The Trial gives us an interesting combination. Franz Kafka, a writer whose work was so singular that his name has been turned into an adjective meaning deeply bizarre, and Phillip Glass, the contemporary composer, whose name, for many people, brings to mind discordant “modern” music, are the two factors. The result is happily far from off-putting, even for the opera-hesitant.
It seems a reach to call this a comic opera, as the program styles it, but there is indeed some levity in it – we are told that when Kafka read this to his friends, they all laughed heartily. Stage director Michael McCarthy gives us elements of commedia dell’ arte, which fits perfectly into the unworldliness of what happens. Josef K. (Theo Hoffman) is awakened with the news that he’s being arrested. For what is a mystery that is never revealed. It’s like a nightmare’s unsolvable puzzle.
The staging of the play keeps that theme. Simon Banham’s set seems simple, a wall with one high window, several mostly-invisible doors, all appearing to be whitewashed wood. The remarkable lighting from Christopher Akerlind uses that wall to great effect, often with sharply outlined silhouettes, not just of the actors but also pieces of the set – at one point a silhouette of the metal frames of chairs and a table piled on a bed resemble a Charles Rennie Mackintosh design. Banham also did the black and white or cream costumes, and the commedia dell’ arte angle is emphasized by makeup from Tom Watson hinting at that style.
The blending of the story and the music is remarkably good, a product of the show being created with particularly close work between Glass and librettist Christopher Hampton. Indeed, one can become so swept away with the performance and the story line that the music’s seamless fit becomes another critical organ in the body of work, like the libretto, rather than the primary focus. That’s not to disparage Glass, but rather talk about how well the partnering worked. And for those who are hesitant about modern music, this isn’t difficult to listen to, I hasten to add.
Theo Hoffman’s Josef is well-acted and handsomely sung. The remaining cast each cover multiple roles. Those are more broadly played, again acknowledging the dell’ arte tradition, and that’s a great deal of the humor, although there are some verbal jests as well. The voices are satisfying. The St. Louis Symphony is conducted by Carolyn Kuan, making her OTSL debut, and she seems right at home with things, the result being a great pleasure.
It’s an astonishingly mesmerizing evening, all in all.
The Trial
through June 23
Opera Theatre of St. Louis
Loretto-Hilton Center
130 Edgar Rd., Webster Groves
314-961-0644