Photo by Keats Elliott
Reviewed by Warren D Riley
Atwater Village Theatre
Through November 22
RECOMMENDED
This review is part of the Stage Raw/Unusual Suspects Youth Journalism Program
Fans of Franz Kafka will be delighted at Atwater Village Theatre, with Open Fist Theatre Company’s adaptation of the author’s debut novel Amerika or, the Man Who Disappeared, written and directed by Emmy Award-winner Dietrich Smith.
Amerika tells the story of Karl Rossmann (Ethan Remez-Scott), a young German man who arrives in a surrealist, brutal, and utterly hilarious New York City. Over the course of three acts, Rossmann reaches new lows in the nightmarish world presented by a creative team that could make the show’s technical direction the best of the season.
Though the theater is larger than the standard black box, the scenic design by Frederica Nascimento makes the world unimaginably expansive. The world of Kafka’s Amerika is a cruel one, yet Nascimento brings a vibrant immersion of shape and color that lends itself well to the three-part epic.
The play opens with Rossmann arriving in New York via a steam boat slowly approaching the statue of liberty. To simulate the view of the approaching statue, four individual mini-back drops (made by the incomparable Elizabeth Moore) unfurl and reveal detailed impressionist sketches, with each sketch zooming in closer and closer to the raised hand of the statue itself. Drops are subsequently used throughout the performance to remarkable effect. Moore’s drop design has a way of grounding the piece while doubling down on the absurdity which brought Kafka’s writing fame.
In thematic moments which require characters travelling, such as Rossmann’s journey to the New York state countryside or his sojourn through the bowels of the steamboat, the audience is delighted by stick-figure animations created by John R Dilworth, which appear as projections on discrete rolling slats. While lesser projections may hinder an audience’s ability to stay grounded in a story, Dilworth’s animations keep with the momentum of the show, breaking up the tension of particularly word-heavy scenes, and further solidifying the undercurrent of humor that gives Kafka/Smith’s text a charming edge.
Though the technical elements (including perfectly timed lighting by designer Gavan Wyrick) bring the story of Amerika off the page, the show’s runtime is a tad excessive. Throughout the entirety of the performance, Rossmann finds himself in increasingly desperate social and living situations, and at three acts clocking in at an hour for each act, the happenings in Rossmann’s life eventually become difficult to follow. Smith’s adaptation seemsto adhere closely to the original text, with the inclusion of plot lines that, if trimmed, may have cut the show’s runtime while still honoring Kafka’s unfinished debut work.
That being said, Smith creates a dynamic world, emphasizing the humor of Kafka’s writing that often goes undiscussed. While the plot is dizzying, as is common in the bizarre stories which arise from the author’s oeuvre, the technical and directorial scope are unmatched in theaters of this size. If one can brave the three-hour runtime, the brilliant and unsettling world of Amerika or, the Man Who Disappeared will bring new meaning to the word “Kafka-esque.”
Open Fist Theatre Company, Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., Atwater. Fri., Sat., 7 pm, Sun., 2 pm. Mon., Oct. 20, 7:30 pm; thru Nov. 22. www.openfist.org Running time: three hours and five minutes with two intermissions.
