|
Kafka on the Shore
Based on the book by Haruki Murakami
Written and Directed by Frank Galati
At Steppenwolf Theatre
1650 N. Halsted Street
Chicago, IL
Call 312-335-1650, www.steppenwolf.org
Tuesday through Sundays at 7:30 pm
Saturday & Sundays at 3 pm
Wednesdays at 2 pm Oct 29 & Nov 12
Running time is 2 hours, 15 minutes with intermission
Through November 12, 2008
"Kafka on the Shore” contains several riddles, but there aren't any solutions provided. Instead, several of these riddles combine, and through their interaction the possibility of a solution takes shape. And the form this solution takes will be different for each reader. To put it another way, the riddles function as part of the solution. It's hard to explain, but that's the kind of novel I set out to write." –Haruki Murakami
Review by Randy Hardwick
Frank Galati’s stage adaptation of the Haruki Murakami novel Kafka on the Shore, now in its world premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre, is perhaps the most satisfying theatre experience I have seen this year. It is a complex story – in reality two parallel plot lines that may or may not actually intersect – that delves deeply into the nature of how we humans come to be what we are…whatever that is. If you are looking for concrete answers, you won’t find any. Kafka on the Shore is a surreal series of meditations on the human condition that invites the audience to ponder riddles… riddles that may or may not have answers. It is a cerebral contortionist class that turns minds inside out as the audience anxiously tries to make sense of the two fascinating tales.
The first story is that of Kafka (Christopher Larkin), a tall 15-year-old boy who has run away from his Tokyo home to escape a father he hates and may or may not have killed a la Oedipus. He is accompanied by his alter-ego, a shadow boy named Crow (Jon Michael Hill) who spurs him on his adventure, reminding him that he must be the toughest 15-year-old there ever was. Crow tells Kafka that we move as we choose, but that fate morphs around us no matter which direction we take. We are what we believe, but why do we believe what we believe? Is it learned history, myth, random event? Crow shadows Kafka wherever he goes. Larkin and Hill are magnetic as well as beautiful to watch together. Along the way Kafka encounters love, passion, and desire. He is sheltered for a while at a private library on an estate in Takamatsu by a young librarian, Oshima (Gerson Dacanay), who may or may not be in love with Kafka and the older mistress of the library, Miss Saeki (Lisa Tejero), who may or may not be Kafka’s mother/lover – Oedipus again. You’ll have to figure all of this out on your own, I’m afraid, but I can assure you that it is well worth the effort.
 |
In the other plot line we meet Nakata (David Rhee), an older man who lost most of his higher mental faculties after being rendered unconscious, possibly as a result of some military activity, while on a mushroom gathering field trip as a schoolboy. In place of his intellect he has been left with an ability to read cats’ minds and now makes his way in life searching for lost cats. He is accompanied on his search for the cat Goma by a friend of chance encounter, Hoshino (Andrew Pang). Nakata has only half a shadow and has no idea why he is going where he is going. Along the way both Nakata and Hoshino are led to do things they do not necessarily want to do by fate in the form of two advertising icons: the cat killing Johnnie Walker and the pimp Colonel Sanders, both played to delightful perfection by Frank Guinan.
 |
Kafka on the Shore has it all: two great plot lines, a uniformly superb cast, a beautiful and stylish set (James Schuette), great costumes (Mara Blumenfeld), and even wonderful original music (Andre Pluess & Ben Sussman). The show is sexy and funny and guaranteed to keep you interested through the very last moment. This is powerful theatre.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Date Reviewed: September 27, 2008
randyontheglobe@yahoo.com for comments
Imaginative, innovative and theatrically thrilling adaptation of Murakami’s novel a gem.
Director Frank Galati’s adaptation of Japanese novelist Hatuki Murakami’s “Kafka on the Shore” is a most interesting and theatrically artistic stage event. The power of imagination where fantasy, dreams and reality overlay into an amazing stage event. This fantastical tale of a boy’s coming of age parallels an old man’s search for destiny moves through a labyrinth of time in Japan starting with events during World War II and moving back and forth in time to the present. The crossing from dreams and imaging create a unique stylistic show. We see the teen, Kafka (Christopher Larkin) as he journeys in search of enlightenment and his place in the world. We also have funny encounters with the demented old man who helps cats find their homes. 
We meet God in the form of Johnny Walker and Colonel Sanders (Francis Guinan) as this enticing and artistic enchanting (and often funny) play unfolds. The staging is outstanding and the lighting (by James F. Ingalls) and sound (by Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman) are amazingly powerful. The story comes together as the principals eventually wake up to the reality of their own lives. Their journey produces a special theatrical treat.
Highly Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: September 27, 2008
|
