WORLD

World of offices and receptions, world of dark chambers, musty rooms-it is Kafka’s world. There’s not enough life to reach a nearby village in the world of Kafka and a stoker’s ship and a land surveyor’s pub are so immensely enormous as it may seen only in a missing childhood. The one, who wants to see this way, must become a child and much to forget.

Kafka’s images are sad and waning. Cretaceous pallor of mongoloid faces of small inhabitants; smell of stuffy feather-bed and mattresses’ red colour, from which covers have been lifted and carried away.

Another world begins not somewhere behind a line, but here, in the middle of this world. Another world hides somewhere in the folds of the current, everyday life and everybody take this neighborhood like a natural tribute.

Kafka’s world is a Universal Theatre. The living example is a Great Oklahoma Theatre where everyone is accepted.

So, on the long bench, covered with white tablecloth, all people who connected their life with a Great Theatre are fed with sacramental dinner. “Everybody was joyfully excited.” On the occasion, statists were dressed as angels. They stand on high pedestals, covered them and leading on them narrow stairs with their snowy angelic covers. If they haven’t got tied to the back wings, they would be even the real ones.

POWER

The main idea of Kafka’s creative work is reaction on an absolute power. This power- the power of violent patriarch- was called by Benjamin a parasitic one; it devours the life over which gravitates. Gregor Zamza has turned in a bug, but not his father. Unnecessary turn to be not the power prevailing, but the powerless heroes. World of suppression, by the force of small inhabitant fear, is pressed to the totality, closed and devoid of sense, like any system.

There is no system without settled grounds) - on it Kafka predicts.

GUILT

Kafka’s area is struck by the fault, culpability of every person, regardless of who and how feels their own guilt. Non-recognition of guilt- is the most serious crime, because it impugns force of Law. Nobody is guilty, cause everybody is guilty. By virtue of this fact, there is no need in open trial, because defendants themselves are interested in nondisclosure of what have happened with them.

GESTURES

“Slowly and carefully he rolled up his eyes not seeing, took one of the paper from the table, put it on the palm and gradually rising from an armchair, began to stretch it to the both companions. At this time he didn’t think, but acted like on his representation he’ll have to act when he finally prepares the very important document, which can justify him.”

Kafka’s characters gestures are excessive for our ordinary world: they punch gaps through which we see very different spaces. His creative work is a code of gestures, symbolic sense of which, however, doesn’t clear to the author himself. Theatre is the most suitable place for such kind of testing. And we’ve tried.

K.

There are a lot of strangeness in Jozef’s behavior, he behaves as if he doesn’t worry about his own destiny, he isn’t afraid and mostly is interested in shame, than in the real danger which threaten him, he has no fear of irreparable, what may happen. However he has neither repentance nor resignation, he is in search of outer, “true” cause, responsible for the fact what happens with him. He can’t explain, what is going on because he refers to an outer, value of outer is incomparable with the value of inner state. Instead of moving from outer to inner state to find out a moral Law, i.e. such a Law which satisfy human freedom, autonomy of will, he compelled with false ideas of mind, moves into the opposite direction. He demands a trial and puts in action this strange legal process himself and becomes its first victim.

LAW

From apostle Paul letter:

Rom 7.7-25:

7 Shall we say, then, that the Law itself is sinful? Of couse not! But it was the Law that made me know what sin is. If the Law had not said, “Do not desire what belongs to someone else,” I would not have known such a desire.

8 But by means of that commandment sin found its chance to stir up all kinds of selfish desires in me. Apart from law, sin is dead thing.

9 I myself was once alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life,

10 and I died. And the commandment which was meant to bring life, in my case brought dearth.

11 Sin found its chance, and by means of the commandment it deceived me and killed me…  

MUSIC 

Music for the performance was composed by Aleksandr Budko.

All over: zongs about destiny of Jozef K., creaks, percussion, singing of medicine cruets – is a result of group improvisations.

ESTHETIC

• Expressionism with its colours absence – because Kafka “didn‘t tell them apart”
• Clowns, farce theatre - because we feel that in Kafka‘s books
• Oriental theatre: Kabuki , Bali theatre - because there are fixed, expressive gestures and such gestures are ideal form for Kafka‘s characters
• Da-da, absurd humour - humour of Magritt and English comic actors - because at the beginning we decided to see into Kafka by dint of laugh.

Actors : Siarhei Haiko, Aleg Harbatsuik, Aksana Haiko, Veta Verte

Director : Aksana Haiko

Light design : Anna Fiodarava

Music : Aleksandr Budko

Costumes : Vladimir Baranovsky

Duration: 75 min.

Premiere : 23 April 2009