Unfinished business. That\u2019s how director Dietrich Smith felt when the run of \u201cAmerika or,\u00a0 The Man Who Disappeared\u201d concluded last autumn after nine performances at the Atwater Village Theatre.<\/p>\n
Smith not only directed Franz Kafka\u2019s underrated unfinished novel, \u201cAmerika,\u201d he wrote an ending to the compelling story of 16-year old European immigrant Karl Rossmann\u2019s experience in America, which was written between 1911 and 1914.<\/p>\n
However, Smith and others believed the ending needed more work. \u201cI read the reviews of the play and the reviewers were confused and I agreed with them,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt was not all there and now the play and the ending is all there. I\u2019m so glad we get to present \u2018Amerika\u2019 again. I thank the donors, who enabled us to do this again. I had more time to work on it. The show wasn\u2019t developed the first time out. I think the ending works now. If it doesn\u2019t, I can\u2019t blame anyone now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The latest version of \u201cAmerika or, The Man Who Disappeared\u201d will run through May 3 at the Atwater Village Theatre.<\/p>\n
Smith challenged himself with a daunting task. Who knows which way Kafka was headed after he gave up on the home stretch of \u201cAmerika?\u201d \u201cKafka clearly hit a wall,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt\u2019s a shame.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Matthew Goodrich and Oqalile Tshetshe in \u201cAmerika or, The Man Who Disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Thomas Alleman\/Submitted)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a fascinating novel, which was published posthumously in 1927, three years after Kafka\u2019s death at the age of 40. Kafka incorporated details of the experiences of his relatives, who emigrated to the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The protagonist, the aforementioned Rossmann, leaves for New York City to escape the scandal after impregnating a housemaid and his adventures begin on the ship across the Atlantic and continue in the country that Kafka never visited.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a book that was written 114-years ago, it\u2019s remarkably relevant to where we now stand,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWhen you look at what immigrants went through over a century ago in America and what immigrants are going through now, it\u2019s astonishing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith wonders what Kafka would make of his conclusion of \u201cAmerika.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s interesting since Kafka was so dissatisfied with his own book that he didn\u2019t finish it or know how to get out of it,\u201d Smith said. \u201cBut I wanted to finish it. It\u2019s a great novel. Maybe he would like what I\u2019ve done or maybe he would say, \u2018What have you done with my great story?\u2019<\/p>\n
Even though Kafka failed to complete \u2018Amerika,\u2019 it is known that he told his friend and biographer Max Brod that he was proud of the incomplete chapter, \u201cThe Nature Theatre of Oklahoma.\u201d According to Brod, he delighted in reading that chapter and did so in an animated manner.<\/p>\n
\u201cKafka was really onto something,\u201d Smith said. \u201cHe would read from the book in cafes. He wrote this book when he was on a creative roll. He was spinning his wheels at the end of it but the bulk of the book is so inspired.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith has something Kafka did not possess when he was creating \u201cAmerika\u201d and that\u2019s a talented crew that is putting on the show at the Atwater Village Theatre. John R. Dilworth, who is creator of \u201cCourage the Cowardly Dog,\u201d has crafted the animation sequences. Seven-time Academy Award winner Gary Rydstrom, who is handling the sound design, won hardware for the same gig while working on such iconic films as \u201cJurassic Park,\u201d \u201cTitanic,\u201d \u201cTerminator 2: Judgement Day\u201d and \u201cSaving Private Ryan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nearly half the cast is different, including the lead, who is played by Oqalile Tsheshe during the current production. \u201cBut we\u2019re fine with that,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWe sent an email to all of the actors, who were part of \u2018Amerika\u2019 during the fall. One had a medical crisis. The others had job offers. That\u2019s the way it went. We elevated the understudy (Tshetshe) and he\u2019s a magnificent actor. I\u2019m excited to see how this goes over and I\u2019m excited about how we have 18 performances this time, which is double what we presented during the fall.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith capitalized on having a second chance to conclude \u201cAmerika,\u201d which is something Kafka decided not to pursue. How different is the ending this time around for Smith? Folks will have to trek to the Atwater Village Theatre to find out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was such a challenge,\u201d Smith said. \u201cKafka is such a concise writer. He and I are opposites. I\u2019m a verbose writer. It\u2019s fascinating doing something like this with Kafka. When you take on something like this, you think, \u2018Who am I to try to write an ending to Kafka\u2019s \u2018Amerika?\u2019 I started doing this in 2007 and this is how I completed it and I\u2019m fine with it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Amerika or, The Man Who Disappeared\u2019<\/p>\n
WHEN: April 6 through May 3; 7:30 p.m. Fridays, 7 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays and Monday, April 6 at 7:30 p.m<\/p>\n
WHERE: Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Avenue, Los Angeles<\/p>\n
COST: Tickets are $26 and $45.<\/p>\n