Kafka’s Monkey

Such is Kathryn Hunter's versatility that when the British actress played the role of a Japanese salaryman in Hideki Noda and Colin Teevan's The Bee, it was easy to forget that 'he' was in fact a she. This most physical of thespians – who has also played King Lear and Richard III in the past – recently returned to one of her most celebrated roles, a solo show based on Franz Kafka's short story 'A Report to an Academy'. Adapted by Teevan (him again), Kafka's Monkey casts Hunter as an ape recounting his gradual transformation into a human – a gobsmacking performance that drew rave reviews when it was first staged in 2009.