A report to an Academy by Franz Kafka

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.

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.

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.

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.  

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

MONDAY 16th

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.

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 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

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 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

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 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.

MONDAY 23rd

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 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

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.

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 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 – 7^th March 2009

MONDAY 2nd

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 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

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?

THURSDAY 5th

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

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.

Kathryn and Walter also rehearsed in the evening, exploring more about his relationship to the Academy.

FRIDAY 6th

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.

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....

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080801.wgreatestbook0801/BNStory/Entertainment

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