In Synetic Theater’s production of Franz Kafka’s “Metamorphosis,” the set is far more than a place where the action happens. It’s a visual statement of the bizarre, illogical universe that Kafka created. Natsu Onoda Power’s set contains three playing areas: the stage; a floor high above the stage, connected to it by a flight of stairs; and an off-kilter realm between those spaces, whose floor is perpendicular to the stage, and whose lamps, tables and bed project outward toward the audience.
“Metamorphosis”
Where: Synetic Theater, Rosslyn Spectrum Theatre, 1611 N. Kent St., Arlington
When: 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday; through May 22
Info: $40 to $45; 800-494-8497; synetictheater.org
This is Gregor Samsa’s room, the place where a young traveling salesman wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a giant insect. In this production, adapted from Kafka’s novella by Derek Goldman, Gregor’s transformation is made agonizingly literal as he fights his way out of a large cocoon, discovering himself trapped in an unrecognizable body, in a place where the laws of gravity do not apply.
