PERFORMED AT THE

ROYAL & DERNGATE THEATRE

MAY 2012

PRODUCED AS PART OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTHAMPTON

2nd YEAR BA ACTING MODULE:

WORKING WITH A PROFESSIONAL DIRECTOR

The Trial is an adaptation by Steven Berkoff of Franz Kafka's 1925 novel and presents a world where the individual is simply part of the socio-political machine. The play's protagonist, Joseph K, reflects Kafka's own feelings of impotence, isolation and inadequacy under the force of laws, institutions, social conventions and the sacrifice of personal fulfillment.

Joseph K is charged - in fact arrested - but knows not the crime that he is accused of. His journey through the endless corridors of an inaccessible legal system highlights the apathy and unwillingness of the human characters to challenge the social machine, eventually leading to K's realisation that his guilt lies in having betrayed his inner spirit to the safety of mediocrity.

Berkoff's adaptation allows the world of the play to live through the endless possibilities of a bare stage, 16 wooden frames and the actors' bodies. Doorways become vehicles leading to tunnels that climb stairs and cross tightropes as K struggles to gain admittance to the Law.  But is it too late to stop his door - and his life - from slamming shut on him?