The Emperor, Colin Teevan‘s adaptation of Ryszard Kapuscinski‘s celebrated and controversial 1978 book of the same title, is a parable about power set at the downfall of Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie.
Kathryn Hunter astonishingly shapeshifts, portraying ten male servants of Haile Selassie, among them his pillow-bearer, purse-bearer and dog-urine wiper, creating complex human portraits. Hunter, who with Colin Teevan and Walter Meierjohann were the acclaimed team in the Young Vic production of Kafka’s Monkey presented at TFANA in 2013, is here joined by Ethiopian musician Temesgen Zeleke.
Kapuscinski, who many considered a candidate for the Nobel Prize, slyly used The Emperor to illuminate corruption and political power in his native Poland. This adaptation resonates with the world’s growing and disturbing fascination with despotism.
