The latest big news Off West End is a new stage interpretation of Kafka's disturbing and expressionistic novel The Trial.Writing in 1914 Kafka introduces us to a bland and ordinary man Joseph K who one day faces arrest without explanation and is left to ponder, traumatisd about what he might have done wrong. It's a haunting nightmare scenario which has been used to reflect the injustice of various oppressive regimes where the rights of the individual are ignored by forces intent on crushing any potential dissent.
The threat of arrest without charge, information or an end date is one of the cruelest forms of mental torture one human being can inflict on another and Kafka's prose reproduces the psychological horror in minute and disturbing detail. But is it possible to stage the inside of someone's head?
Considering the overall critical reaction to this attempt, adapted by Nick Gill and directed by Richard Jones, we have to conclude - nearly but not quite.
The productions biggest asset is Rory Kinear in the lead role. In a few short years Kinear has established himself as one of the UKs finest and best loved actors; on stage in highly acclaimed productions at the National Theatre, most notably as a superbly nuanced Iago, on TV he was terrific in an adaptation of J.K. Rowling's novel The Casual Vacancy and he's a now a key player in the James Bond franchise as the mild mannered Bill Tanner. Joseph K, a figure so apparently bland on the surface yet wrestling with such internal demons, is the perfect role for him. He's on stage through out fighting for answers from an increasingly confusing and obtuse system and his face conveys so much at every point that it's difficult to take your eyes off him.
And there's plenty to distract you. Most notably the use of travelators to to suggest both the treadmill of eveyday life and the unstoppable momentum of injustice. The Young Vic is one of London's most excitingly adaptable spaces and has been configured to make the journey to your seat a surreal experience in itself and you'll find yourself seated on benches around the action as if in a court.
It never matches the power of the book and at over two hours without an interval it begins to feel like a long haul but it's an unmissable opportunity to see a great actor on top form and a clever creative team at their imaginative best.
It’s great to see the newspaper critics have enjoyed BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM.
The show’s press rep, Janine Shalom of Premiere PR, couldn't spare me a ticket to review the final product and when I saw it, in previews a few weeks ago, there were a lot of problems with the show. 