Franz Kafka's 'In the Penal Colony'

The Waterloo Centre for German Studies and the Department of Communication Arts at the University of Waterloo are proud to present In the Penal Colony, a performance and symposium event.

Text by Franz Kafka; Performance created by Kevin White, Andy Houston, Jay Havens, Aaron El Sabrout, and Meghan Bunce.

Symposium to follow the performance, featuring a response to In the Penal Colony by Dr. Paul Malone, Dr. Leslie Wexler, Dr. Matt Borland, and Dr. Katherine Bruce-Lockhart.

Performance Description:

Based on Franz Kafka’s 1915 short story, this site-responsive performance reveals contemporary resonances in unexpected and engaging ways as it animates Kafka’s story through the unique architectural qualities of the staging location (all three floors of RCH). Following the performance, In the Penal Colony will be discussed by University of Waterloo scholars, reflecting on Kafka’s representation of early 20th century colonial incarceration and its continued impact in the present day.

Commemorating the 100th anniversary of Franz Kafka’s death in 1924, the event addresses the aspects of his writing that identify the Euro-colonial apparatus that structured society in Kafka’s time and its legacies in education, law, policing, politics, and architecture today.

Kafka asks us to view the world differently, from our position of privilege and benefit. In the Penal Colony asks, can we recognize the machinery that operates within our lives? Can we identify the parts of this apparatus that shape our lives and understanding of the world?
“If the book we’re reading doesn’t wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we reading it for?... We need books to affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us.”
- From a letter written by Franz Kafka, January 27, 1904

Where to go for the Event and Parking:

Where: J.R. Coutts Engineering Lecture Hall (RCH), University of Waterloo.

• Please arrive at the entrance to the J.R. Coutts Engineering Lecture Hall (RCH), on the right side of the building closest to the Graduate House and the Douglas Wright Engineering Building.
• Please note that the performance takes place on multiple levels and audience members will have to move with the performer. For information about accessibility please contact Andy Houston

Visitor Parking Available: Visitors to the university can park in Lot H on campus for a flat rate of $7.00/day. If H Lot is full, there is additional parking across the street on the corner of University Ave W and Seagram Dr also at a flat rate of $7.00/day. An interactive parking map for these lots and the university campus can be viewed here.

Event is free, but we do ask that you register for our catering numbers.

Questions?

For more information about the performance and symposium, contact Andy Houston at [email protected]

For event information, including parking and registration, contact Misty Matthews-Roper at [email protected]

Host or Publisher Waterloo Centre for German Studies