“There are no limits to my ability to fast!” In this explosive performance, Franz Kafka’s strangest character comes to life and invites the audience to come and share his dark cage. Nick Fesette, in a truly “naked” performance, plunges headfirst into the soul of the hunger artist and ecstatically emerges drenched in theatrical placenta. Using song, dance, and circus tricks, the Human Group explores starvation, the human body, and what it means to be a performing animal.

The Cast

Nick Fesette is author of the performance, also taking on the role of the hunger artist himself. He grew up in rural Plattsburgh, New York, and before starting work in the theatre briefly performed as a clown at a Christmas-themed amusement park and played alto saxophone in a Tool cover band. With Human Group, he made his New York stage debut as Jean in Miss Julie. Nick studied at Hamilton College, The Moscow Art Theatre, and The New York State Summer School for the Arts (NYSSSA) School of Theatre.

William Slater Welles is thrilled to working on Kafka’s The Hunger Artist. William is a graduate of Hamilton College and a founding member of Human Group Theater Company. He would like to thank Nick and the rest of the amazing cast as well as his family for the infinite support they have given. 

Stephen Arnoczy is thrilled to be involved with this deliciously torturous piece and would prefer to always build work from a hungarian-scavenging-animal place. He's a recent graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where he studied at PHTS and the Classical studio. Recent credits include: Dance Dance Revoluion (The Ohio), The Forgetting of Things (Bushwick Starr), and Measure for Measure (La Plaza Cultural). Up next, he'll be seen in The Centrifuge's The Office and the Metal Blob (themetalblob.blogspot.com) in this year's NYC Fringe Festival. He'd like to thank Randi, Nick, Andrew, Lindsey, and his mom.