Metamorphosis: When dreams turn abysmal

Franz Kafka

's mind-stirring novella,

The Metamorphosis

, was back on stage in the city on Sunday evening. Directed by

Rebecca Spurgeon

, the theatrical adaptation, which is mostly in tandem with the striking elements present in the book, grows on you from the moment the play begins. If you’re watching the show for the first time, you might be taken aback by the piercing background score, play of lights and the manner in which a bunch of mind-bobbing human insects fleet about the stage, lapping over one another, as a man remains asleep in the centre. Baffled? Yes, it’s about a bad dream ransacking the human mind. It’s

metamorphosis

— where you transform abysmally, but you can’t really help it. Blame the bad dream or dark realities of life itself,

Gregor Samsa

turns into a giant insect when he wakes up one morning at home.
Architecture, set design, movement arts, shadow work, components of psychical theatre and the coordination and camaraderie between the characters in the performance compel the audience to delve deeper into the abstract genre that Kafka has carved.

Swetanshu Bora

impresses in the role of a father who fails to strike an equation with his son, as

Denny Paul

attempts to decipher the loneliness, fear and agony that one goes through while striving to meet the expectations of those who matter in your life. The insect, nonetheless, is the hero of the play, whose many moods are convincingly depicted by artistes Aarthy AR,

Akhil Jamkhandi

and Pooja Sabarinath.