The Trial

After Franz Kafka

Philip GLASS The Trial

Christopher Hampton libretto/text
Based on the novel by Franz Kafka
Mark Coughlan conductor
Melissa Cantwell director

Contemporary thriller meets operatic fever dream in this Australian premiere of Philip Glass’ The Trial. Under a blaze of fluorescent lights and with the shuffle of endless paperwork, the action unfolds in a chilling maze of a forgotten office space in Forrest Chase, where order masks chaos and every corner hides a secret.

Franz Kafka’s nightmarish world of accusation and authority finds a thrilling new voice with Lost and Found Opera.

Phillip Glass’ hypnotic score coils around Josef K, arrested on his 30th birthday for an unnamed crime and swept through a carnival of clerks, courts and witnesses. Oscar-winning dramatist Christopher Hampton’s razor-sharp libretto lets a stellar cast slip between roles, while the West Australian Symphony Orchestra drives the drama with propulsive clarity. 

Directed by Melissa Cantwell, this stark bureaucratic dystopia crackles with Kafka’s black comedy, while conductor Mark Coughlan shapes the music’s luminous repetitions into waves of suspense, tenderness and bitter irony. 

Your journey takes you into the maze of a forgotten office space, echoing the disorientation of Josef K’s passage into the corridors of power. The Trial resonates uncannily with our times – where bureaucracy blurs into fate and the question ‘What have I done?’ reverberates long after the final chord.

Presented by Lost and Found Opera and Perth Festival in association with West Australian Opera and West Australian Symphony Orchestra.
© 2014 Dunvagen Music Publishers Inc. Used by Permission. Proudly supported by the WA Government.