One of the few quiet moments in the original film version of The Producers comes fairly early on, when the camera settles in on a bleary-eyed Leo Bloom and Max Bialystock. They are at end of an all-night play-reading marathon in search of the perfect flop. At one point, Max picks up a script and begins to read aloud about a character named Gregor Samsa, who awakes one morning to discover he’s turned into a giant cockroach. “Too good,” says Max sadly, tossing the manuscript aside.
This is what any theatrical adaptation of Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis, now through July 17 at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley, is up against. The short novel is revered as a masterpiece of 20th-century literature, written by a tortured artist who died before his time. As for the novel’s theatrical adaptation, even an unproduced, fictional version from 1968 got the seal of approval from Mel Brooks, via none other than Zero Mostel. That’s a lot of legend to live up to.
For the most part, the current production at the Aurora rises to the occasion, although director Mark Jackson’s decision to set the play in McCarthy-era America rather than 1930s Europe, as adaptors David Farr and Gísli Örn Gardarsson intended, is a major misstep. Still, with its solid performances by a tight quintet of actors and a clever set by Nina Ball, Metamorphosis is certainly the most entertaining play you’ll ever see about abject alienation and the futility of life. Along with the rest of the audience, I laughed a lot.

Mother (Madeline H.D. Brown), Grete (Megan Trout), Father (Allen McKelvey), Gregor (Alexander Crowther)
As the play opens, Mother (Madeline H.D. Brown), and her daughter, Grete (Megan Trout), are busying themselves with breakfast until Father (Allen McKelvey) notices a pair of shoes on the floor. They belong to his son, Gregor (Alexander Crowther), who lies barefoot on a metal frame bed that’s perched on a severely raked attic room behind and above the family’s common quarters. This smart staging device gives us clear views of both rooms, allowing the play’s actions to happen throughout in parallel.