The Metamorphosis - Academy Theater Vienna

"When Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin." The opening sentence of Franz Kafka's THE METAMORPHOSIS is world-famous and opens up a universe of fear and alienation. The young traveling salesman can no longer connect with himself, must give up his job, is unable to support his family, and experiences what it feels like to be completely cut off from the outside world. Only his sister dares to enter his room occasionally to tidy up or bring him something to eat. Unsentimental and fascinated by his increasingly debilitating physicality, yet filled with world-weariness and self-doubt, Gregor observes his ongoing transformation into a—well, what exactly?

Director Lucia Bihler translates this iconic parable into a series of transformation variations that address questions of loneliness, change, identity, and normality. In doing so, she approaches the narrative of the modern prodigy Franz Kafka, born in Prague in 1883 and deceased in 1924, a century ago, in Kierling near Vienna, in an associative and sensual manner.

Direction | Lucia Bihler
Set Design | Pia Maria Mackert
Costumes | Victoria Behr
Music | Jacob Suske
Puppet Construction | Simon Buchegger
Puppet Coaching | Katharina Halus
Mask Performance | Mats Süthoff
Lighting | Norbert Piller
Dramaturgy | Mats Süthoff, Jeroen Versteele

Gregor Samsa | Paulina Alpen
Franz Kafka | Jonas Hackmann
Grete Samsa | Stefanie Dvorak
Mother Samsa | Dorothee Hartinger
Father Samsa | Philipp Hauß