directed by Ivan Buraj
translated by Bohumil Mathesius
stage design Lenka Jabůrková
costumes Kateřina Marai, Kateřina Kumhalová
dramaturgy Matěj Nytra
premiere 13 December 2018
characters and cast
Tatiana Táňa Malíková
Polya Magdalena Straková
Peter Jiří Miroslav Valůšek
Bezsemenov Cyril Drozda
Akulina Ivanovna Simona Peková
Perchikhin Jan Lepšík
Teterev Jiří Svoboda
Nil Mark Kristián Hochman
Elena Anna Čonková g. a.
Shishkin Karel Vondrášek g. a.
Tzvetaeva Taťána Janevová g. a.
woman Marie Veselá g. a.
An interior, a broken clock and an hour hand which has remained in the same spot for eighteen years. Perhaps more than just the clock has stopped… An iconic play of Russian Realist drama, adapted by the Brno-based HaDivadlo ensemble, is a delicately painted picture of people who are lost and unable to understand each other, let alone themselves. The original text by Gorky is a critique of the provincial petty bourgeoisie and a prophecy about the inevitability of social changes in the eve of the Socialist revolution. The contemporary adaptation, with a brilliant performance by Cyril Drozda as the main character, however, diminishes the ideological aspect to highlight an inspiring timeless leitmotif, the fragility of life in the illusion of perfection. The ostentatious stage design, capturing the feel of the bourgeoisie of the beginning of the last century as a symbol of the Golden Age of the family, sharply contrasts with the minimalistic events. We observe a human microdrama, where the characters’ lives break even without them knowing it.
“Each of the images will affect the audience, either by the tension and intenseness of the relationships or “simply” by the dense wordless atmosphere (…)”
MARIE RESLOVÁ, DIVADELNÍ NOVINY.CZ, 20 January 2019
“Cyril Drozda in the role of old Bezsemenov is the uncrowned king of this production. This ferocious oldster, enforcing love and respect from the others and manipulating the lives of his children, is one of the best creations that an actor has shown lately. (…) The audience is thrilled and puzzled all the time.”
LUBOŠ MAREČEK, LIDOVKY.CZ, 5 January 2019
Ivan Buraj (1988) was born in Bratislava. While studying drama directing at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno, he was already working as an intern at the National Theatre Prague preparing Robert Wilson's production of The Makropulos Case (2010). He earned his Masters' degree in 2011 with his adaptation of Kleist's The Prince of Homburg, which was successful at the ISTROPOLITANA festival in Bratislava (special award of the jury and audience award) and was even nominated for the Theatre Newspaper Award. As a guest director at Theatre Letí, he produced the comedy The Descent and Rise of Mr. B. (2014) and at the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre an original production Odsun!!! (2015). He will prepare an adaptation of The Stiller, a post-war novel by Max Frisch about the uncertain contours of living in a consumerist society at Studio Hrdinů later this year.
He has been the artistic director of HaDivadlo since 2015, where he has prepared for example: the original project Creatures: Come with Me to the Fire! (2012), Kafka's Castle (2014), Flaubert's Madame Bovary (2015) and finally Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and Havel's Unveiling in 2016. He also attracted the attention of the critics with his ambitious adaptation of Herman Broch's trilogy The Sleepwalkers (2016) or Ibsen’s Eyolf which were both featured at the Flora Theatre Festival. He comes back to Olomouc again with his newest production The Philistines (2018).
HaDivadlo theatre is situated in Brno, however, it was officially established in Prostějov in 1974 as Hanácké divadlo (director Svatopluk Vála and dramaturge Josef Kovalčuk were associated with it). Soon after it worked its way up from an amateur group to a professional studio stage with demanding dramaturgy. They moved to Brno in 1985 and by merging with Ochotnický kroužek of J. A. Pitínský, the Kabinet múz was created. After some minor mishaps with their residence, they settled down in the former cinema of Alfa Pasáž in 2004.
Remarkable personalities have participated in forming the unique poetics of the theatre such as director and playwright Arnošt Goldflam, actor and author Miloš Černoušek (aka Cyril Drozda), the musicians Jiří Bulis and Václav Koubek, the actors Ján Sedal, Marie Ludvíková and Miloslav Maršálek, the directors Jiří Pokorný, Břetislav Rychlík, Oxana Smilková, David Jařab, Luboš Balák or actors' quartet Matonoha–Liška–Daniel–Polášek. During Marián Amsler's direction (2007–2015) HaDivadlo gained renown for their productions The Expulsion of Gerta Schnirch and the adaptation of Maryša, which received the Theatre Newspaper Award in 2014 and 2015.
The new artistic director Ivan Buraj keeps the direction of the repertoire focused on German-language material, with the repertoire including an adaptation of Broch's novel The Sleepwalkers (2016) or Bernhard's farce The Force of Habit, Lotz's drama Ridiculous Darkness (both 2017) and Müller's memento The Message (2018).
photo: Kateřina Barvířová
