The performance more than met our expectations. The cast were fabulous and the students were so inspired by all they saw and continued to talk about the performance and the subject matter for many lessons… It has supported the unit 1 of the BTEC National and also Unit 6 as the students have decided to use Splendid as their practitioner, Component 1 of Educas A Level for the reinterpretation unit.” Pacheco is utterly and painfully convincing as a man inhabited by his “illness”; he is overtaken by convulsions and tics as well as the ability to climb, swing and move around the room as, literally, a man possessed. He is moth-like as he hovers around the light fitting and appears to transform into a grotesque insect as he creates an exoskeleton of chairs, their legs protruding like multiple alien limbs.

Owing to adult themes, some strong language and depictions of violence, this show is not considered suitable for those aged under 14. Schools Metamorphosis, arguably Franz Kafka’s best-known work, is a seemingly bizarre, illogical tale about a lowly employee, Gregor Samsa, who wakes one morning to find he’s been transformed into a gigantic insect. First written in 1912, intellectuals and literary critics have pondered its meaning for decades. Translators of the novel into English have given widely different texts, including of the opening sentence, which in the original is " Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheuren Ungeziefer verwandelt". In their 1933 translation of the story, Willa Muir and Edwin Muir rendered it as "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect". [17]

Pomona, Wood Nymph: A skilled gardener who refused to have a lover. Finally falls for Vertumnus after heeding his message and telling him to be himself.

Zeus: The Greek God, referred in the play as, "Lord of the heavens", who represents a divine creator in the opening scene. In the penultimate scene, Zeus and Hermes disguise themselves as beggars. a b c d e f Rush, David (2005). A Student Guide to Play Analysis . Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois Printing Press. p.35.

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Kafka’s Metamorphosis is a story of Gregor Samsa who wakes up one morning to find out he’s turned into a giant insect. Kerry Frampton’s adaptation of the originally claustrophobic and dark tale is much lighter and accessible, lovingly transcribed into a production suited for younger eyes. Things aren’t always what they seem as, through monologue, each family member questions their own experiences, thus adding to the overall unsettling atmosphere. As with any workshop style performance audience interaction was inevitable. From the start the performers were greeting the audience on the door, they were asking the audience questions throughout and even had a couple of members up on stage with them. The engagement tactics worked well and the audience remained transfixed on the stage for the whole hour performance. As Gregor Samsa woke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed into some kind of monstrous vermin.” It’s a tough story to adapt, with all characters equally helpless and the situation bleak, but in its uncanny reading of the temperature of the times, from the fragility of the gig economy to the migrant crisis, it is an unsettling play for today.