Festival invite you cordially to the 26th edition of the DIVADLO – International Theatre Festival which main part will take place in Pilsen from 12th to 16th September 2018.
MAIN PROGRAM
12th September/12 września
15.30, 17.00 Mala scena / The Small Stage
Daniela Fischerova: YELLOW – BLUE – GREEN (directed by Filip Homola), THE NAIVE THEATRE LIBEREC (CZ)
A fairytale-like producLon about the sun and its role in the creation of the world, colours and objects. The four
protagonists bring to life the author’s poetic language, and with the help of a video projection and above all of bizarre
objects put together from various materials, they create a mysterious and yet comfortable space, the intoxicaLng
effect of which is aided by the ambient music. The production can also be understood as a non-aggressive, humane
creation ritual.
Duration: 35 min.
19.00 Nove divadlo / The New Stage Opening Ceremony
Homer: THE ILIAD (directed by Jernej Lorenci); SLOVENIAN NATIONAL THATRE (SNT), LJUBLJANA CITY THEATRE,
LJUBLJANA CULTURAL AND CONGRESS CENTRE (SI)
This evocative interpretation of Homer’s epos is founded on an original combination of music, the spoken word,
rhythm and movement. Twelve actors, permanently present on stage, lead us through the history of the Trojan war,
which in the second part of the production becomes a symbol of absurdity. The production has won awards at festivals
including Bitef, and won the Grand Prix at the Kontakt festival in Torun.
Duration: 170 min.
13th September/13 września
10.30 Divadlo Alfa / The Alfa Theatre
Tomaš Jarkovsky, Jakub Vašiček: WHITE FANG (directed by Jakub Vašiček); DIVADLO DRAK, HRADEC KRALOVE (CZ)
This evocative auteur production, inspired by Jack London’s famous novel and making use of a combination of puppet
and live cinema methods, brings to life the story of White Fang, a cross between a dog and a wolf. As he grows up he
comes across violence and hate, but also kindness, even love. What will in the end make the strongest impression on
his soul? Will he be able to find peace?
Duration: 60 min.
13.00 Velke divadlo / The Grand Theatre
Marcin Wierzchowski, Daniel Sołtysiński: THE SECRET LIFE OF THE FRIEDMANS (directed by Marcin Wierzchowski) [na zdjęciu];
TEATR LUDOWY STOLARNIA, KRAKOV – NOWA HUTA (PL)
This play, inspired by the real case of an American Jewish family that was previously made into a famous documentary
film by Andrew Jarecki, is an intensive theatre experiment in which the actors and audience are unusually close to
each other. The investigation of a child abuse case and the court case to which they are witness brings the audience
within touching distance of the family tragedy, as well as to deeper questions of guilt, punishment and also social
psychosis. The winning production at Krakow’s Divine Comedy fesLval 2017.
Duration: 165 min.
13.00 Mala scena / The Small Stage
Max Frisch: HOMO FABER (directed by David Šiktanc); ČINOHERNI STUDIO, USTI NAD LABEM (CZ)
This theatre adaptation of Frisch’s famous novel features a remarkable performance by Martin Finger in the title role.
The character of the engineer who does not intend to allow his rational view of the world to be in any way affected by
the major ups and downs in his private life is here portrayed using minimalist means, and yet the audience is drawn
ever more intensely into Faber’s existential uncertainty. The other elements of the production, including further strong
performances, contribute to a major stage experience.
Duration: 100 min.
www.festivaldivadlo.cz
13th September
15.30, 17.00 DEPO2015 – hlavni scena / main stage
Stefan Kaegi, Dominic Huber: NACHLASS – Pieces sans personnes (concept by Stefan Kaegi, Dominic Huber); RIMINI
PROTOKOLL, THEATRE VIDY-LAUSANNE (CH)
What will remain of us when we die? Can memories be captured? An immersive production without actors , created as
a coproducLon between the Vidy theatre in tiausanne, Switzerland and the famous ensemble Rimini Protokoll. In eight
rooms it shows eight various stories of people who, for various reasons, have decided to prepare themselves for the
end of life snd to put in order what they will leave behind them. The result is remarkable, full of deeply human
meetings with something that in reality we can no longer meet. Although the audience does not see a single actor
during the play, it is an incredibly theatrical experience.
Duration: 100 min.
15.30 DEPO2015 – mala scena / small stage
Collecdve: POSTFAKTOTUM (directed by Blaho Uhlar), STOKA Theatre Bradslava (SK)
The production is the work of a collective of actors without aesthetic prejudices. It is a free sequence of absurd
situaLons, minimalist sketches and displays of black humour. The production is only apparently plotless, however – in
fact it reveals, to a surprising extent, the reality of today, burdened by selfishness and our inability to communicate
with one another. The five young protagonists are convincing in their disciplined expression and already mature
originality.
Duration: 60 min.
19.00 Velke divadlo / The Grand Theatre
Marcin Wierzchowski, Daniel Sołtysiński: THE SECRET LIFE OF THE FRIEDMANS (directed by Marcin Wierzchowski);
TEATR LUDOWY STOLARNIA, KRAKOV – NOWA HUTA (PL)
20.00 Nova scena / The New Stage
Alois a Vilem Mršhkove: MARYŠA (directed by Jan Mikulašek); NARODNI DIVADLO – ČINOHRA, PRAHA (CZ)
Maryša was first shown at the National Theatre in 1894. This is the eleventh production of this still-riveting drama(gr. drama = czynność, akcja), nazwa używana w I połowie... More,
directed this time by Jan Mikulašek and in a surprising form. The outer symbols (the set and costumes) are
contemporary, the number of figures has been cut and the emphasis has been placed on the tightly-bound family
tragedy. Nevertheless, or maybe as a result, the actors manage to create a profound human story, full of metaphors
and entrancing acting.
Duration: 95 min.
14th September
10.30 Divadlo Alfa / The Alfa Theatre
Vit Peřina: THREE STRONG MEN ON THE ROAD (directed by Tomaš Dvořak); DIVALO ALFA, PLZEŇ (CZ)
An updated fairytale featuring the well-known archetype of three brothers who go into the world to seek their
fortune. Here they are bikers, and the atmosphere is that of a rock concert. Members of a hardcore band in leather
jackets operate charming puppets until the longed-for happy end. In this case the two older brothers are not villains,
just happy-go-lucky showoffs.
Duration: 50 min.
13.00 Mala scena / The Small Stage
Vaclav Havel: THE MEMORANDUM (directed by Vojtěch Štěpanek); KOMORNI SCENA ARENA, OSTRAVA (CZ)
It is over fi|y years since Havel’s play was first shown, and yet it is frighteningly topical. The mechanisms of power,
manipulation and company and political newspeak remain distinctive features of our world. This Ostrava production
sees The Memorandum as a grotesque parable of human weakness in an absurd world of empty cliches.
Duration: 145 min.
www.festivaldivadlo.cz
14th September
14.00, 15.30 and 17.00 DEPO2015 – hlavni scena / main stage
Stefan Kaegi, Dominic Huber: NACHLASS – Pieces sans personnes (concept Stefan Kaegi, Dominic Huber); RIMINI
PROTOKOLL, THEATRE VIDY-LAUSANNE (CH)
16.30 Velke divadlo / The Grand Theatre
Stefano Massini: DYNASTY (LEHMAN BROTHERS) (directed by Michal Dočekal); DIVADLO HUSA NA PROVAZKU, BRNO
(CZ)
A dynamic theatrical farce about the beginnings and development of capitalism, as illustrated by the vicissitudes of a
family of financiers. The stage exhales the precipitous progress of the American economic miracle, accompanied by the
various transformations undergone by the chief figures of the Lehman dynasty. Supremely modern staging with
inventive artistic and musical elements, together with high-quality acting, confirms this Brno company’s strong
interpretational potential.
Duration: 155 min.
20.00 Nova scena / The New Stage
Duncan Macmillan: PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS (directed by Marian Amsler); DIVADLO ANDREJA BAGARA, NITRA
(SK)
This brilliant tragicomedy by a contemporary British author follows a young actress, Emma, and her fight against drug
addiction. In pictures that balance on the boundary of reality and nightmare, the heroine seeks to find herself in a drug
rehab centre, despite herself and her past. The production stands not only on the performance of Barbora Andrešičova
in the main role, but also on the well-balanced acting of the Nitra theatre company, playing her doctors and fellow
patients. A|er considerable success with Slovak critics, the play was also included in the programme of Bratislava’s
Nova drama festival in May.
Duration: 170 min.
15th September
11.00 Divadlo Alfa / The Alfa Theatre
Jean Genet, Bedřich Bridel, Miloslav Konig, Mardn Dohnal: THE THIEF’S JOURNAL (directed by Jan Nebesky);
DIVADELNI SPOLEČNOST MASOPUST, PRAHA (CZ)
A production for two people, the actor Miloslav Konig and musician Martin Dohnal (piano), The Thief’s Journal
presents Jean Genet’s intense texts and the spiritual poetry of the Baroque poet Bedřich Bridel. With its inspired form,
on the boundary of theatre monologue and opera aria(wł.) wokalny utwór, głównie operowy - solowy monolog ś... More, it shows man in all his contradictions, joins the high and the
low, and the constraints of physicality with metaphysical giddiness.
Duration: 80 min.
14.00 Moving Station
Sara Baume: SPILL SIMMER FALTER WITHER (directed by Viktorie Čermakova); MEET FACTORY, PRAHA (CZ)
This dramatisation of Sara Baume’s award-winning Irish novel in an award-winning Czech translation by Alice
Hyrmanova McElveen (Magnesia Litera) brings to the stage the bizarre figure of a village outsider in an acclaimed
performance by Eva Salzmannova (nominated for the Theatre Critics Award and Thalie Award. The eccentric Ray
engages in a conversation with his new dog from a dogs‘ home. A relationship arises between the two exploited
creatures, and Ray’s lonely life starts to gather pace…
Duration: 100 min.
17.00 Radnice města Plzně / Pilsen City Hall
Jiři Havelka: OWNERS’ ASSOCIATION (directed by Jiři Havelka); VOSTO5, PRAHA (CZ)
A meeting of apartment owners in a block of flats brings out the worst in all involved – and in a lively and entertaining
way, as is usually the case with VOSTO05. Each figure is a distinctive type, precisely observed and well played. This is
more than a wiCy story about a group of apartment owners, however. It is a despairingly authentic testimony to the
state of the country, a precise and cruel report on Czech society.
Duration: 85 min.
www.festivaldivadlo.cz
15th September
17.00, 18.30 and 20.00 DEPO2015 – hlavni scena / main stage
Stefan Kaegi, Dominic Huber: NACHLASS – Pieces sans personnes (concept by Stefan Kaegi, Dominic Huber); RIMINI
PROTOKOLL, THEATRE VIDY-LAUSANNE (CH)
20.00 Velke divadlo / The Grand Theatre
Michal Nejtek: RULES OF POLITE BEHAVIOUR IN MODERN SOCIETY (libreCo and direction by Jiři Adamek); NARODNI
DIVADLO BRNO – OPERA (CZ)
It isn’t hard to be born. It’s easy to die. Living between these two events isn’t necessarily impossible – it’s enough to
comply with the rules and accept their recommendation. This contemporary opera by the composer Michal Nejtek and
libreEst/director Jiři Adamek was created to order for the National Theatre in Brno on the basis of Jean-luc Lagarce’s
play of the same name. It is an entertaining, ironic and sometimes surreal guide to human life.
Duration: 90 min.
16th September
11.00 Velke divadlo / The Grand Theatre
Alan Hollinghurst: THE LINE OF BEAUTY (directed by Natalie Deakova); DIVADLO J. K. TYLA V PLZNI (CZ)
A dramatisation of a famous British novel (winner of the Booker Prize in 2004) that takes place during Thatcherism (the
former prime minister even appears in the dramatisation as a character). Social issues unfold through a gay love story.
The hero, Nick, lives in the family of a Conservative member of parliament, and is friends with his children. His initially
romantic relationship with a partner of a different skin colour is later complicated by the phenomenon of AIDS. The
main role is played by the talented Ondřej Rychly.
Duration: 150 min.
15.00 Moving Station
Thomas Bernhard: WOODCUTTERS (directed by Jan Mikulašek); DIVADLO NA ZABRADLI, PRAHA (CZ)
A dramatisation of Bernhard’s scandalous Woodcu1ers appeared two years ago at Pilsen directed by the Polish legend Krystian Lupa, who turned a slender book into a five-hour canvas. The book is now staged by Divadlo Na zabradli, directed by Jan Mikulašek in an entirely different way. A small room stuffed full of pictures and guests becomes the stifling, constricted scene of an artistic dinner at the beginning of which we are still waiting for actors from the National Theatre. What was supposed to be a ceremonial event becomes an ironic and bitingly funny probe into the life of the chaCering classes. Precise direction, teamwork between the actors and inventive set design lead the
audience’s emotions from laughter to tears, humour and exaggeration to a hopeless report on ourselves.
Duration: 110 min.
20.00 Nova scena / The New Stage Closing Ceremony
Kata Weber: IMITATION OF LIFE (directed by Kornel Mundruczo); PROTON THEATRE, BUDAPEST (HU)
Hungarian director Kornel Mundruczo’s provocative view of the world is well known to our festival audiences. A
tireless moraliser, he reveals the injustices and wrongs of the world with the use of highly artistic and “low”
sentimental means. In Imita6on of Life he searches for answers to questions of identity against a background of
growing extremism in Europe. The production balances between film and theatre, social hyperrealism and mysticism.
The construction of the set, which divides the production brutally into two halves, is an image of today’s uprootedness
and is one of the most spectacular moments to be seen in contemporary theatre.
Duration: 90 min.
