The great Theatre of Oklahoma is calling you! It’s calling you today only! If you miss this opportunity there will never be another! Anyone thinking of his future, your place is with us! All welcome! Anyone who wants to be an artist, step forward! We are the theatre that has a place for everyone, everyone in his place! … All welcome!
-Franz Kafka, Amerika
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14-25 October, 2014. The Gym, The Arts Centre
20-30 November, The Gym, The Arts Centre, 2014 - extended season Free Theatre Christchurch becomes the great Theatre of Oklahoma and calls you to the first major new work to be produced in the restored Christchurch Arts Centre. Kafka's Amerika builds on the success of I Sing the Body Electric, which in 2012 was named by the Press, 'Best Theatre Production': "this was a production to plunge into rather than politely nibble and analyse... theatre for all the senses. Outstanding".
Conceived as an interactive multimedia theatre production, Kafka's Amerika explores the all-pervasive America of our present as achieved utopia or nightmare. How has the “American Century” (just passed) come to dominate our lives, the ways we think and act, and how might we in New Zealand move beyond the limitations of this mindset and forge a new identity in this century? 
These questions are especially pertinent to Christchurch, where our notion of who, what and where we are has been shaken to the core, inviting a dynamic and urgent conversation about the multiple possible futures we might work towards as we embark on the creation of a new city. In Kafka’s unfinished novel Amerika, these hopes and fears are symbolised by large angels that dominate a theatre that goes beyond its limits. Another connection is Paul Klee’s Angel of History as interpreted by Walter Benjamin, taking further an exploration we started in our most recent production Canterbury Tales. These angels will serve as interactive touchstones for the performance. The last chapter of Kafka’s Amerika, “The Nature Theatre of Oklahoma” has served as a foundation and starting point for our theatrical exploration. A collage of texts, literary, theatrical, filmic and political make this a production that is very much of our times - exploring surveillance in contemporary culture, this theatrical enterprise presents a kind of interactive digital panopticon that is sure to engage and provoke. This is the company's major new work for 2014. It is the first in a series of new works that will engage with contemporary Christchurch through the company's new space in the Arts Centre - The Gym. |
Texts by: Farah Abraham, Antonin Artaud, Julian Assange, CAFCA (Campaign Against Foreign Control in Aotearoa), Kyle Chapman, Jean Cocteau, John Donne, Kim Dotcom, Bill Frist, Allen Ginsberg, Franz Kafka, John Key, H.P. Lovecraft, Chelsea Manning, Lindsay Mills, Sarah Palin, Dolly Parton, The Resistance Party, General George Patton, Presidents W. Bush, Clinton, Kennedy, Nixon, Obama, Truman and Wilson, Winston Peters, Maurice Saatchi, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Edward Snowden and Andy Warhol.
Music by: Diamanda Galás, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Billie Holiday, Stuart McKay, South Park, Arvo Pärt, Sun Ra, Soap and Skin, Scott Walker, Gwilym Wogan. |
...this dynamic production has the potential to affect the audience’s perception about their role in contemporary culture and politics in a similar way to how surreal and jarring films like ‘Propaganda’ and ‘An Act of Killing’ can. 
MediaKafka's Amerika on RDU (Morning Glory)
RDU, 14 October 2014 A_vision_of_Amerika Charlie Gates, The Press, 15 October 2014 
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nearly everyone who arrives in Oklahoma, synecdoche of America, becomes an actor, each person preferring to be seen rather than to look themselves, in this Amerika about which Kafka was the first and ultimate reporter. 
ReviewsBoldly interactive theatre using multimedia technology and multi-talented casts has become a hallmark of this enterprising group, as has its community spirit.... The extraordinary creative drive of this company with things to say, and now an appropriate space in which to say them, could not have come at a better time as the Arts Centre of Christchurch is restored to the city. 
Free Theatre uses Franz Kafka's century-old novel as a launching point into a strange and unsettling whirl of Rodgers and Hammerstein, South Park, Billie Holiday, modern political rhetoric, angels and aerial circus skills. It is an off-kilter, experimental and engaging experienced that is rich with ideas, imagery and humour.... this is a strange, unique and enjoyable production. It's one that captures some of the more unsettling notions behind the idea of America with slick production values, haunting imagery and unusual staging. 
There was no shortage of interesting theatre in Christchurch this year. The Free Theatre returned to the Arts Centre with an experimental production of Franz Kafka's Amerika.... Creative risks are tricky in a market like Christchurch, so they must be celebrated and, more importantly, rewarded with a ticket purchase. 
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