Written By: Franz Kafka
Translated By: Mark Harman
A Report for an Academy
Directed By: Henry Akona
Performed by: Markus Hirnigel
Piano: Maria Dessena
Makeup: Stephanie Cox-Connolly
A Message from the Emperor
Original Music: Martin Bresnick
Percussionists: Makana Kai Noah Medeiros and Chad Beebe
Two short stories by Franz Kafka, adapted for the stage in honor of the 100th anniversary Kafka’s death.
A Report for an Academy is Kafka's short story/monologue about an ape who has learned to be human, directed by by Henry Akona. Read and performed by Markus Hirnigel, in a music hall vein.
A Message from the Emperor is adapted by Martin Bresnick as a new music piece for two speaking percussionists. Franz Kafka describes a glorious being, never seen by his countless lowly subjects, who, from his deathbed, dispatches an indefatigable messenger (a prophet perhaps) with a most important message - just for you. For various practical reasons however the message cannot possibly be delivered. And even if it finally arrived the one who sent it will have died long ago.
Both stories are translated by Mark Harman as part of his new book of Kafka's short stories.
The main program will last approximately 45 minutes, with a discussion after with Mark Harman, Martin Bresnick, Henry Akona, and Ross Benjamin.
Producing partners:
The Austrian Cultural Forum
The Consul General of the Czech Republic in New York
In association with Untitled Theater Company No. 61
These stories are part of the new book of Kafka stories, Selected Stories, all translated by Mark Harman. Available from Harvard University Press.
Part of Rehearsal for Truth International Theater Festival honoring Václav Havel, produced by the Václav Havel Center and the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association.
About
Henry Akona is a freelance director, composer and arranger based in New York City as well as the associate artistic director of Untitled Theater Company No. 61. His work is known for intensely physical staging and incorporating live, usually original, music.
Previous productions includes the world premiere of The Lathe of Heaven (composer), adapted from the novel by Ursula K. Le Guin; the English-language premiere The Pig or Václav Havel’s Hunt for a Pig (director/arranger), performed at the Ice Factory festival at 3LD Art + Technology Center; Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (composer) at 3LD Art + Technology Center; Rudolf II (director/arranger) at Bohemian National Hall; The Velvet Oratorio (composer/director) which had its world-premiere at the Bruno Walter Auditorium, Lincoln Center as part of the Performing Revolution in Central and Eastern Europe Festival presented by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center; Scenes From a Misunderstanding (director); Cat’s Cradle: a calypso musical (composer); Hiroshima: crucible of light (director/composer), the English-language premiere of Václav Havel’s A Butterfly on the Antenna (director/composer) in the Havel Festival.
Photo by David Schloss
Ross Benjamin’s translations include Franz Kafka’s Diaries, Daniel Kehlmann’s Tyll and You Should Have Left, Joseph Roth’s Job, and Friedrich Hölderlin’s Hyperion. His translation of Tyll was shortlisted for the 2020 Booker International Prize. He was awarded the Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator’s Prize for his rendering of Michael Maar’s Speak, Nabokov, and he received a Guggenheim Fellowship for his work on Kafka’s diaries.
Martin Bresnick's compositions, from opera, chamber and symphonic music to film scores and computer music, are performed throughout the world. Bresnick delights in reconciling the seemingly irreconcilable, bringing together repetitive gestures derived from minimalism with a harmonic palette that encompasses both highly chromatic sounds and more open, consonant harmonies and a raw power reminiscent of rock. At times his musical ideas spring from hardscrabble sources, often with a very real political import. But his compositions never descend into agitprop; one gains their meaning by the way the music itself unfolds, and always on its own terms.
Besides having received many prizes and commissions, the first Charles Ives Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, The Rome Prize, The Berlin Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Koussevitzky Commission, among many others, Martin Bresnick is also recognized as an influential teacher of composition. Students from every part of the globe and of virtually every musical inclination have been inspired by his critical encouragement.
Martin Bresnick's compositions are published by Carl Fischer Music Publishers, New York; Bote & Bock, Berlin; CommonMuse Music Publishers, New Haven; and have been recorded by Cantaloupe Records, New World Records, Albany Records, Bridge Records, Composers Recordings Incorporated, Centaur, Starkland Records and Artifact Music.
Photo By Matt Willen
Mark Harman, Professor Emeritus of German and English at Elizabethtown College, has translated various German-language writers, ranging from Kafka (Amerika: The Missing Person and The Castle, winner of the MLA’s Lois Roth Award) to Rilke, Hesse, Robert Walser (Robert Walser Rediscovered), and various contemporary German-language writers. Author of numerous articles and book chapters on Kafka, he writes about German-language and Irish literature for journals and newspapers in the U.S., U.K., and Ireland. He lives in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Markus Hirnigel Was born in Vienna, Austria. He moved to New York to study acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse under Sandford Meisner and becomes a member La Mama E.T.C., where he worked extensively with the company during the next years, touring Europe and Asia. Back in his native Austria he appeared in several productions at the Salzburg Theater festival. In New York he works on Elisabeth Swados production of the “Hating Pot” performed at BAM, as Vershinin in Chekhov’s “Three Sisters” at the Brick and on the critically acclaimed play “Outside In” performed at 59 E59. He also directed and performed in “Emilia”, a play about Gustav Klimt’s relationship with the designer Emilia Floege produced by the ACF. Markus is a member of the “New Stage Theatre” company and has appeared in many of their recent productions.
Chad Beebe is a percussionist establishing a holistic and multifaceted career as both a soloist and chamber musician, with a passion for both standard and contemporary repertoire.
With a vibrant chamber music experience, Chad has had the opportunity to perform with ensembles and festivals such as the Yale Percussion Group, New Music New Haven, Peabody Percussion Group, and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. His extensive playing experience is matched by his dedication to teaching and musical outreach. His work as a Music in Schools Teaching Artist demonstrates his commitment to nurturing young talents and spreading the joy of making music.
He received his B.M. in Percussion Performance and in Music Education at the University of North Texas with Mark Ford, Christopher Deane, and Paul Rennick, and received his M.M. at the Peabody Institute with Robert Van Sice. Chad is continuing his education in the M.M.A. program at the Yale School of Music.
Makana Kai Noah Medeiros is a percussionist emerging as a musician participating in many genres ranging from jazz to classical to contemporary music.
As a chamber musician, Makana has performed with ensembles and festivals including the Yale Percussion Group, New Music New Haven, Eastman Percussion Ensemble, Eastman Jazz Combos, Nief-Norf Summer Festival, and Chautauqua Festival Orchestra. Makana has performed with established artists in the contemporary music genre including Pamela Z, Caroline Shaw, and Eighth Blackbird. Presented by TedX, he has performed works by Alejandro Vinao and Garth Neustadter in Shenzhen, China with the Yale Percussion Group. Makana has also appeared as a guest at summer festivals such as Next Festival of Emerging Artists and the inaugural season of ContemporArt in Satu Mare, Romania. With a reputation as an advocate of contemporary music, Makana has held leadership positions and participated in peer-managed ensembles including Ossia New Music at the Eastman School of Music and Versicolor New Music at Yale University, both with a mission to promote innovative music of the last century.
Makana holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music, where he was also awarded the prestigious Performer’s Certificate and Arts Leadership Certificate. He holds a Master of Music and Master of Musical Arts degree at the Yale School of Music where he studied under the tutelage of Robert van Sice.
Stephanie Cox-Connolly is an Actress, SFX/Gore Designer, Director and Producer. She is also the Director of Artistic Programming for Drops in the Vase (dropsinthevase.com). She was named "Queen of Gore" by the NY Press in 2009 and the “Tom Savini of Off-Off Broadway” by the NY Times 2011. She is part of the Indie Theater Hall Of Fame, 2011 and a NYIT Award Recipient for "Best Innovative Design" R+J+Z, 2015.
ABOUT THE 2024 REHEARSAL FOR TRUTH INTERNATIONAL THEATER FESTIVAL
Rehearsal for Truth International Theater Festival, honoring Václav Havel, is a showcase of contemporary European theater organized each year in New York City. Conceived in 2017 as a shared endeavor of the Václav Havel Center (VHC) and Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association (BBLA), the festival honors the legacy of Czech playwright, dissident and political thinker Vaclav Havel.
Each edition of Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival addresses current sociopolitical trends in Central and Eastern Europe, offering New York audiences a unique opportunity to witness the region’s theatrical zeitgeist.
The program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. The festival is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.