Kafka, Beckett hit stage in May
Works by two major contemporary playwrights, Samuel Beckett and Franz Kafka, will go on stage at the Dimitris Horn Theater (10 Amerikis, tel 210.361.2500) in May. As part of the «Theater Beyond Borders» festival, the Attiki Cultural Company will present two special projects. In collaboration with playwright Marie-Helene Estienne, legendary director Peter Brook will direct «Fragments» May 9 to 11, a performance consisting of Beckett’s one-act plays «Act Without Words II,» «Come and Go,» «Rockabye,» «Rough for Theater I» and «Neither.» Brook has expressed his belief that labeling the Irish Nobel Prize winner as a pessimist is false, something he thinks only portrays one side of the famous playwright’s work. His alternative approach has prompted the British press to write that Brook brings out Beckett’s brighter side. «Fragments» stars Hayley Carmichael, Marcello Magni and Khalifa Natour. The second project, which is to be staged from May 15 to 17, is the monologue «Kafka’s Monkey.» The production is based on Kafka’s short story «A Report to an Academy,» which has been adapted by Colin Teevan. «Kafka’s Monkey» premiered at London’s Young Vic Theater in March and will be presented in Greece for the first time. Kathryn Hunter, an actress of Greek descent (Katerina Hadjipatera) and a recipient of the Laurence Olivier Theater Award in 1991 for her role as the millionairess in Friedrich Durrenmatt’s «The Visit,» stars in the monologue and portrays a man who used to be an ape. The play is directed by Walter Meierjohann. Both productions will feature Greek supertitles.
