Woyzeck

MON May 17 7:00 pm Moravian Theatre

Georg Büchner
WOYZECK
Divadlo na Vinohradech Prague / CZ

director Daniel Špinar
translation Ludvík Kundera
dramatic adviser Klára Novotná
stage design Henrich Boráros
costumes Linda Boráros
music Tomáš Pálka
assistant of choreography Irina Andreeva
premiere April 9, 2009

2009 Alfréd Radok Award as Best Production of the Year

characters and cast
Woyzeck Pavel Batěk
Marie Lucie Štěpánková
Captain Martin Stropnický
Doctor Václav Vydra
Ringmaster, Grandmother, Jew
Jiřina Jirásková / Daniela Kolářová
Andres Daniel Bambas
Tambor Drum-Major Michal Novotný
Sergeant Martin Davídek
Kathe Eva Režnarová
Old Man Jaroslav Satoranský
Journeyman Marek Menšík / Filip Tomsa
Idiot Michal Kern
also featuring
Mime company of Divadlo na Vinohradech and DAMU students, Prague



Woyzeck Befits Vinohrady
(...) Špinar rephrased the fragmentary, unfinished text of Woyzeck into a gloomy existential drama. It is indeed admirable that he managed to keep it in a tight form and moderate style, given the original character of the text. He achieved this, among other things, due to stage design. The designer Henrich Boráros brought in a penetrative visual gesture, an arrangement rooted in reality and at the some time not lacking metaphoric character. A huge striking billboard poster hangs on the horizon, contrasting with the partially uncovered “bowels” of the stage. The resulting effect is a rough, vacant and uncomfortably boundless gap positioned somewhere in a timeless dimension and yet in our contemporary time. (...) And in the centre of it all, we find the frightened and defiant protagonist moved to an extreme deed. In tense moments, he is surrounded by the crowds who become indifferent observers of his misery. Špinar gave a great acting chance to Pavel Batěk in the title role who used it with
a great deal of success. He at first enacts his Woyzeck with moving acquiescence out of which desperate defiance develops throughout the performance and later on, helpless rage which finally devours him.


A Remarkable Woyzeck at Divadlo na Vinohradech
Špinar belongs to directors fearless of expression and dramatic pathos, elements almost gone from our stages. He is successful in combining the ability to perceive the “small” and “big” space. As an actor by profession, he has the skill to feel acting and the protagonists under his direction seem to arouse new, undiscovered qualities in themselves. Apart from the detailed performance of individuals, he does not neglect group actions as well. (...) So apart from all the details, our memories will be stuck with scenes of running soldiers, a drunken party or crowds gathered at the circus.



Daniel Špinar (b. 1979) originally studied acting at Prague's DAMU Academy between 1998–2004. In 2002, he cofounded the VALMET theatre company with a couple of friends where he directed Valmet, Stay on the Line! and Electra. From 2003 to 2008, he went on to study theatre direction at DAMU. Among his most successful productions to date are: HOMO 06 or, Who's Also Friends with Gays, Britney Goes to Heaven (Petr Bezruč Theatre Ostrava, 2006) or Egon Bondy's A Visit by the Experts (Bouda Bondy project, 2007). He was nominated for the Evald Schorm Award for his stage version of Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov at DISK Theatre (2007). Since 2007, he has been directing productions at major Czech theatres (National Theatre Prague, Klicperovo divadlo Hradec Králové, Divadlo F. X. Šaldy Liberec, Petr Bezruč Theatre Ostrava, Středočeské divadlo Kladno, Divadlo Letí). Since the 2008/2009 theatre season, he has been a fulltime director at Prague's Divadlo na Vinohradech (2009: Woyzeck, 2010: Mary Stuart). Recently, he has been focusing on modern stage adaptations of classic works of literature (2009: A Studio Rubín – Cause Salome, Klicperovo divadlo Hradec Králové – Maskerade, 2010: Švandovo divadlo Praha – Hedda Gabler). He has participated in several acting and directing workshops (2003: Summer Course of Leacock's Acting Method, Spain, 2005: Intensive Course for the Study and Staging of Ancient Drama, Epidaurus, Greece).