CBC Arts –
February 12, 2004.
A comic opera about a chimpanzee that becomes human wraps up a successful run at an eclectic Pittsburgh theatre company. Kafka’s Chimp was developed by the Banff Centre for the Arts.
Karla Boos, artistic director of Pittsburgh’s Quantum Theatre, felt that Kafka’s Chimp — lauded at its 1996 Banff Arts Festival world premiere — was perfect for her adventurous theatre audience. So, in addition to staging the unusual 75-minute production, which was also translated and toured Sweden in 1999, she decided to present the opera at the Pittsburgh Zoo…. In the case of Kafka’s Chimp, combining a unique opera and an out of the ordinary venue earned praise in local papers and resulted in sold out shows. “It’s a shame to think that it hasn’t been produced more since 1996,” Boos told the Pittsburgh Tribute-Review .Composed by John Metcalf and librettist Mark Morris, and developed and originally produced by Banff Theatre Arts’ 20th century opera and song department, Kafka’s Chimp ends its Pittsburgh run Thursday. The opera’s Canadian creators are hoping the recent triumph south of the border will spark an interest in theatres at home and abroad.