.observer.com/2008/endearing-enduring-maniac
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1040561.html
http://www.animal-rights-library.com/texts-m/gray01.htm
http://www.kafka.org
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article4446131.ece
http://www.banffcentre.ca/Theatre/history/opera/production_1996B/reviews.asp
http://www.tiyatrooyunevi.com/CEZA/eng_ceza.html
http://cue.ru.ac.za/guide/shows/theatre/physical-theatre/report-academy.html
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