Kafka and Son

Based on Franz Kafka’s Letter to His Father, Kafka and Son explores the relationship between the tyrannical father and the long-suffering son.

With Alon Nashman’s convincing and thoroughly engaging one-man performance, this adaptation takes Kafka's writing and transforms it into a passionate lamentation of a life misunderstood.

Andrea Lundy’s lighting design contributes to the stage atmosphere by casting Kafka’s shadow on the back wall. While Kafka becomes agitated imitating his father, one can see the shadow loom behind him. Meanwhile, music is used excellently in the few surprising but fascinating scenes that break with Kafka’s monologue, giving him a momentary escape from his father.

The show seems to assert that Kafka’s relationship with his father wasn’t extraordinary – it was just a troubled connection, which could be communicated to anyone regardless of their familiarity with Kafka.