Mannered monkey maketh man

Studio 7’s adaptation of Franz Kafka’s story ‘A Report to an Academy’ is an ode to the absurd and a poignant monologue on human frailty.

A rather well-spoken ape walks on stage—suited up, with a hat on. He is to greet an academy of erudites, the ‘founder/director’, the ‘chairman of the board’ and a ‘research fellow’ (this one stung a bit) to explain his transition from a measly, uncivilised monkey living in the forest to a middle-class European (sub)human. However, before he commences, he puts out a warning, “I regret that I cannot comply with your request to the extent you desire,” he says.