THE METAMORPHOSIS By Kafka
"...Black Moon
Theatre Company has succeeded in creating a piece of
compelling drama. Twinning mime and expressionism
with a claustrophobic score by Amaury Groc, the
oppressive mood music of the text is retained with
little recourse to words. Instead, Eric
Pettigrew uses the spidery elasticity of his body to
communicate the inner pain of Gregor Samsa.
His contortions have a melancholy beauty to them, as
if he is condemned to perform the moves of a captive
animal. Moreover, the film that runs
throughout never distracts from the stage action. As
a character leaves a door on the screen, they enter
another onstage, establishing a continuity between
the two that is so often missing from multimedia
theatre. This production is a rare thing - a piece
of genre-hopping that refuses to take the obvious
route and instead proves the greatness of theatre by
infusing it with other art forms..."
Andrew Blades -
TheStage.co.uk 2005
“... THIS IS the Fringe at its best: a startling,
dramatic show which has you on the edge of your seat.
A multi-media production that’s almost a textbook
example of how to blend live performance and film...
Shot in a style paying homage to German expressionism
yet with an arch edge reminiscent of the Canadian
filmmaker Guy Madden, the film images are beautifully
stylised and occasionally figures from it step "out"
of the screen... Moving, powerful, a devastating
show...” (*****)
”... An imaginative
production, making extensive use of projected film to
increase our sense of the isolation of Gregor Samsa,
trapped both as an insect who was once a man and
imprisoned by his family in a single room. Excellent
physical theatre sees him clinging precariously to
every available perch a sparse set provides, unable to
communicate his fearful confusion to a family who
increasingly view him as the one who has imprisoned
them. The projected film represents something of an
homage to German film of the 1920's and 30's... its
very modernity, offering angles and techniques Pabst
or Von Stroheim might have delighted in... A very
considerable achievement, well worth the time of the
audiences it justly deserves..." -
EdinburghGuide.com
"The Black Moon Theatre Company have created an
amazing new staging of Kafka's great work in a bold,
daring multimedia format. Split screens show a
disturbing recreation of a 1920's German expressionist
film of the action. Characters wander disconcertingly
from he film onto the stage and back again. Film and
music are used to powerful dramatic effect, but what
really lifts the production to an
extraordinary level is the central performance of Jay
Gaussoin. From the terrifying birth sequence onwards,
it is hard to take your eyes of this superb physical
performance... It is a tour de force of physical
acting and a heartrending and beautiful response to
the mystery of human suffering.
- (****) Four Stars Steve Hennessy, Venue Magazine
"... Migliaccio does well to take on a complex and
abstract tale, and should be commended for his
vision. This is a thought provoking and unusual
production worth investigating."
- FourthOne 97.3
“... Brilliant theatre... Migliaccio’s conceit ...
translates the polarization of Kafka’s central
character and the world around him into the
stage/screen divide... Migliaccio walks a fine line
with his daring attempt at challenging theatre,
verging more towards brilliant cinema...”
- TheStage.co.uk 2004
“…
Black Moon Theatre Company’s multimedia adaptation
of Kafka’s Metamorphosis managed to create stunning
images on film and stage. This genius of modernist
self-containment is a 20-year culmination of the
Migliaccio signature "expressionist realism"
collaborative style … A breathtaking visual marriage
of polarities transported this classical drama into
the mythical realm of Cocteau’s Beauty and the
Beast…” -
NY Arts
“…
New
York
’s
Black Moon Theatre Company has created a bold and
compelling treatment of Samsa’s nightmare… The
ingenious fusion of film and stage, resourcefully
directed by René Migliaccio, allows for the evocation
of Samsa’s effort to adjust to the nightmare of his
newly altered state… Black Moon production offers
the story with a remarkable clarity of vision…”
-
Philadelphia
Inquirer
“…
Director René Migliaccio has a very
powerful aural and visual sensibility…
Black Moon’s production highlights a director
with a clear love of the theatrical and nearly
academic approach to his art: truly a rare find…”
-
NY Theatre.com
“…A
Dr.
Caligari atmosphere with a touch of Cocteau…”
- CurtainUp.com
“… The film
creates a 1920's chiaroscuro atmosphere that is
transfixing…”
-
Aufbau New York
THE
BAKKHAI By Euripides
“… Black Moon
Theatre Company's inaugural production is visually
stimulating and risky.
It is a pleasure to see this company tackling
The Bakkhai's emotional and physical challenges with
such veracity…”
-
NY Theatre.com
