Kafka-Brodsky. The Trial

A literary one-man show in two parts. For the 85th anniversary of the Nobel laureate I. A. Brodsky

The literary one-man show "The Trial" is dedicated to the 85th anniversary of the birth of the fifth Nobel laureate in Russian literature I. A. Brodsky.

It artistically juxtaposes the fictional absurdity of Franz Kafka's philosophical novel (posthumously published in 1925), where the main character Joseph K. tries in vain to escape from circumstances that defy rational explanation, and the real absurdity of the Soviet era of the 1960s and its judicial reprisal against the "parasite" Joseph Brodsky.

The first part of the play is based on fragments of Franz Kafka's novel "The Trial", poems by German and Austrian poets of the first half of the 20th century, including poems by F. Kafka himself, his friend and publisher Max Brod, Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke, and others.

The second part is based on transcripts of the trial of the poet Joseph Alexandrovich Brodsky, recorded by the writer and journalist Frida Vigdorova, and the memoirs of I.A. Brodsky, documents, as well as the poet's poems and fragments of his Nobel lecture.

The performance's soundtracks include works by Russian and foreign composers (Rachmaninov, Schnittke, Penderecki, Poulenc, Handel), German and Soviet hits of the 1930s-1970s.

The literary one-man show was created by A. Yemelyanov in 1989-1990.

Recreated and edited by A. Yemelyanov with musical and sound accompaniment in 2025 for the anniversary of I. A. Brodsky.

PROGRAM:

I SECTION

"The Trial of Joseph K."

F. Kafka — fragments of the novel "THE TRIAL"

(translated by R. Wright-Kovaleva)

Poems:

Franz Kafka, Max Brod,

Rainer Maria Rilke, Walter Höllerer,

Werner Bergengrün, Günther Eich

In translations:

B. Pasternak, P. Frenkel, L. Ginzburg, A. Lunacharsky, V. Mikushevich, A. Parin, V. Toporov, E. Vitkovsky

II DIVISION

"The Trial of Joseph B."

F. Vigdorov — transcripts of court hearings in the case of I.A. Brodsky (1960s)

Newspaper "Evening Leningrad" (1963):

Notes "A near-literary drone"

"The trial of the parasite Brodsky"

Memories of the Poet's friends and witnesses of the trial

Poems by I.A. Brodsky of the 1960-1970s

Fragments of the Nobel lecture by I.A. Brodsky, delivered at the presentation of the international prize at the Swedish Academy on 10.12.1987.

I. A. Brodsky - Poems of the 1960s - early 1970s.

AUTHOR AND PERFORMER - laureate of All-Russian competitions and the Tsarskoye Selo Art Prize, Honored Artist of Russia Alexey EMELYANOV

Director - Honored Artist of the Russian Federation K. N. Chernozemov

Duration: 2 hours 00 minutes, no intermission.

Age limit: 16+.

Each viewer from 0 years old must purchase a ticket.

Tickets WITHOUT SERVICE CHARGE!