THE TRIAL OF JOSIE K
Whats on Stage
5 stars out of 5
The Trial of Josie K at the Unicorn Theatre – review
Katie Hims’ adaptation of a Kafka classic runs until 19 February
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
If I were looking for a classic novel to adapt into a piece of children’s drama, I’m fairly sure Franz Kafka’s nightmarish The Trial would have been pretty far down my list, and not just because it’s already had several stage versions (the Young Vic alone has tackled it twice). Lucky then for the genre of young people’s theatre that I am not writer Katie Hims, whose fresh, drastic reimagining of that masterpiece of dystopian absurdism is not just a complete success but a near-constant source of surprising delight.
Kafka’s bank clerk Josef K, arrested and prosecuted for unspecified crimes by agents of an inhumane, authoritarian state, here becomes contemporary schoolgirl Josie K (played with a glorious combination of sass and charm by Nkhanise Phiri) forced on the day after her birthday to report to a mysterious government ministry to undergo a series of tests and checks for reasons unknown to her, and us. This being children’s theatre (the recommended ages on the Unicorn’s website are 9 to 13, although I imagine older teenagers would find much here to identify with and mull over), the mood and content is a lot less disturbing than in the Kafka version, but Hims and director Leigh Toney have preserved the overall sense of surrealism and dislocation.
Characters and objects pop up in expected places, a buttoned-up ministry official wanders on inexplicably attired as a giant rabbit, music, poetry and apparently anything else fun is banned, some moments are authentic red herrings while others are explained by the quietly moving conclusion. Josie never really finds out why she’s in trouble but her main suspicion, which involves a family bereavement, is something that is likely to resonate with any children who have experienced loss in their young lives.
Where the Kafka original is leavened with moments of bleak humour, Hims’s sunnier but still gently troubling take is at times laugh-out-loud funny. Crucially though, it never talks down to its young audience, allowing them to marinade in the weirdness of this tall tale, and take on board a great lesson about the importance of staunch friendships (Jadie Rose Hobson is adorable as Josie’s endlessly kind and upbeat best mate). Finally, it offers, with the lightest of touches, some truly valuable insights in terms of youthful depression, guilt and loss. I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t have a lump in my throat before the play’s end.
As the officer in charge of Josie’s case, a fabulously deadpan Tom Moores skilfully steers a path between sinister and hilarious. All three performers have barrel loads of energy but never at the expense of detail and honesty in their acting: they’re a winning team. Toney’s staging is fast-paced and inventive as it plays out on Rose Revitt’s deceptively simple pastel-coloured set that’s part school corridor and part bureacrat’s hallucination, with its multiple drawers, doors and hatches.
This is kids’ theatre at its absolute best. It’s dynamic, smart, instructive but never preachy, full of heart and mischief. The greatest achievement of it though may be that it succeeds in finding an authentic gravitas and truth alongside all the rollicking fun: in those moments, The Trial of Josie K is wonderfully serious… and seriously wonderful.
The Guardian
4 stars out of 5
The Trial of Josie K review – kidding around with Kafka
Unicorn theatre, London
Inspired by the classic novel, this play for children leads its young heroine through surreal encounters with bureaucracy – and a giant rabbit
Kafka never let Josef K have birthday cake for breakfast – the first indignity in The Trial is not getting his morning meal from the cook. But 12-year-old Josie K is devouring a slice when she’s visited by a mysterious man in a suit in Katie Hims’ play for children (nine and over) which explores Kafka’s themes of guilt, shame and responsibility.
It is very much inspired by, rather than directly adapted from, the classic novel. This three-hander takes Josie on a labyrinthine journey but has no lawyers, priest or appearance from the fearsome thrasher and there’s no butcher’s knife finale.
Hims draws on Kafka’s surreal humour while evoking a Lewis Carroll world of topsy-turvy absurdity with puzzles, tea parties and even a giant rabbit. Nkhanise Phiri – fresh from Brixton House’s Alice in Wonderland – again commands the stage with abundant charisma in the lead role.
Josie is apprehensive about attending a 9.57am meeting with the punctilious bureaucrat (Tom Moores) but at least she’ll miss double chemistry – and who knows, says her pal Becca (Jadie Rose Hobson), maybe it’s good news? Learning that she is instead to be put on trial leads Josie to question her past actions. Is this all because she made the supply teacher cry, she fears, prompting much laughter from the schoolchildren in the audience.
Short episodes alternate between Josie’s meetings with the bureaucrat and Becca, requiring regular, increasingly laborious, scene changes in Leigh Toney’s production. The writing is often sparky but not always economical enough to suit this structure and the overall effect, despite Beth Duke’s progressively urgent score, does not hurtle you through the story or create a claustrophobic atmosphere. But the central wall of Rose Revitt’s set, with drawers and cupboards in shades of beige and jade, is used with increasing impact.
Hims, who subtly acknowledges the casual misogyny in the novel, shrewdly invites us to consider the “right” ways of doing things, from preparing a scone to handling complex emotional situations. The script has less to say about hierarchy and authority but Moores’ bureaucrat powerfully captures the sentiment of Kafka’s court official who sorrowfully considers the manner in which adults are obliged to act because of their job.
The dynamic becomes that of a teacher and pupil learning lessons from each other. Despite strong individual performances, which benefit from Sundeep Saini’s astute movement direction, this mutually transformative relationship never fully convinces. But this is a typically bold Unicorn production attuned to its young audience’s sharpening sense of morality.
The Stage
4 stars out of 5
“While parsing Franz Kafka for a tween audience may sound like an awkward fit, this new show for ages nine to 13 sells it as a natural choice. Written by Katie Hims, it’s a reimagining, rather than a retelling, of Kafka’s novel The Trial. Here, Josef K becomes Josie, a 12-year-old British schoolgirl accused of an unspecified crime.
In Leigh Toney’s production, Nkhanise Phiri plays Josie with abundant charm and a wonderful physicality. She and Jadie Rose Hobson have lovely chemistry as best friends, and Phiri’s encounters with Tom Moores’ bureaucrat are delightfully strange. Unsurprisingly, Moores, in a clever, witty performance, has a generous dollop more warmth and humanity than Kafka’s fictional tormentors.
Not that the system itself is given a friendly makeover; writer Katie Hims doesn’t shy away from pointing out the injustice inherent in many societal structures that young people come up against. “There’s one rule for you and one for me,” Josie points out. “Exactly,” the bureaucrat replies. Aimed at an audience likely to be grappling with big ideas about who they are without yet having much control in their lives, the play aptly captures that window of time that is filled with so much hope and frustration.
The design, by Rose Revitt, underscores this – a wall of many pastel-hued doors of different sizes that is by turns cosy and appealing, and a maze of unpredictability. A beautiful late sequence sees all three characters moving through the set as Beth Duke’s score and Elliot Griggs’ lighting mirror the shifts from the comforting to the unsettling.
Toney embraces the absurdity, playfully introducing metafictional elements – at one point, the bureaucrat reminds Josie of the rules of storytelling. On the whole, the production manages to make these more challenging touches accessible, but there is a lag in pace as it enters its last act. The ultimate reveal also feels abrupt and lacks the nuance of the build-up, especially given its seriousness; the ideas it raises around guilt and grief need more exploration.
Still, this is an impressive and ambitious piece. It tempers Kafka’s dark satire with just the right amount of hope and kindness, and encourages young audiences to break a few rules, in life and in storytelling.
Everything-Theatre
4 stars out of 5
Review: The Trial of Josie K, Unicorn Theatre
Excellent
A bold, bewildering but ultimately uplifting story that innovatively articulates the unseen stresses and anxiety of childhood.
When was the last time you saw a kids’ show based on a Kafka story? Never, right? Well here’s your chance! The Trial of Josie K is a surreal but comic production for ages 9-13, and it’s a bold, impressive programming choice.
Anything based on Kafka’s The Trial risks being a bit dark: he isn’t known for his cheery disposition. However, writer Katie Hims not only manages to avoid this, but creates an original script with great fun, warm humour and compassion. It cleverly articulates difficult issues faced by young people, including grief, unrecognised guilt and anxiety, giving them visibility and space, and fuelling post-show conversation. But it also provides an upbeat and entertaining balance.
Josie K likes a dance, hanging with her mate Becca (Jadie Rose Hobson) and cake. Especially cake. And she carries a small plastic dinosaur with her everywhere. One day she is informed that she is on trial and must attend multiple interviews with an unnamed bureaucrat. She never learns what she is accused of, or what the result might be if she’s found guilty. It’s a completely absurd, relentlessly worrying situation.
Nkhanise Phiri is vibrantly charismatic as Josie K, totally nailing the spirit of a twelve year-old. Her flawless performance is fun, intelligent and determined, and she deftly manages a decline into deep distress and out again. Her dynamic energy drives the storyline, forging a path through the weird, elusive environment of Josie’s dilemma.
Tom Moores is splendidly cast as the humourless Bureaucrat who makes Josie jump through pointless hoops. It’s a difficult ask to turn this character into someone with compassion come the end, but he pulls it off convincingly. Equally talented is Hobson as Becca, who anchors the wild nonsense to reality with her genial, down-to-earth approach.
The script is well-written and funny, drawing on Kafka’s distinctive style to evoke a sense of bewilderment and confusion. It explores and identifies the often unseen stresses on children, immersing the audience in an environment that enacts them so they share a space with Josie K and feel her anxiety. But it then provides humour, custard pies and scones to diffuse and reframe them. Josie K’s life pressures impact her mental health, but importantly she finds support through friendship. Ultimately there is positive uplift at the end of the play and an empowering message of possibility.
Rose Revitt’s muted pastel set initially seems simple, but proves to be complex and interesting. Doors and flaps pop open unexpectedly, and all the while the clock is present, sometimes visible, often ticking, replicating the pressure Josie K feels under. Great sound design from Beth Duke underscores the relentlessness, tension and downright stupidity of the trial.
Some of Hims’ observations are beautifully incisive: the Ministry offers a wellbeing office but clearly it’s the system that makes it needed, so it’s a toxic cycle. Important questions for discussion are raised: If you can’t or won’t talk to parents, where do you go? If someone is making you do things you are unhappy with how do you get it to stop?
Child mental health issues are a hot topic post-pandemic, so it’s an important time for this show to be staged. Becca has a wonderful line that cuts through all the bureaucratic nonsense when she declares “You can’t tell a twelve year old to stop hoping” and it’s this enabling clarity that is needed for things to change. The production offers a welcome understanding for the young audience that now is the time to shake off their problems and live their best lives, hanging with their mates, treasuring the little things, and being the best you you can be.