THE METAMORPHOSIS
Revival 2013 ROH , The Joyce Theatre New York 2013, Filmed for Sky Arts broadcast and DVD.
direction/choreography ARTHUR PITA
music FRANK MOON
designer SIMON DAW
lighting GUY HOARE
cast
Gregor Samsa Edward Watson
Grete Samsa Laura Day
Mrs Samsa Nina Goldman
Mr Samsa ANTON SKRZYPICIEL
Clerk/Vomiter/Bearded Man GREIG COOKE
Maid/Vomiter/Bearded Ma nBETTINA CARPI
Train Conductor/Vomiter/Bearded Man Joe Walkling
"
The staging is cleverly choreographed by Arthur Pita, well designed by Simon Daw to evoke a petit bourgeois home and has an eclectic score by Frank Moon. "
" "The suffering portrayed is that of medieval crucifixes, of Francis Bacon’s contorted males, of animals in their death-throes."
" It is terrifying, heart-tearing, piteous. And glorious. "
" It must, must be seen. "
" dance genius "
FINANCIAL TIMES *****
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Arthur Pita's marvellous retelling of Kafkaís The Metamorphosis catches pitch perfect right from the start. "
" Watson is amazingly changed into a slithering, sprawling, boneless creature. "
" every element of Pita's dance drama is equally strong "
" Pita’s great gift as a choreographer is to sketch these two contrasting worlds so sharply. "
THE TELEGRAPH *****
"
Pita's stylish new dance adaptation "
" flexed elbows and splayed toes suggest an insect's delicate limbs, while the hunch of his back shows the pain of his transformation. "
" Gregor leaves a dark trail, a disruptive sign of where he has been. "
" the performances are superb "
THE INDEPENDENT ****
"
This radical mutation is arguably more gruelling to watch than Kafka's descriptions are to read. "
" The performances are excellent "
" Gregor's new body hideously exudes, knots himself into horrifyingly dehumanised shapes. "
" Pita's riveting adaptation "
THE GUARDIAN ****
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Metamorphosis makes perfect physical theatre "
" a perfect symbol of otherness and neglect "
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH ****
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Arthur Pita presents an intermittently inventive take on the mysterious allegory. "
" physical portrayal of the unfortunate evolutionary is appropriately painful to witness "
" wonderfully evocative "
" a genuinely unnerving dream "
THE STAGE
"
Pita conjures in one neat cartoon loop the deadly continuum of Gregor Samsa's life "
" Arthur Pita's "re-interpretation" of The Metamorphosis does a fine job in translating the book's smarting humour "
" Simon Daw's set, two all-white rooms into which the audience peers from two sides like prying neighbours "
" Watson is horribly convincing as a blank-eyed salaryman, pre-delirium. "
" Kafka's disturbing vision of a family man's double life as a gigantic insect makes a dramatic ballet "
INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
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giant bug, or alienated psyche ? Pita's production allows you to read it either way "
" Watson's freakish performance is a physical tour de force "
" The transformation sees the sinewy, hyperflexible Watson twisted into anguished and inhumanly weird shapes "
" Their ooze-streaked farewell duet is one of the saddest I've seen "
THE OBSERVER
"
Edward Watson … a shape-shifting, slime-spewing creature" "an indelible vision. "
" exceptional embodiment of a living nightmare "
" remarkable "
BALLET.CO.UK