Teatro's 'The Metamorphosis' to open on April 14

CAIRO – 5 April 2018: "You can't wake up; it's not a dream."

That's the tagline for Teatro Independent Theatre's upcoming interactive performance of "The Metamorphosis", set to open on April 14. The performance is a loose adaptation of acclaimed writer Franz Kafka's nightmarish masterpiece story of a young man who awakens one day in the body of a giant insect, shunned by his family and forced to come to terms with his hideous new existence.

Teatro's rendition takes some creative liberties with the source material, opting to tell a mysterious, philosophical tale on the future of mankind. According to the Facebook page for the event, this performance is set in the "eighteenth year of the third millennium", a time of great transition which sees the human race devolve into new levels of savagery and confusion.

Mindless consumption, violence, aggression and war rule the world as new forms of humanity mixed with beasts have appeared; soulless inhuman creatures exist only in misery as they hunt down and "extract humanity" from their poor victims wherever they can. Its central plot deals with an estranged family, struggling in this strange world.
The interactive elements of this performance allow audiences to become part of the story, enacting certain elements from Kafka's original tale alongside the nightmarish new world that Teatro has constructed for a truly unique experience.

The performance is designed for unique venues rather than typical theatres, and so Teatro's choice to use an abandoned theatre in downtown Cairo proves to be incredibly fitting thematically. Omar el-Moutaz Bel’ah serves as the writer and producer for this play, and is also the founder of Teatro and Osiris Art Productions and Training. He also serves as the scenographer, art director and character designer, with Dina Salem as the make-up artist and Hazem Header as the choreographer. The cast consists of Sarah Khalil, Nourhan Saleh and Ahmed el-Sharkawy.

Teatro Independent Theatre is a progressive arts center that opened in 2003; it seeks to push the boundaries of what Egyptian theatre can do. The theatre's performances tend to center on artistic performances relating to existential questions about choice and humanity, and succeeded in achieving worldwide recognition. Its last play, "No Exist", was presented back in 2013 at the French Institute in Cairo and the Falaki Theatre.