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Walt Disney meets Franz Kafka – sort of – in Michael McClure’s 1979 play “Josephine the Mouse Singer,” which Berkeley’s Last Planet Theater revived Saturday at SomArts in San Francisco, in an unusual musical production that contains a powerful original score by world-renown Bay Area composer Terry Riley. 

“Josephine the Mouse Singer,” based loosely on a story by Franz Kafka, is a fable about the life of an artist. It premiered in the Bay Area in 1979 at the Magic Theater, where McClure was a playwright in residence for several years. 

In Last Planet’s current production, 17 actors are rigged out as mice – all of them wearing prosthetic mouse ears – to tell the story of Josephine the mouse (Tori Hinkle) who sings beautifully, but who has some personal hurdles in her life. 

Most important, Josephine doesn’t want to work a day job scurrying around with the other mice, since she is an artist who needs to save her energy for that higher calling. 

As an artist, Josephine is also annoyed by a former lover named Baby (Cory Bayne) who wants to get conjugal with her, though a conjugal relationship will stifle Josephine’s freedom, just like the day job. 

A group of not-too-bright followers of Josephine meet to consider her dilemma. For a moment they consider revolution against the status quo, but drop that idea. 

Ultimately, Josephine takes revenge against the day job by resolving to work herself to exhaustion. Later, things turn bloody when a cat kills some mice at one of Josephine’s concerts.  

The play, which is a muddled fable, has its minuses, and contains its share of self-conscious claptrap about the identity of an artist. 

For one, Josephine’s complaints about her life and her haughty dismissal of others make her an unsympathetic character, so it’s hard to muster enthusiasm for her dilemma. She also seems much more concerned with her image as an artist, than with her art. 

Only at the end of the play do we see Josephine perform, and it’s hard to tell whether she’s a great artist, or just a delusional nut case. The stupefying effect that she has on unthinking followers who lack all independent judgment, doesn’t necessarily speak well of her ability. 

The characters in this play don’t operate at the top of their intelligences, and the play speaks down to its audience in a patronizing way. 

Additionally, in this very untraditional structure and storyline, much of the play’s action is described off-stage – generally considered a no-no in drama. 

The amazing upside to this production is Terry Riley’s powerful new musical score. Director John Wilkins’ unusual staging has elicited good performances from many of the actors. 

Riley’s synthesizer composition includes sounds of piano, guitar, and larger orchestral combinations. 

Riley and Wilkins have skillfully integrated the musical track into the movement of the story, so that it becomes a storytelling vehicle like the best of movie soundtracks. The music is actually able to push the narrative of the show forward, especially in scenes where there is no dialogue spoken. 

The evening’s peak scene, near the play’s end where Josephine finally sings, is the production’s strongest scene – and carried principally by Riley’s magical music. 

California composer Riley is probably best known for his classic 1964 album "In C." A minimalist composer with an international reputation, over the last 40 years he has worked with the Kronos Quartet, Rova Saxophone Quartet and many prominent rock and avant garde musicians. 

Standout performers in Last Planet’s show include Hinkle in the lead as Josephine, Cody Bayne as her lover Baby, Matt Leshinskie as the Narrator, and Robert Avila as the mouse Dad. One of the show’s most striking visual moments occurs when a hoard of mice demolish a 15-foot cake, piece by piece. 

Last Planet must improve the look of its productions by getting rid of the raggedy-looking drapes hung around the theater that have been featured in its last three shows. These ugly jerry-rigged curtains give Last Planet productions the feel of a low-budget high school play from the 1950s. The company must find a new set design concept. 

In 1999, Last Planet Theater produced a four-play Wallace Shawn festival at Berkeley’s Julia Morgan Center.