Steppenwolf Theatre Company Blog – Chicago Theater, World-Class Ensemble

What the hell is this play about? Cats and dogs talk, Johnnie Walker and Colonel Sanders make an appearance, Oedipus and his complex makes his rounds, and people walk around with half their shadow looking for an entrance stone. So begins the journey into Kafka on the Shore.

Aug 2008 - rehearsals begin with the normal pleasantries, i.e., we finally get to meet the members of the cast. And then, like the knights in King Arthur’s court, the players of the round table emerge to greet us, i.e. people from costumes, set design, administration, P.R, stage managers, interns, etc. My initial reaction - I don’t think there are this many people involved on Broadway.

Then there’s Frank Galati, our Arthur, holding court. After the introductions, the actors begin the first read through of the play. I laugh during the reading not only because of the play itself, but because Frank gets such a kick out of the play. Think Tom Hulce in the movie version of Amadeus. Frank’s contagious laughter makes for a relaxed atmosphere in the room. I begin to think, I don’t get this play but man are we in good hands.

It’s Sunday, Aug 31st, and we are well on our way. We went through Act II twice and boy, what Frank calls our ’skeleton’ is something to be excited about, or at least cautiously optimistic. Within two weeks we’ve gone to the top of a bridge to the depths of Johnnie Walker’s sadomasochistic torture chamber; from the serenity of a library to the pimping out of a shrine by Colonel Sanders. Confused? Welcome to our world! My own personal frustration comes from the fact that I can’t get a handle on Nakata. He appears as a 64 year old man who lives on a ’sub city’ from the governor, exercises by running around chasing cats, and makes it clear that he never had any cavities, and doesn’t wear glasses. Completely devoid of emotion, Nakata’s heart is the type of heart that’s worthy of finding the ‘holy grail’, i.e. the pure of heart. He’s mentally challenged, and he’s a Christ figure all in one. How does one play this without it becoming a caricature? I’m lost.

But Frank brought cookies, cupcakes, and carrot cake today which releases much of the pressure and leads us into a long discussion of lactose intolerant people – half the cast it turns out, since Asians and African –Americans seem to suffer from this malady. However, we do learn that Christopher, our Kafka, is not lactose intolerant, he’s just intolerant.

If that’s not enough, there’s a lot of male topless scenes going on in the show - first, Jon, then Chris, then Chris again, and finally Andy. I tell Andy to keep his shirt on because nobody wants to “see that,” and he exclaims, as he points to his less than ordinary abs, that “this is reality.” This leads me to question, which is the more surreal, Kafka on the Shore the play, or Kafka on the Shore the rehearsal? The lines between reality and fantasy blur as we march into our next week of rehearsal.

This entry was posted by David Rhee on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 at 8:25 am and is filed under Kafka on the Shore. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.