the trial 2014

The Trial is based on the Franz Kafka´s homonymous book. In the original novel, the main character, Josef K., is arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, with the nature of his crime revealed neither to him nor to the reader. In the play, this same condition is used as a scenic device: the actor who lives the K. role enters the scene without ever having rehearsed or seen the play. In this way, at each performance, a new actor is invited to be Josef K., This adaptation intends to update Kafka’s work for theatre using its critical and political content also in the structure of the play. In this way, the performance proposes to explore a kind of acting where the invited actor has to deal with elements of surprise. After all, who is at the mercy of whom? The cast, who needs to continue the play even though one of the actors doesn’t know how to do it? Or the guest actor, who, like Josef K., needs to defend himself without knowing how? The play finds in the Brazilian current political moment (post-impeachment) a unique opportunity to reflect about the abuses of power and the impotence of the contemporary man in front of the blind bureaucracies of the system. The play was nominated for the Shell Award 2015 in the Innovation Category for the scenic device proposition, which reveals the exercise of the actors in creation, in addition to updating the story of Kafka.

The play debuted in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) in November 2014.

credits

Conception: Leandro Romano and Luiz Antonio Ribeiro

Direction: Leandro Romano

Dramaturgy: Luiz Antonio Ribeiro (based on Franz Kafka’s book)

Cast: Amanda Grimaldi, Cirillo Luna, Daniel Passi, Gabriel Vaz, Larissa Siqueira da Cunha and Pedro Henrique Müller

Set design: Elsa Romero

Costume and light design: Gaia Catta and Lia Maia

Original soundtrack: Felipe Ventura and Gabriel Vaz

Directing assistance: Julia Bernat

Art assistance: Fernando Blauth Klipel

Casting: Renata Magalhães