EWAN CAMERON picks out two fascinating music shows, fusing the Korean, and the Celtic, with the modern
With the beetles
SUSAN DARLINGTON is disappointed by a show that emphasises roles rather than characters
QUEASILY PITCHED: Frantic Assembly's production of Metamorphosis
[Tristram Kenton]
BENJAMIN POTHIER suggests that Palaeolithic cave paintings in Spain point to the ceremonial use of hallucinogenic flora
The bard confirms that the right has a humour bypass, and replays the English Revolution on period instruments
MARIA DUARTE and ANDY HEDGECOCK review Sunny Dancer, Tony, Songs of Forgotten Trees, and The End of Oak Street
JOHN GREEN relishes a powerful and moving drama that explores the lived realities of west London’s Punjabi community
MARTIN HALL welcomes a plea for greater compassion between believer and non-believer via the framework of philosophical enquiry
Metamorphosis
York Theatre Royal
ANYONE who’s ground down by the 9-5 will be able to relate to the opening scene in Metamorphosis. Adapted from Franz Kafka’s novella by Lemn Sissay, in partnership with Frantic Assembly, it shows Gregor Samsa (Felipe Pacheco) stuck in a Groundhog Day of hellish salesmanship.
“I love fabric!” he perkily announces, grabbing his briefcase and waving off his parents and sister Grete as he leaves the house. It’s a routine that’s repeated again and again and again. Each time his voice is less enthusiastic, his body more slumped, his goodbyes more frazzled.
The scene, which starts in a drab bedroom whose perspectives are queasily pitched, is accompanied by pulses of 1950s adverts that proclaim the value of hard work, capitalism, and the role of the working man. Doubling down on the message, Gregor’s parents speak in marketing slogans and Grete (Hannah Sinclair Robinson) practices model poses in a full-length mirror as she transitions into womanhood.
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