[Candrama] KAFKA’S APE: A performance and investigation. April 20-21, 2021

[Karen Fricker]

Dear Candrama colleagues,
Posted on behalf of Dr. Larry Switzky, University of Toronto, Mississauga (lawrence.switzky at utoronto.ca<mailto:lawrence.switzky at utoronto.ca>):


KAFKA’S APE

A performance and investigation

April 20-21, 2021

Sponsored by the Office of the Vice-Principal Academic and Dean, UTM; the Jackman Humanities Institute; the Department of English and Drama at UTM; the Centre for Humanities Research at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa; the Laboratory of Kinetic Objects at the University of the Western Cape; and the Centre for the Less Good Idea

We are delighted to present a livestreamed performance of Kafka’s Apefrom Johannesburg, South Africa, and several discussions and workshops with the creators, director Phala Ookeditse Phala and actor Tony Miyambo.

Kafka’s Ape is an internationally renowned adaptation of Czech author Franz Kafka’s short story, “A Report to an Academy,” set in post-apartheid South Africa. In Kafka’s text, an ape named Red Peter presents an account of how he learned to imitate humanity in order to assimilate and survive. In this version, which centres Black South African artists and their experiences, Phala and Miyambo highlight the complexities of identity in the twenty-first century and invite us to explore, through an animal’s gaze, the relationship between self and other.

Phala Ookeditse Phala is a director and actor based and a curator at the Centre for the Less Good Idea, an interdisciplinary incubator for the arts in Johannesburg, South Africa founded by visual artist William Kentridge. Tony Miyambo is a performer, puppeteer, clown, and comedian based in South Africa. Their award-winning, physically virtuosic performances have appeared in theatre festivals around the world.

All events are one hour in length unless otherwise noted.

A complete schedule of events and links is available below and at https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/english-drama/kafkas-ape

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

TUESDAY, APRIL 20

11am – Kafka’s Ape (livestreamed)

Directed and adapted by Phala Ookeditse Phala
Performed by Tony Miyambo

University of Toronto community members and the public are welcome to attend. Please register to attend here—you will receive a viewing link prior to the performance:
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/kafkas-ape-tickets-150110409275

Viewer discretion advisory: This performance addresses internalized anti-Black racism and the history of apartheid and post-apartheid in South Africa. If you find yourself in need of emotional support, a list of mental health resources and helplines is available here: https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/mental-health-supports/welcome.

1pm—Roundtable Discussion of Kafka’s Ape with the creators and UofT professors and artists

Featuring: Monika Havelka (Associate Professor of Geography, Geomatics, and Environment, UTM)
Rohan Kulkarni (Graduate Student, Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies, University of Toronto)
Matthew Mackenzie (Artistic Director of Punctuate! Theatre and Baillie Artistic Fellow at Soulpepper Theatre Company)
John Noyes (Professor of German, UTSG, Extraordinary Professor, Stellenbosch University)

This event will be auto-captioned.

University of Toronto community members and the public are welcome to attend. Please register to attend here:
https://utoronto.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_lNvXPGcDSBejcCB95423YA

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21

11am—“Forms of Encounter: Exploding the Artist Talk”

Faculty and graduate students are invited to attend a performative lecture and discussion with Phala and Miyambo about the role of the artist in the university, conducted by the Co-Creation Laboratory at UTM.

Scholars and Graduate Students can register to attend here:

https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAlcemsqj8rE9G26rwRmMWwbVQbzsYbdWco

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