Kafka Captured

Anyone who’s followed the theatrical footprints of Brian Freeland, founder of the LIDA Project and Countdown to Zero troupes (and one of Westword’s most recent crop of Masterminds), will immediately know – and not know – what to expect of his next production. A grassroots agenda, subversive politics and truth-seeking all come out in his repertoire, along with a strong experimental bent – those you can take for granted. But most likely for the very same reasons, you’re sure to leave the theater after another one of his shows changed and surprised by what you’ve seen.

The material for Freeland’s latest foray, Joseph K, a LIDA-style interpretation of Kafka’s paranoid treatise The Trial by local playwright Martin McGovern, sports all the right earmarks for another success in that respect: It is, after all, the story of a guy who is thrown in prison for no clear reason. You will be frightened by it, no doubt, and perhaps moved to act politically. But there’s no way anyone will leave the BINDERY | space, 770 22nd Street, where it open tonight at 8 p.m., without feeling haunted, or at least thinking a few deep thoughts.

Joseph K continues on Friday and Saturday nights, through June 20; for tickets, $15, call 720-221-3821 or email lida@lida.org.
Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m. Starts: May 22. Continues through June 20, 2009