Magnificent Performance of The Trial by our Sixth Form Students 

The Sixth Form production of Steven Berkoff’s The Trial at Seckford Theatre this week, captured audiences from the very start with a striking opening scene to a  well-known Faithless anthem.  It was a sign of what was to come as our audience members were taken on a suffocating journey through the dark humour and absurdity of Kafka’s world. 

As Joseph K’s (Year 13’s Fergus) day starts, one fine morning, he discovers that he is being arrested.  But for what?  For this respectable bank clerk, this is truly alarming and he immediately seeks to understand the reason for his arrest through interactions with numerous characters embroiled in an utterly incomprehensible legal system. 

A minimalist but bold staging, dark and colourless, with simple door frames used to construct the changing scenes of the legal maze that Jospeh K moves through as his desperation to know the cause of his arrest mounts.  Scenes of precise rhythmic and repetitious group movement create a claustrophobic atmosphere which heightened the increasing torment Joseph K was feeling.   

From Huld (Year 12’s Edward) the sickly but overbearing lawyer, to Titorelli (Year 12’s Samuel) the effusive court painter, and the seductive Laundress (Year 13’s Georgia), no-one was making sense to him.  Joseph K dies none the wiser. 

In this highly physical, confident and focussed performance, by this wonderfully talented Sixth Form cast, the audience were certainly left with much to think about bureaucracy, power and justice. 

Congratulations to cast and crew on a truly thought provoking performance, it was clear to see the hard work and dedication that had gone into every part of the performance, on and off the stage.