The second part of National Theatre Wales’ The Cost Of Living trilogy, Joseph K And The Cost Of Living is an uneven avant-garde take on Franz Kafka’s The Trial, shone through the lens of our current era of economic and sociopolitical instability – neither of which show any sign of ending any time soon.

Kafka’s original story was published almost 100 years ago on the cusp of the Great Depression. It centres on 30-year-old single bank worker Josef K and his arrest by a nebulous authority for an undisclosed crime, leaving him to desperately plead his case within a system entirely rigged against him. It’s sadly easy to see how applicable this premise remains to this day, exacerbated in the UK by years of severe austerity, the widening wealth gap, a global pandemic and public services on their knees. Trust in systems designed to look after our best interests erodes, and truths and lies feel interchangeable; irrelevant even.

Against the backdrop of all this, there’s plenty for NTW to sink its teeth into under new Artistic Director Lorne Campbell’s stewardship, with Emily White on adaptation duties. The ornate, classic theatre setting of the Swansea Grand is a good juxtaposition for the modern, almost spartan set design of Joseph K: a strange combination of mid-century modern architecture and brutalist prison cell. Volunteers from the audience sit as a jury towards the back of the stage and sometimes take part in the play itself by holding things up or adding to the background noise, meaning the cast is flanked on both sides, adding to Jo K’s anxiety about constant scrutiny.

The play itself is fast-paced, high-energy and surprises at every turn: roles are swapped, settings and costumes are fluid and with little warning, scenes merge and transmute from one to the next. Spoken word gives way to movement and dance (no doubt Kel and Anthony Matsena’s influence as co-directors); microphones around the stage are used playfully. Along with an always-interesting electronic score and dynamic lighting, the atmosphere is disorienting, oppressive and intense. Kafka penned The Trial in a chaotic manner with no clear ending. If anything, NTW’s take encapsulates that process here.

Not everything works as well as it should. Some of the side characters feel a little lost in the soupy headache of the play’s irregular narrative. The emotionality of Jo K – sometimes K – can also be quite one-note depending on the performer, and not all of the humour lands, leaving the whole thing feeling quite heavy without enough levity. It sometimes feels like the themes, intertwined with some fresher ideas about trial by social media and gender and racial optics, are being beaten into you repeatedly while at the same time, not explored with enough depth to uncover new ground. The cost of living, which is meant to be the jumping-off point for all this, is sparingly sprinkled in overtly with references to unpaid utility bills and protests but otherwise, is more window dressing than tackled head-on.

Ultimately, I left Joseph K agreeing with what it had to say but wishing I’d been challenged more by it – that the performers had been even bolder and the ideas even more transgressive given the raw topicality of its subject matter. Its rambunctiousness, however, is still a refreshing departure from the norm that is static and stuffy mainstream theatre. This is a reinvented company unafraid of taking risks and engaging with its audience on issues that affect their everyday lives, something to always be applauded.

Joseph K And The Cost Of Living, Grand Theatre, Swansea, Wed 22 Mar.

On until Sat 25 Mar. Tickets: £8-£22. Info: here

words HANNAH COLLINS