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Franz Kafka is a ubiquitous figure, especially in his birthplace of Prague. Every day, there are guided tours to places of significance in his life, and every gift shop sells Kafka memorabilia, from bookmarks to fridge magnets. So, it’s not surprising that a biographical ballet about Kafka’s life should be made in Czechia, but more so that it is the second city of Brno that has taken the initiative.

Kafka was just 40 when he died in 1924, from starvation caused by laryngeal tuberculosis, at which time most of his literature was unpublished. That would have remained the case had his executor and friend, Max Brod, not disobeyed the author’s instructions to destroy unpublished manuscripts after his death. Without Brod’s defiance the world would never have known this literary giant, and the ...