![]() ![]() The theme of selves divided - sometimes irreconcilably - runs through the work, and Galati has edited it concisely to bring the elusive connections between Kafka and Nakata into sharper relief. Like the book, the play bounces back and forth between story lines, with Steppenwolf trouper Jon Michael Hill, fresh from "Superior Donuts," playing Kafka's alter ego, Crow. ![]() The plot concerns the interlaced stories between Christopher Larkin's Kafka, a 15-year-old runaway trying to escape an Oedipal curse, and David Rhee's Nakata, an old man who lost the ability to read and write as a child in a mysterious incident during World War II, but found instead he had gained the ability to converse with cats. And for those who haven't read the book, surrender to Steppenwolf's craft and art and it may well end up a moving experience in any case. For those who've read the book, the play will bring certain elusive points into focus, without diminishing the overall magic. Yet as someone who admires Murakami's work and considers "Kafka" quite possibly his masterpiece, I have to insist that writer-director Frank Galati has done a masterful job of distilling Murakami's themes and bringing some sort of clarity to the story. ![]()
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