Frank Galati is a busy man. This season, the Steppenwolf ensemble member directs his world-premiere stage adaptation of Haruki Murakami's novel Kafka on the Shore. Then, Galati stars in Steppenwolf's first-ever Shakespeare production as Prospero in The Tempest.
Pictured: Frank Galati. Photo by Mark Campbell
To Galati, switching gears from directing to acting isn't as great a challenge as some would think.
'There's not a huge difference between acting and directing.' Galati said. 'It's all about interpreting text.'
In terms of adapting texts, Galati is already an expert. He's a two-time 1990 Tony Award winner for his Steppenwolf adaptation and direction of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, plus an Academy Award nominee for his adapted film screenplay of The Accidental Tourist.
But lately, the Highland Park native and 2004 inductee in the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame has been tied to Murakami's work. Galati's adaptation of Murakami's short story collection After the Quake proved to be a success not only at Steppenwolf in 2005, but in subsequent stagings at theaters in New Haven, Conn., and in California at La Jolla and Berkeley.
'We were encouraged by the response and there was tremendous interest in Morakami's writing, particularly among young people,' Galati said. 'His insight into the contemporary malaise is something that we found refreshing and funny and instantly true and recognizable.'
Indeed, After the Quake was written following not only the 1995 earthquake in Kobe, Japan, but the sarin poisonous gas attacks perpetrated by a religious cult in the Tokyo subway system that same year. Galati felt many of the anxieties expressed by characters in Morakami's stories eerily matched the same fears Americans felt following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The exhilaration Galati felt at adapting After the Quake prompted him to look at Morakami's full-fledged novel Kafka on the Shore. In it, a Japanese youth assumes the name of his favorite writer, Franz Kafka, develops an alter ego named Crow ( which is what 'Kafka' means in Czech ) and goes on a life-changing journey when he runs away from home and his domineering father.
'What ensues is what I would call a kind of 'Oedipal comedy,'' Galati said. 'It's a winding adventure full of surprises and unexpected phantasmagorical characters encountered along the way.'
Indeed, two include scary embodiments of American pop-culture icons like Johnny Walker ( as in the whiskey logo ) and Col Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame both come to life in a performance by Steppenwolf ensemble member Francis Guinan.
'There's also some very potent sexuality and questions of gender and identity,' Galati said. 'Political issues both in terms of the male/female equation as it fits into a social construct.'
Another theme that fascinates Galati in Morakami's writing is how he explores the strange aftermath of the mortal combat between the U.S. and Japan in World War II, where the two countries now both inhabit a 'techno future where there are interchangeable zones of commerce where you can't tell if you're in Japan or America.'
Galati says his Kafka on the Shore adaptation fits neatly into Steppenwolf's 2008-09 season that explores the human imagination.
'To my surprise, I didn't know about plans to also do The Tempest. [ Steppenwolf artistic director Martha Lavey ] called and asked if I would interested playing Prospero,' Galati said. 'The idea of playing Shakespeare and under the leadership and direction of a genius like [ fellow ensemble member ] Tina Landau seemed to be an irresistible invitation.'
Galati's representation on Chicago stages isn't just limited to Steppenwolf. Infamous Commonwealth Theatre has planned a revival of Galati's adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath.
Though Galati hasn't received an invitation to see it yet, he hopes to catch it just like he has with other Grapes of Wrath productions staged as close to home in Indiana and as far away as Melbourne, Australia.
Galati also finds a weird connection between Steppenwolf's The Grapes of Wrath and its latest award-winning Broadway hit, Tracy Letts' drama August: Osage County.
'The sort of odd coincidence is it's another family sage of Oklahoma Okies! It's almost like the Joads in the 21st century,' joked Galati, before adding the praise that 'Tracy Letts is an American voice that resonates with the overtones of great American writers like Faulkner and Steinbeck.'
Galati's plate is filled this season, but he doesn't mind.
'Though it's really busy season, I'm really excited by these opportunities this year at Steppenwolf.'