KAFKA'S LETTER TO HIS FATHER to Make U.S. Premiere at CAP UCLA

UCLA's Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA) presents the U.S. premiere of Kafka's Letter to His Father by Jiři Trtik, November 12 - 14, 2026 at the UCLA Nimoy Theater, launching Far Away, Here, a new multi-year international opera initiative bringing rarely seen opera works by international creators from Europe, Asia and Latin America to Los Angeles. The initiative expands the city's engagement with opera beyond the familiar, introducing audiences to new voices, perspectives and artistic traditions from around the world.

Far Away, Here is curated and produced by GRAMMY-nominated tenor Timur Bekbosunov, in close collaboration with Executive and Artistic Director of CAP UCLA, Edgar Miramontes. Together, they guide the creative vision, artist selection, and long-term development of the initiative, ensuring each project reflects both international excellence and local collaboration.

Adapted from Franz Kafka's searing, intimate letter to his father, Kafka's Letter to His Father is an ambient chamber opera in two acts that transforms one of the 20th century's most powerful literary documents into a gripping theatrical experience. Blending music, voice, and psychological intensity, the work offers a raw exploration of authority, vulnerability, and identity — hallmarks of the kind of urgent, artist-driven operas Far Away, Here is committed to presenting.

Timur reprises the role of Kafka in this special Far Away, Here adaptation for The Nimoy stage, following the work's premiere on May 2, 2024 at the National Theater in Prague.

'Kafka found escape and peace through art as a pathway to freedom in the face of his father's unyielding ideals of masculinity,' said Timur Bekbosunov. 'In today's fractured world, shaped by ongoing wars and political upheaval, Kafka's search for freedom and self-expression feels profoundly relevant. This iconic story is both an intimate family drama and a political allegory, revealing how one person finds liberation despite overwhelming force. It embodies everything Far Away, Here stands for: urgent, artist-driven opera that speaks to our time.'

Commissioned by Národní Divadlo Praha (National Theater, Prague), the opera explores Kafka's childhood marked by fear of his despotic father. Unable and unwilling to conform to paternal ideals of masculinity and social roles, Kafka finds personal freedom in literary creation, escaping his father's authority through writing. Yet his father constantly intrudes into his work, remaining its covert source and subject.

Kafka wrote this letter describing the causes of his mutual discord with his father and his related life insecurities while suffering from tuberculosis. The letter never reached his father. Beyond being pivotal in the writer's life, A Letter to His Father is a compelling testimony to upbringing based on fear and power, to problematic masculinity, and to the lasting pain of seemingly innocent disdainful remarks. Kafka's story reveals the sharp edges of parent-child relationships with poignancy.

The libretto employs repetitive language based on Kafka's letter, transforming the extensive monological work into direct interactions between Kafka and his father, revealing a nonlinear arc from helplessness to liberation through literary creation.

Musically, the opera stands upon a foundation of ambient electronic sounds, synthesizers, acoustic classical instruments, percussion and singing voices. The central voice of the opera is a tenor (Kafka) contrasted with a six-member baritone-bass choir (Father) and a soprano (Mother).

Event Details

CAP UCLA presents Kafka's Letter to His Father, part of Far Away, Here, a new international opera initiative.

Thursday - Sunday, November 12 - 14, 2026 at the UCLA Nimoy Theater (U.S. Premiere)

UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90024

Join the waitlist: https://cap.ucla.edu/event/kafkas-letter-his-father

Creative Team

Composed by Jiři Trtik (Czech Republic)

Libretto by Jan Škrob (Czech Republic)

In collaboration with Brightwork Ensemble

Produced by the Opera of Timur

Conducted by Fahad Siadat

Directed by Shayna Penn

Performed By

Timur: Kafka

Molly Pease: Mother

TJ Sclafani, Kevin Allen, Phil Meyer, Scott Graff, David Peterson: Fathers

With acknowledgement of the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles.

The original production was commissioned by Národní Divadlo and the Ministry of Culture, Czech Republic.

About the Creative Team

Jiří Trtík, Composer: Jiří Trtík is an internationally acclaimed Czech composer who received the prestigious OSA Award for the most successful composer of classical music abroad in 2021. He has been commissioned by world-class institutions including The National Theatre in Prague, Gidon Kremer's Kremerata Baltica, Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, members of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Program, and soloists of The Cleveland Orchestra. His compositions have premiered across Europe, the United States, and Japan, and he has composed music for acclaimed art films including Glowing (2025), Eating the Future (2024), and Wolves on the Border (2021). In 2021, he founded STRO.MY Ensemble, an innovative international group dedicated to reimagining classical music through site-specific performances in architecturally striking locations, often incorporating visual and performative elements. The ensemble performs regularly both in the Czech Republic and internationally. Jiří earned his Master of Music at the Cleveland Institute of Music and studied composition and conducting at the Prague Conservatory. His accolades include second prize and Special Prize for Best Czech Composition at Generace 2019, the Cleveland Composers Guild first prize, and the 2018 Donald Erb Prize in Composition.

Jan Škrob, Librettist: Jan Škrob is a poet, translator and cultural worker based in Prague. He is the author of several books of poetry that have garnered significant critical acclaim. His debut was nominated for the Magnesia Litera Award in the 'Discovery of the Year' category, and his second book, Reál, was shortlisted for the prestigious Jiří Orten Award. His work has received international recognition: he was awarded the Dresden Poetry Award in 2018, and his poems have been translated into English, German, French, Dutch, Polish, Lithuanian, and other languages, appearing in international journals, festival programmes, book-length selections and anthologies. He has participated in major European literary festivals and collaborative translation projects, contributing significantly to the circulation of contemporary Czech poetry abroad. His writing is often situated at the intersection of personal experience and reflection of political reality, exploring the tensions between individual lives and larger social forces.

Shayna Penn, Stage Director: Shayna Penn is elated to be making her stage directing debut after stage managing at premiere institutions around the world. Her favorite credits include: Beth Morrison Projects' Adoration (Associate Producer), The Great Soviet Bucket (SM), Aging Magician (ASM), Angel's Bone (Beijing Music Festival, ASM), In Our Daughter's Eyes (ASM), PLACE (ASM), Jazz at Lincoln Center (5 years, Stage Manager), The Lion King (Rafiki National Tour), The Nightmare Before Christmas at the Hollywood Bowl (Stage Manager), Rusalka (Pacific Opera Project, PSM), The Comet/Poppea (The Industry, ASM), Broadway's Home for the Holidays, In the Name of the Earth (Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, Associate SM), and Little Island Festival (Company Manager). Shayna is the Owner and Editor of The Season Overview. She also created the Ben Lipitz Memorial Scholarship Award, in honor of her dearly missed friend, benefiting students in their hometown's pursuits of collegiate theatrical education. Proud UNCSA alum.

Fahad Siadat, Music Director, Conductor: A 'fanciful and downright utopian artist and thinker' (Los Angeles Times), Fahad Siadat explores sound as spiritual practice, creating interdisciplinary pieces as a vehicle for unveiling the mystery of our interconnected world. His music is described as 'evoking wonder, desire, and terror' (Off Broadway) with narratives that 'border on being a spiritual journey' (LA Dance Chronicle). His work has been presented by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Broadstage, and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Fahad is founder and director of the Resonance Collective, which explores and expands the definition of sacred music. He is also a singing member and director of LA's premier new music vocal ensemble HEX, described by the Los Angeles Times as 'a luminous ensemble of singers.' As a performer, Fahad has appeared as soloist with The Industry and the Grammy Award-winning ensemble PARTCH, and has recorded for artists including Daniel Lentz and Wild Up. Fahad is regularly commissioned by ensembles, dance companies, and theater troupes. His music has been performed in Europe, China, and across the United States.

Timur, Performer, Producer: Grammy-nominated Kazakh-American performer Timur, 'the extravagantly transgressive tenor' (Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times) and 'a symphony hall of great vocal talents' (Chris Nichols, Los Angeles magazine), has made solo appearances with Los Angeles Philharmonic, Bang on a Can All-Stars, PROTOTYPE, Theater Magdeburg, National Theater Prague, Comédie de Genève, Santa Cecilia Academy, and The Industry LA, among many others. He premiered over forty opera and chamber works by many celebrated composers, including David T. Little, Gerald Barry, Thomas Adès, David Lang, Silvano Bussotti, Ellen Reid, Anne LeBaron, Michael Gordon, Tod Machover, the late Peter Eötvös and the late Louis Andriessen. His glam-opera band Timur and the Dime Museum, 'a marvel of golden inflections' (New York Times), has closely collaborated on projects with Beth Morrison Projects on the post-ecological requiem Collapse (REDCAT, O. Rotterdam, BAM's Next Wave Festival, Miami Light Project); industrial metal opera film Black Lodge (Opera Philadelphia, CAP UCLA, Folkoperan, Malmö Opera, PROTOTYPE), and The Great Soviet Bucket (Miami Light Project.) He is a creator of a sci-fi comedy Klaus from Space (O. Festival Rotterdam, Klanggg_Festival Switzerland, Theater Magdeburg) and is currently developing a musical project with Nick Urata of DeVotchka and co-writer Sandra Powers under their banner Tropigoth Tales, directed by director Julien Chavaz. Timur is active as a film producer, having worked on Sundance's 2019 winner Clemency (Alfre Woodard), Color Out of Space (Nicholas Cage), and Measure of Revenge (Melissa Leo). More information is available at theoperaoftimur.com.