It is the most famous opening of a novel in modern literature. One morning, Gregor Samsa wakes up transformed into a gigantic vermin. His family’s compassion soon turns into alienation and aggression. His final anchors to the human sphere are the violin playing of his beloved sister and the erotically charged image of a lady in fur. In the end, Samsa’s death is a release for everyone.

Manuel Gerst brings Kafka’s famous story to the stage as a happening drawn from the events industry. References to stag parties meet performance art and destruction art. In the tension between damaged and undamaged bodies, Kafka’s parable is read as a story about disability. The aggression directed at the deformed Other in the story is redirected towards the object on stage. In the end, it does not matter which position the audience takes—the dent remains the same. Let whoever is without sin cast the first apple.