Oliver 5

The Oliver 5 is the typewriter Franz Kafka used to write his novels. For years, I have wanted to measure myself against the author. This year, on the centenary of his death, the opportunity arose. Oliver5 is a dreamlike journey through the fragmentary and absurd writings of the charismatic writer, in particular The Trial.

It is Joseph K.’s 30th birthday. For K., it is a day like any other, but in the morning, without having done anything wrong, he is arrested. I imagined that in the dream K. is immersed in, a strange birthday party is taking place with the voice of Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday Mr. President. Joseph K. is embroiled in a trial that he will never understand, nor will he ever know what he is accused of. In his attempt to understand the workings of an inscrutable and corrupt system, K. rebels and asks many people for help, particularly women.

Miss Bürstner, his flatmate; Lara, who welcomes him at the first hearing; Leni, the lawyer’s housekeeper; and Elsa, his mistress, who is mentioned in the novel but never appears. Joseph K, Marilyn Monroe and John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who shares K.’s inclination to rely on the help of women and his tragic end, cut short by a gunshot. It is exactly one year since K.’s alleged arrest and so, once again, it is his birthday.

Live music, circus, theatre and images that remain etched in the retina like etchings. A show between theatre-studio and street, between air and earth, between comic and tragic, in a nostalgic and unmistakably contemporary style. Characterised by a strong physicality, sensuality and visual impact, Oliver 5 is a drama created specifically for the Gardens of Casa Boccaccio. The circus skills imagined specifically for this location include the roue cyr, floor acrobatics, handstands and juggling, all at the service of the narrative and the characteristic dramaturgical style of Firenza Guidi, internationally renowned for her contemporary circus work.