The Castle (Das Schloss)

When the land surveyor K. arrives at the foot of a castle in a village, he is not allowed to stay. He needs a residence permit from the castle. The harder K. tries to get this proof of his professional and personal existence, the further he seems to get from his goal. What remains are the unapproachable village inhabitants, the castle's officials and absurd bureaucratic regulations – a system that decides who gets access and whose existence is deemed a disturbance.

"Das Schloss oder Wir müssen uns K. als einen glücklichen Menschen vorstellen" ("The Castle or imagine K. happy") by British playwright Georgia Bruce combines motifs from Franz Kafka's novel fragment "The Castle" with Albert Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus" and his image of the endless cycle of hardship – told from the perspective of a trans man seeking acceptance. As violence against trans and queer peoples increases worldwide and the mere existence of queer bodies is called into question and criminalised, Jules Head looks at the Sisyphean task that it is to be trans and the absurdity of the world's response to the simple wish to be allowed to be. Camus describes Sisyphus as a person who finds a moment of freedom in the middle of his constant toil. What does it mean to remain incomplete in a world that constantly strives for completion? What if it's not actually about pushing the rock over the top of the mountain, finally gaining entry to the castle or being recognised in the village? And if we can imagine Sisyphus happy – can we also imagine a trans man living in peace?