Krystian Lupa

The Trial based on the novel by Franz Kafka

Archive 2018

Theatre

Le Procès © Magda Hueckel ©

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Directed, adapted, stage and lighting design by Krystian Lupa
With Bożena Baranowska, Maciej Charyton, Bartosz Bielenia, Małgorzata Gorol, Anna Ilczuk, Mikołaj Jodliński, Andrzej Kłak, Dariusz Maj, Michał Opaliński, Marcin Pempuś, Halina Rasiakówna, Piotr Skiba, Ewa Skibińska, Adam Szczyszczaj, Andrzej Szeremeta, Wojciech Ziemiański, Marta Zięba, and Ewelina Żak
Glosses, Krystian Lupa, Andrzej Kłak, Marta Zięba, Marcin Pempuś, Adam Szczyszczaj, Małgorzata Gorol, and Radosław Stępień Translation, Jakub Ekier
Costumes, Piotr Skiba
Music, Bogumił Misala
Video, Bartosz Nalazek

Principally produced by Nowy Teatr (Warsaw)
A production by STUDIO teatrgaleria (Warsaw) production ; Teatr Powszechny (Warsaw) ; TR Warszawa ; and Le Quai – CDN Angers Pays de la Loire
A coproduction with Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels) ; Printemps des Comédiens (Montpellier) ; La Filature, Scène nationale (Mulhouse) ; Théâtre du Nord – Centre Dramatique National Lille / Tourcoing / Hauts-de-France ; La rose des vents – Scène nationale Lille Métropole Villeneuve-d’Ascq ; HELLERAU – Europäisches Zentrum der Künste Dresden ; Onassis Cultural Centre-Athens ; Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe (Paris) ; and Festival d’Automne à Paris
In association with Odéon-Théâtre de l’Europe (Paris) ; and Festival d’Automne à Paris
With support from Adami
With support from Adam Mickiewicz Institut as part of the centenary celebrations for Poland’s return to independence
First performed on 15 November 2017 at Nowy Teatr (Warsaw)

Show Bible Press review

In Poland, where the conservative powers that be continue to lead the country down increasingly kafkaesque avenues, the director Krystian Lupa, no newcomer to German-language authors, tackles the work of Franz Kafka for the first time. He brings us this adaptation of The Trial, his inimitable touch in tact.

No newcomer to German-language authors, dramaturges and novelists alike, notably Thomas Bernhard - as we bore witness to at the Festival d’Automne two years ago with three productions -, this year’s Festival sees Krystian Lupa tackling the work of Franz Kafka for the first time. And this is exactly what he did. After adapting The Trial for the Théâtre Polski troupe in Warsaw, he began rehearsals in the spring of 2015. Proceedings, however, came to a brutal halt with the nomination of a new director more sympathetic to the concerns of the ultra-conservative government in Warsaw. Propped up by the “Rights and Justice” party, its nationalist vision of theatre spelt trouble for Krystian Lupa. With help and support from several theatres in Warsaw and abroad, he was finally able to get back to work on the show. His version of The Trial still bears the scars. The Trial is an unfinished work. Krystian Lupa contents himself with this, and brings to the stage Felicia, Franz Kafka’s fiancée, and his friend Max Brod, whom Kafka ordered to burn his works on his death. Once his friend had passed away, Max Brod burned nothing whatsoever. Which explains why we are able to read The Trial, and now see Krystian Lupa’s version of it, in his increasingly kafkaesque country.
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Running time : 4h30 (including intervals)
Performed in Polish, with French subtitles