The Trial, © 2014 Dunvagen Music Publishers Inc. Used by Permission. Presented by Lost and Found Opera and Perth Festival in association with West Australian Opera and West Australian Symphony Orchestra. Photo: Christophe Canato.
the trial
Franz Kafka’s nightmarish world of accusation and authority found a thrilling new voice with Lost and Found Opera.
Philip Glass’ hypnotic score coiled 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 allowed a stellar cast to slip seamlessly between roles, while the West Australian Symphony Orchestra drove the drama with propulsive clarity.
Directed by Melissa Cantwell, this stark bureaucratic dystopia crackled with Kafka’s black comedy, while conductor Mark Coughlan shaped the music’s luminous repetitions into waves of suspense, tenderness and bitter irony.
Audiences were taken deep into the maze of a forgotten office space, mirroring the disorientation of Josef K’s passage through the corridors of power. The Trial resonated uncannily with our times – a world where bureaucracy blurred into fate and the question ‘What have I done?’ echoed long after the final chord.
Director Mel Cantwell
Conductor Mark Coughlan
Starring Lachlan Higgins as Josef K.
Cast Caitlin Cassidy, Rachelle Durkin, Robert Hofmann, Noah Humich, Lachlann Lawton, Euan MacMillan & Brett Peart
Orchestra West Australian Symphony Orchestra
Pianist Tommaso Pollio
Designer Bruce McKinven
Lighting Designer Matthew Erren
Sound Designer & Operator Declan Barber
Video Designer Emma Fishwick
Choreographer Laura Boynes
Executive Producer Tim Carter
Production Manager Jack Wilson
Stage Manager Bel Hughes
Presented by Lost and Found Opera and Perth Festival in association with West Australian Opera and West Australian Symphony Orchestra.