Presented by Edinburgh Little Theatre

Review by Eve Nugent

Dunedin Theatre at Braw Venues @ Hill Street

Julian Henry Lowenfeld’s latest iteration of Kafka for Beginners is gripping. Where political writing so often sacrifices on craft in the name of conviction, Lowenfeld refuses to sacrifice either. The result is a script of pure poetry, with an even purer message: “there is no truth, where there’s no love”.

Intelligently, Lowenfeld wrote his protagonist as The Poet; this allowed him to use language extravagantly, a rare treat in new writing. An even greater treat was to hear Reuben Foran-Gillespie perform this poetry, as The Poet, taking every delight possible in its meter and linguistic playfulness. He struck the balance between pitiful and charming superbly.

This was complemented in kind, both pitiful and charming, by Dashaun Vegas’ Agent 9. With stellar stage presence and sharp physical and verbal responses, Vegas deserves great credit for almost single-handedly keeping the pace and intensity alive. Ellen Publicover, as The Supervisor, matched this intensity thoroughly. This had greatest effect in the later moments, having at first felt rather unearned and distracted slightly.

Boasting such a demanding script and work-proud cast, director Derek Douglas faced a challenge to bring this work cohesively together. Where he succeeded – with intelligent lighting design to portray the soul-shrinking darkness of imprisonment and haunting sound bites spliced through the dialogue – it was fantastically immersive. Yet, the persistence of a screen on stage was undeniably distracting and was far too little used to justify its presence.  

Kafka for Beginners, like it’s playwright, is ultimately a credit to its anti-authoritarian message. It is a celebration not only of those who dedicate themselves to truth, but of the power that poetry and creativity with language can play in this dedication.

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