Grid Theatre shines a spotlight on ideas of civilisation and humanity with Red Peter, the stage adaptation of Franz Kafka’s A Report to an Academy, which runs as part of Camden Fringe next month. Book your tickets now!
The one-person play runs at the Etcetera Theatre from 1 to 6 August 2019.
An ape has been captured in the jungles of West Africa and brought back to ‘civilization’ by his European captors. To escape a life of incarceration, he ‘evolves’ into a human being. Red Peter, as he is known, mimics human habits from the crew of the ship upon which he is imprisoned, masters human speech and eventually decides to embrace human society rather than languish in a zoo as an ape. He presents to an academy to give a report about his former life.
Kafka wrote his short story in 1917, a decade into his career and five years after he wrote The Metamorphosis. It has spawned a number of adaptations, including Charlie Kaufman‘s 2001 film Human Nature, 1989 Edinburgh Festival hit The Greatest Ape and Colin Teevan‘s 2009 stage adaptation Kafka’s Ape, which starred Kathryn Hunter as Red Peter.
Kafka’s tale explores what it is to be human from an outsider’s perspective, exposing modern man’s isolation and solitude through the mind of an ape. Red Peter’s confession about how hard it is to constantly present himself as human to the human world can be seen as a metaphor for the problems faced by the many minority communities in contemporary society, whether they define themselves by nationality, race, religion, culture, gender or sexuality.
Dancer, choreographer and actor Denzil Barnes takes on the role of Red Peter in this dramatic monologue, directed by Grid Theatre’s Chris Yun-Ward.
The Etcetera Theatre has a packed programme of work running this Camden Fringe, including tale of deadly ambition The Last King of Porn and Red Peter. Elsewhere the Fringe schedule also includes story of adultery and social media Letting Go, comic coming-of-middle-age play My Name is Cathy and refugee drama The Net.
Full festival programme
For details on all 300+ shows in the 2019 Camden Fringe programme, visit the festival website
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