Kafka on the Shore
At
Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company
www.steppenwolf.org
1650 North Halsted Street
Chicago, Illinois 60614
312.335.1650

Martha Lavey: Artistic Director
David Hawkanson: Executive Director

Based on the book by Haruki Murakami
(Murakami Book Website)

Adapted for the stage and directed by: Frank Galati

Featuring:
Christine Bunuan, Gerson Dacanay,
Mary Ann de la Cruz, Francis Guinan,
Jon Michael Hill, Christopher Larkin,
Aiko Nakasone, Andrew Pang, David Rhee, Lisa Tejero

Scenic Design: James Schuette
Costume Design: Mara Blumenfeld
Lighting Design: James F. Ingalls
Original Music and Sound Design: Andre Pluess, Ben Sussman
Fight Choreographer: Joe Dempsey
Stage Manager: Malcolm Ewen
Assistant Stage Manager: Lauren V. Hickman
Communications Director: David Rosenberg

Susan Weinrebe
September 27, 2008

An opaque blend of sex, violence, road trip, and Oedipal fantasy are the warp upon which the world premiere adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s novel, Kafka on the Shore, is woven. This is not a play to enjoy. It is a play to puzzle over and in which to appreciate performances that nonetheless leave us with no resolution to the characters’ or our own questions.

Time shifts, well, shiftlessly, back and forth from the present to WWII. Fantasies akin to altered states of consciousness or going off psychotropic medications shuttle back and forth. Corporate cartoons, Johnnie Walker of whiskey fame, and Colonel Sanders, nemesis of chickens, are brought to life as the most unsavory of characters. The former tortures and kills cats and the latter is a pimp. That is not to say, however, that Francis Guinan’s portrayal of each of these aberrations was not the most delicious part of the play.

As the young, self-named Kafka proceeds on his journey, various guides appear to assist him. The most constant guide is his alter ego, his Jiminy Cricket-like shadow, Crow, but a taxi driver, a finder of lost cats, a hair dresser, and two librarians also complete the panoply of ambiguous characters, ever ready to give physical succor, or at least kōan-like observations, to the young wanderer who joins other seekers in the play.

As one character noted, “God took a knife and cut people down the middle. Since then, everyone runs around trying to find the other half.” There is a lot of business focused on finding things in Kafka. Whether one realizes or not what has been found, that is part of one’s fate; “Even chance meetings are the result of karma.” So, whether it is an entrance stone, a long-lost sister, or a sultry cat named Mimi, wherever one goes, there one is!

Just as Dorothy learned after much travel and travail that there was no place like home, Kafka was told early on, “Sometimes fate is like a terrible sandstorm that chases you. The storm is you.” The final backdrop, a huge photo mural of murky waves and the sound effect of water moiling, bolsters the notion of lives crashing against one another as people churn through their perceptions of reality.

Ever engaging is the post-play discussion, a forum with audience and actors, or in this case, Artistic Director Martha Lavey, hashing interpretations back and forth. Quite exciting is the new addition of Watch & Listen to the Steppenwolf website. Articles, pod casts, videos, photos and more enhance the Steppenwolf experience. To become even more participatory in the theater experience, try the Steppenwolf blog which goes through the production process, accepts reader posts, and more.

Jon Michael Hill (Crow) and Christopher Larkin (Kafka)
Photo by Michael Brosilow

Francis Guinan (Johnnie Walker) and David Rhee (Nakata)
Photo by Michael Brosilow

Andrew Pang (Hoshino) and Francis Guinan (Colonel Sanders)
Photo by Michael Brosilow

Christopher Larkin (Kafka) and Lisa Tejero (Miss Saeki)
Photo by Michael Brosilow

Aiko Nakasone (Sakura) and Christopher Larkin (Kafka)
Photo by Michael Brosilow

Mary Ann de la Cruz (Mimi) and David Rhee (Nakata)
Photo by Michael Brosilow

Christopher Larkin (Kafka) and the cast of "Kafka on the Shore"
Photo by Michael Brosilow

For more information, contact Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower at zlokower@bestweb.net