Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis)

“One morning, as Gregor Samsa awoke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous insect.” This, the first sentence in Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis”, is known the world over and conjures up an entire universe of fear and alienation. The young travelling salesman cannot find his old self again; he is forced to give up his job, can no longer take care of his family, and feels what it is like to be completely isolated from his surroundings. His sister is the only person willing to look in on him sometimes, to tidy his room or to bring food. At some point, it is necessary to remove him in order for new beginnings to be possible. Gregor, unsentimental and fascinated by his physical deterioration, but then again full of Weltschmerz and self-doubt, observes his transformation into a – into what, exactly?

Director Lucia Bihler takes this iconic parable, a gem of world literature, and turns it into a series of transformational stages that focus on questions of loneliness, loss of trust, powerlessness and disappearance in this day and age. After directing Maria Lazar’s DIE EINGEBORENEN VON MARIA BLUT, which was invited to be performed at the 2023 Theatertreffen, Bihler is now tackling this famous work by Franz Kafka, a visionary of modern literature, who was born in Prague in 1883 and died in Kierling near Vienna in 1924, almost 100 years ago.