ShiberHur's adaptation of Franz Kafka's In The Penal Colony is an abosorbing portrait of the human condition but lacks mystery.
Palestinian theatre company ShiberHur underestimate the importance of set design in their adaptation of Franz Kafka's short story In The Penal Colony. But their use of Arabic – both in the visuals and the dialogue of their production – hones in on the beauty with which Kafka explores the human condition, and his continued relevance.
The quality of their work is heightened further by the three excellent performers and their ability to create a mood despite the limitations of the set. In an isolated military zone, the Executioner and his Prisoner are visited by a guest of the commandant, there to view the execution. The Executioner, an eager and devoted Amer Hlehel explains the execution process in detail to a dignified but horrified Makram Khoury. We're never entirely sure why he is there but he has a few important questions and fewer important opinions of his own. Taher Najib as the vacant Prisoner fills the auditorium with a sense of dread and makes us suitably uncomfortable at the thought of facing a long and painful death without really understanding the crime.
As in Kafka's story it's the Prisoner's reaction to the sadistic detail of the punishment that's most difficult to stomach. Director Amir Nizar Zuabi explores the relationship between the tortured and the torturer by laying out the key traits of their persona. The Executioner is polite, apologetic, and occasionally affectionate. To him, his cruelty is logical, and, besides, he has his own master plan to think about. Meanwhile the Prisoner remains human in his attempts to comprehend his situation but is simultaneously reduced to an animalistic state.
The performances, like the creative use of Arabic in this production, prove ShiberHur may well have longevity on the London stage. All the dialogue is in Arabic with English surtitles and without banging us over the head with any one point, they draw on the Arab-Israeli conflict, the legacy of the holocaust, the nature and purpose of punishment, as well as attachment to ones homeland.
The production only really falls down in its design. On one side of the stage is a gargantuan stack of chairs, a constant reminder that executions were once public affairs. They loom over us, an imposing tower of blue. On the other side of the performance space is a field of sunflowers that places the characters in an empty landscape on their own, with no hint of what lies beyond them. They're also cruelly cheerful next to the executioners black uniform. But in the middle of the stage is the very disappointing machine. It stands like a giant grey animal hutch, emitting a warm glow. When we see it in action, it's disappointingly tame. Impressively, the performances and the script move us beyond this and into a world and a way of thinking we wish was old.
In The Penal Colony runs at Young Vic Theatre until 23rd July
Image by Richard H Smith
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