Kafka's on Trial at the Young Vic Theatre
It's all sex, confusion and insanity caused by a secret court in The Trial. And The Young Vic brings it up to date and on the stage in multi-talented excellence.
I found a couple of things completely astonishing about The Trial at The Young Vic theatre before the play had even started. The first was the amount of young, 'urban' looking people. I rather snobbishly presumed Kafka would attract an older, turtle neck wearing crowd. I was expecting to be the youngest person in the room - I wasn't, by a long shot. The second was the amount of lone theatre goers. A reflection of K's loneliness in the book, perhaps.
Looking out from my balcony seat over the orange stage, I was intrigued and a little fearful this may be an avant garde or conceptual adaptation of Kafka's best-known works. It's one of my favourite books, along with Brave New World, 1984, A Clockwork Orange and Hunger Games. I tend to enjoy these dystopian tales of a seemingly unbeatable system. It reminds me resistance is futile and the house always wins.
Cliches aside, the play opens with the keyhole stage lifting to hover above the conveyor belt setting. The outline of keyhole on the floor is a constant reminder to our (and the court's) voyeurism. Rory Kinnear (who played Barry Fairbrother in the BBC's adaptation of A Casual Vacancy) takes the lead role of Josef K., is seen drunkenly leering at a semi-clad dancing lady. He is then transported to his bedroom where the story of The Trial begins.
His internal monologue parts are spoken in broken, half English. Something I don't remember from the book. Although I read The Trial when I was travelling through China, so I was somewhat distracted.
We're then introduced to K's arresting officers and the delectable Fraulein Burstner, called Rosa in this version, played by Kate O'Flynn who you might recognise from No Offence. Kate O'Flynn is no stranger to the theatre and this shows in her performance. She plays several roles, including the childish and subtly masochistic Leni (renamed Cherry), a Brummy arresting officer, a Slavic abused court woman and Titorelli's glamorous assistant - who in this version is pitched as a sort of magician/surgeon.
Harry Potter fans will recognise Sian Thomas. She plays K's lawyer as an ambiguously powerful, yet regal woman who has Block, played by Hugh Skinner (seen in the brilliant W1A and I think is one to watch), on his knees, barking like a dog. I also spotted Sian Thomas (seen on the far left of this photo) in the bar before the performance chatting to a couple of actresses known for playing Verity and Elizabeth Poldark.
On the whole, the play was true to the book. There were segments that kind of illuminated the motives of the court missing, like the parable scene in the church (replaced by a scene with a nurse) where K accepts his fate and the ending was different (less brutal) than the one Kafka imagined for K.
The performances are flawless from every cast member. How Kate O'Flynn went from one character to another so quickly and effortlessly without once dropping the ball is beyond me. It's almost as impressive as Rory Kinnear's ability to go from Yoda-on-crack like language to proper English in microseconds.
And hats off to the staging staff, who created an incredible and clever set that seamlessly went from scene to scene, creating an air of despair and oppressive retro standardisation. The entire performance slick and tight.
This play wasn't as edgy as I expected. There were far more laughs with Rory Kinnear showing that he's inherited some of his father's comic timing and spattering of bad language to make it accessible to Kafka ignorant audience. I'm not sure the moral of the tale came across or if the ending conveyed K's surrender to the court. I would be interested to know what the youth in the audience, who had never read the book thought. Would it bring Kafka to a younger generation or simply disappoint purists like me with its modernity?
I really enjoyed this play, but I wanted a more serious and cerebral take on the book that Kafka himself hated. However, by going against this they've created something far more exciting, a Kafka that's accessible to everyone.
I found a couple of things completely astonishing about The Trial at The Young Vic theatre before the play had even started. The first was the amount of young, 'urban' looking people. I rather snobbishly presumed Kafka would attract an older, turtle neck wearing crowd. I was expecting to be the youngest person in the room - I wasn't, by a long shot. The second was the amount of lone theatre goers. A reflection of K's loneliness in the book, perhaps.
Looking out from my balcony seat over the orange stage, I was intrigued and a little fearful this may be an avant garde or conceptual adaptation of Kafka's best-known works. It's one of my favourite books, along with Brave New World, 1984, A Clockwork Orange and Hunger Games. I tend to enjoy these dystopian tales of a seemingly unbeatable system. It reminds me resistance is futile and the house always wins.
Cliches aside, the play opens with the keyhole stage lifting to hover above the conveyor belt setting. The outline of keyhole on the floor is a constant reminder to our (and the court's) voyeurism. Rory Kinnear (who played Barry Fairbrother in the BBC's adaptation of A Casual Vacancy) takes the lead role of Josef K., is seen drunkenly leering at a semi-clad dancing lady. He is then transported to his bedroom where the story of The Trial begins.
His internal monologue parts are spoken in broken, half English. Something I don't remember from the book. Although I read The Trial when I was travelling through China, so I was somewhat distracted.
We're then introduced to K's arresting officers and the delectable Fraulein Burstner, called Rosa in this version, played by Kate O'Flynn who you might recognise from No Offence. Kate O'Flynn is no stranger to the theatre and this shows in her performance. She plays several roles, including the childish and subtly masochistic Leni (renamed Cherry), a Brummy arresting officer, a Slavic abused court woman and Titorelli's glamorous assistant - who in this version is pitched as a sort of magician/surgeon.
Harry Potter fans will recognise Sian Thomas. She plays K's lawyer as an ambiguously powerful, yet regal woman who has Block, played by Hugh Skinner (seen in the brilliant W1A and I think is one to watch), on his knees, barking like a dog. I also spotted Sian Thomas (seen on the far left of this photo) in the bar before the performance chatting to a couple of actresses known for playing Verity and Elizabeth Poldark.
On the whole, the play was true to the book. There were segments that kind of illuminated the motives of the court missing, like the parable scene in the church (replaced by a scene with a nurse) where K accepts his fate and the ending was different (less brutal) than the one Kafka imagined for K.
The performances are flawless from every cast member. How Kate O'Flynn went from one character to another so quickly and effortlessly without once dropping the ball is beyond me. It's almost as impressive as Rory Kinnear's ability to go from Yoda-on-crack like language to proper English in microseconds.
And hats off to the staging staff, who created an incredible and clever set that seamlessly went from scene to scene, creating an air of despair and oppressive retro standardisation. The entire performance slick and tight.
This play wasn't as edgy as I expected. There were far more laughs with Rory Kinnear showing that he's inherited some of his father's comic timing and spattering of bad language to make it accessible to Kafka ignorant audience. I'm not sure the moral of the tale came across or if the ending conveyed K's surrender to the court. I would be interested to know what the youth in the audience, who had never read the book thought. Would it bring Kafka to a younger generation or simply disappoint purists like me with its modernity?
I really enjoyed this play, but I wanted a more serious and cerebral take on the book that Kafka himself hated. However, by going against this they've created something far more exciting, a Kafka that's accessible to everyone.
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