Review: Kafka's THE TRIAL Hits Cherry Lane Theatre

Sextant Productions brings Kafka's The Trial to life on the well-known Cherry Lane Theatre stage in New York City. The intimate show adapted by Andrew Visnevski is brilliantly done with a talented cast of five luring the crowd into a dubious and unnerving world.

Based on the Franz Kafka's legendary novel written between 1914-1915, The Trial incorporates both historical anxieties of a shattered civilization to today's own bureaucracy fears.

The story is about a man named Joseph K (Will Dagger) who is arrested for an unknown crime and is put on trial by an authority that is equally mystifying. On a quest to seek the truth (and clear his name), he comes across a wide range of characters - the Baliff's wife (Desiree Staples), Titorelli the painter (Drigan Lee), and a man on all fours who calls himself Block (Matt Kuyawa) - only to be taken on a wild goose chase that seems to no end.

With a mix of humor and tragedy, The Trial is a promising show that like the novel, sends the audience into a dark, unknown territory that is both captivating and terrifying.

Running until May 6 with evening performances Wednesday through Sunday nights at 7pm and matinees on Sundays at 3pm. Tickets $30.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Kristal