Kafka’s nightmarish tale of Joseph K, a man viciously persecuted for an unknown crime, has lost none of its chilling potency over the years. Now, iconic composer Philip Glass brings his signature style to this literary classic. Working with Academy Award-winning playwright Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons1988), their new opera is brimming with drama, paranoia and Kafka’s notoriously absurd humour. Read more …
Strong, intense stage performances all round from a cast that combines towering experience with Scottish Opera impressive emerging artists. And how wonderful, too, to be able to hear every single word, clear as a bell.
The opera’s abrupt ending delivers a blow to the core of our belief in a fair and rational world, and the audience response is unsurprisingly lacklustre. We are left feeling dissatisfied, confused, betrayed – but this might just be the whole point.
The production, inevitably, cannot match the psychological intensity of the novel, and one can’t help but feel that Banham’s ingenious set loses in thematic scale what it gains in claustrophobia. That said, it draws enough upon Kafka’s genius, and upon the brilliance of Glass and Hampton, to create a rewarding evening’s opera.
Dark, brooding and brutal, Scottish Opera’s take on Kafka’s The Trial, catches several areas of resonance and delivers a piece which is as glorious as it it is forbidding.
Interview: Philip Glass on Scottish Opera's new production of The Trial
Theatre Royal, Glasgow from Tuesday January 24, 2017, until Saturday January 28, 2017. More info: www.theambassadors.com/theatreroyalglasgow/
King's Theatre, Edinburgh from Friday February 3, 2017, until Saturday February 4, 2017. More info: http://www.edtheatres.com/kings