The Off Center presents “Amerika: The Boy Who Disappeared” against a backdrop in an America that bears a striking resemblance to Franz Kafka‘s 1927 novel.
“Amerika: The Man Who Disappeared,” Kafka’s first novel, was written from 1911 to 1914, but remained unfinished. Kafka died in 1924.
Prague-born Kafka’s novel shares the story of Prague-born Karl Russman, a 16-year-old who immigrates to the United States.
“Kafka has a gift for losing control, for people who are losing control,” said Davey White, director of The Off Center.
White began to write a puppet adaptation of Kafka’s novel in 2019 during President Donald Trump‘s first term in office. The plan was that the adaptation would be performed in 2020, but then the COVID-19 pandemic put Staunton on lockdown.
Kafka never visited the United States and America in his novel is “unrecognizable,” White said.
“Yet, every morning I wake up in an America that’s unrecognizable,” he said of Trump’s second term as president.
College students with visas are disappearing and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is throwing away American lives by laying off thousands of federal workers.
“We all feel like the floor is being pulled out from under us,” White, who lives in Staunton, said.
White used Kafka’s “A Hunger Artist,” a 1922 short story about alienation, art and the human condition, to finish his adaptation of “Amerika.”
“It’s about immigration, but I think it’s really about losing control in a behemoth of a monster of a country,” White said.
When not performing, the 19 puppets from “Amerika” are on display at the art center. A portion of each ticket sold for “Amerika” will go to the art center.
The Hot Mamas’ Maria Leckey wrote music for the adaptation and performs as a puppeteer. Also performing as puppeteers are Walter Pultz, Jean Roche and Claire Josefson. Nat Slater will perform as a shadow puppeteer.
According to White, the adaptation is intended for a PG-13 audience. In Kafka’s fantasia, viewers learn that dreams are meant to prepare the dreamer for what may come in their waking life.
“This is a dream and it’s a dream we might need right now,” White said.
“Amerika” will be presented at Staunton-Augusta Art Center, 20 S. New Street, Staunton, at 7 p.m. on April 17, 18, 19, 24, 25 and 26, 2025. Tickets are available online.
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Rebecca Barnabi
