The Metamorphosis was a rendition of Kafka’s well known tale told through the lens of dancers, artists and musicians, whose set and visual drawing power made a somewhat static short story into a fluid and dynamic event which didn’t have a moment of boredom to spare for its audience.

While the craftmanship, by Simon Daw, and sound portraiture, by Frank Moon, were astonishing brilliant (as well as spot on in subject and unique in appearance) the limelight was equally shared by the unusually intriguing dances and perfect placement decisions by choreographer Arthur Pita, whose impeccable taste shined through the work of his contorting and especially able dancer Edward Watson of the Royal Ballet. While the dance did have its moments of stark glory, its emphasis lay with the visuals and less on the central dramatic argument of the story. Thus our emotional sympathies were not in tune with the actors/dancers actions on stage, as instead our brains were astounded by an auditory and visual feast. The subtle change in storyline, particularly the setting of a seemingly 60s Communist Czechoslovakia as opposed to a turn of the century Vienna (as well as the choice of replacing Kafka’s nondescript beard boarders with Jewish men) did work well with the content however the alterations could have been less offensive in terms of the latter choice. Overall, the mostly British designed dance projects more of an impression of a bombastic Czech play as it grabbed audience with innovations in design and choreography as well as apt choice in pace and bundled its successes more in its design and its dancers’ acting talents rather than its ability to draw out heart felt emotions from the viewers for the poor tragic life of the bug Gregor Samsa.