A Report to an Academy
Contents
The original text
is a short story by Franz Kafka, written in German and published in 1917. In the story, an ape named Red Peter, who has been raised as a human, reports on his process of transformation, and his experiences and longings, to the Academy of Sciences.
The original text has been translated into English by a number of authors.
Translations and adaptations
The story has been adapted for the stage a number of times in many parts of the world.
Translated into English as A Report to an Academy and adapted for the stage by Mario Schiess for South African production in 1980.
An Afrikaans translation and adaptation called Na-aap (literally "after-ape" in Afrikaans, which means "to mimic" or "to imitate") was done by Arnold Blumer.
Performance history in South Africa
1980: Performed as A Report to an Academy in the Schiess version, directed by Mario Schiess with Marius Weyers. The production became a massive hit, financially and economically and critically, being performed around the country and abroad for the following number of years.Weyers won a number of awards for his portrayal, including the Fleur du Cap Award in 1980. In 1987 Weyers performed the same adaptation to rave reviews in Los Angeles, where critics noted the parallels with apartheid race science.[]
2003*?: Abduragman Adams did a version of the Schiess text at the Grahamstown Festival.
2009: Karoly Pinter directed the Schiess version, starring Sello Maake ka Ncube in 2009.
2013: Performed as Na-aap in the Blumer version at the Aardklop festival in Porchefstroom in 2013, as a Clover Aardklop production, directed by Jaco Bouwer, with De Klerk Oelofse.
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Report_to_an_Academy
Aardklop Programme 2013
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