Author Description

Focusing on rehearsals for the 1991 Mitsubishi Theatre, Tokyo, production of his adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis, Steven Berkoff muses on the nine previous productions of the play over a twenty-three-year span, starting with his own performance as Gregor Samsa in 1969 at the Round House, London, and taking in the productions in Los Angeles in 1982 with Brad Davis, 1986 at the Mermaid in London with Tim Roth, 1988 in Paris with Roman Polanski and 1989 in New York with Mikhail Baryshnikov. Meditations on 'Metamorphosis' dissects and illuminates Kafka's story and Berkoff's own stage adaptation, contrasting rehearsal techniques and performance styles between different cultures and sexes. A valuable document for students of Metamorphosis, actors, directors and all fans of the explosive dynamism of Steven Berkoff's work.