Bleak Futurism

Abstract

The article analyses Krystian Lupa’s staging of The Trail, an adaptation of Franz Kafka’s novel Der Process, highlighting the complex political and institutional conditions surrounding the work. The author examines why the Polish audience responded to the play with considerable reservations, manifesting their disappointment and disapproval, while internationally it met with understanding and was considered a profound work. The author argues that Lupa, who in recent years has been deeply involved in public debates and has criticized the anti-democratic activities undertaken by the current right-wing government of Poland, has opted in his play to give voice to a painful critique of his own liberally-minded audience, people who appear oblivious to the shallowness of their own stance, helpless and baffled by the present-day balance of power, and thus devoid of genuine communal thinking. The article also discusses the critical capacity of art and its ability to change the world. Until the work on The Trial, Lupa had remained steadfast in his belief that artistic mechanisms could impact upon the very social fabric by appealing to audience’s souls and spirituality. The Trail offers painful evidence to the contrary.