As I stand outside York Theatre Royal in the chill of the evening, I have no idea where I am going.  The interval crowd from Equus has inhabited the foyer bar and it is clear that Belt Up’s The Trial will not be using the front of stage of the Theatre Royal as mentioned on my ticket.  There’s only a few of us waiting outside with an odd smoker from the main house production.  Then the bowler hatted  little man  carrying his umbrella and brief case whistles as he walks by us.  We start to follow him and we must have looked like a strange group of people following this funny looking man down a street in York.  Of course this is Josef K and the story has just begun….

I don’t want to blog about this piece of theatre in the usual way, because the whole experience builds on tension surprise and challenging the audience.  To try and explain, or even offer my own thoughts on how I experienced this work, would spoil it for other theatre goers.  It was a piece of theatre which considered the use of space and the audience’s role in theatre.  It, like Shared Experience’s Caucasian Chalk Circle, made the story telling central to what it was trying to achieve.  I was gripped and would recommend anyone to see this production of The Trial if the opportunity arises.   I didn’t have nightmares, but the images keep coming into my head and I keep thinking that I might just see the little man walking by as he whistles on his way to work. and it will all start again.

Reviews and Previews

Belt Up Theatre The Trial York Theatre Royal