Where and when: Pleasance Courtyard (Beyond) at 15:00, 5th-14th August

What it’s all about… Young Pleasance’s show this year is a new stage adaptation of Kafka’s novel The Trial. Whilst staying true to his original vision, we have set the plot within a highly contemporary world: Joseph K is a 21-year-old Art History student who has come from Eastern Europe to study in London in 2020. At his surprise 21st birthday party, things go disastrously wrong. Joseph has been ‘arrested’ and is in a coma in a teaching hospital; there we discover that he is the sole patient on a secret government medical trial and we follow his unconscious mind through a labyrinth of dead ends, misunderstandings and bizarre dream-like situations. Guilt follows and surrounds him, but the truth eventually unfolds as Joseph begins to come to terms with who he is, as reality and fantasy collide. The thirty-strong, young cast play over 60 roles, leading the audience through a fast-paced, visually stunning exploration of Joseph’s life, and mind. The expressionist production wraps around naturalistic performances, which we hope will result in a uniquely funny, sometimes absurd and ultimately moving story of self-discovery and growing up.

You’ll like it if… We think this piece will be very relevant to any older teenager or young adult, as the story follows 17-21-year-olds, discovering university for the first time and working out who they are or want to be. However, we always aim to appeal to a very wide audience. Young Pleasance has built up a level of trust with our audiences over a long period and they know that they will always be entertained with a combination of the dramatic, thought-provoking and comic, offering some of the highest production values on the fringe.

You should see it because… It is for anyone who wants to see a visually interesting, fast-paced, layered theatre production! We truly aim to keep our audience gripped through our adventurous, imaginative story-telling, and to have them questioning and keep them guessing as the story unfolds. We also hope that the struggles of our protagonist, the resolutions we propose, and the strong visual images within the piece will resonate long after someone has left the theatre.

Anything else we should know…: It is Young Pleasance’s 25th year at the Fringe this summer (!) and we are very excited to be taking up The Trial as a celebration of this. We also can’t wait to be heading back to Edinburgh after everyone’s time away – we look forward to spending our August back in Pleasance Courtyard.

Where to follow:
Twitter: @YoungPleasance
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Facebook: @YoungPleasance

Ticket link: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/trial#overview