FREIHEIT

Social porn from the times of late capitalism or We are all (in a way) Woyzeck. Georg Büchner’s cult drama about a “crime of passion” – in a wild remix by Lachende Bestien and directed by Michal Hába. In the performance, there is smoking, pretend sex, and morality is threatened by opera. For audiences aged 15 and over. Starting at 7:30 p.m., a dramaturgical introduction by Michal Hába in the foyer of the MDO.

Woyzeck is a whirlwind. A gripping, witty, boisterous whirlwind wrapped in shimmering fringe, smoke and pop beats. 
Eliška Hankovcová, blog Nadivadlo

 

Büchner’s timeless fragment from 1836 still invites new interpretations and adaptations. The protagonist is a symbol of exploitation and the loss of personal freedom, so the choice of this title for the 27^th Flora Theatre Festival programme with the motto “Freedom” cannot come as a surprise. After other great characters of world literature – Kohlhaas (presented at the 25^th Flora) and Peer Gynt (on the programme on Thu 16 May) – director Michal Hába deals with Woyzeck this time. He deconstructs the original drama and treats the serious subject with exaggeration and humour. His thrilling crazy adaptation opens up themes of mass entertainment, manipulation and the alienation of humans, as well as their overload – with information, work, entertainment.

 

directed and written by Michal Hába

assistant director Veronika Macková
dramaturgy and production Veronika Linka
stage design Adriana Černá
music Jindřich Čížek 

cast Kryštof Bartoš, Jindřich Čížek, Mark Kristian Hochman, Ondřej Jiráček and Marie Machová

premiere 27 January 2024

for audiences aged 15 and over

 

Actor and director Michal Hába (1986) undertook internships at Berlin’s Volksbühne Theater (with Frank Castorf) and Maxim Gorki Theater (with Sebastian Baumgarten), which significantly shaped his directorial language. Artistically, he follows the legacy of the playwright Bertolt Brecht, but his creative style is inspired by distinct German theatre-makers such as Frank Castorf, René Pollesch, Christoph Marthaler, Herbert Fritsch, and especially Christoph Schlingensief. His idiosyncratic productions stand out particularly for their dramaturgical consistency and their openly exposed leftist attitudes. In general, he focuses on contemporary political-critical theatre and tries to respond to current social developments, among other things through his work in the independent theatre group Lachende Bestien, of which he is the artistic director.
Hába draws themes from both contemporary and classic texts, which he deconstructs and enriches with new meanings. This is evidenced by his work at the Prague City Theatres, where he has staged Grillparzer’s King Ottokar’s Fortune and End (2019) or Heroes of Capitalist Labour (2020), as well as productions created with the Lachende Bestien ensemble, such as his interpretation of Sikorsky’s Palace by the Loire (2019) or his peculiar, already his third, adaptation of Kleist’s novel Kohlhaas (2022). All of the aforementioned titles were featured in the programme of the Flora Theatre Festival.

The alternative theatre ensemble Lachende Bestien from Prague was formed around the director Michal Hába, musician Jindřich Čížek and stage designer Adriana Černá already in 2011. The group is considered one of the most progressive theatre entities in Prague. They currently reside in the space of Divadlo X10 (X10 Theatre).
Lachende Bestien follow in the tradition of Brechtian theatre, not only with the detached style of acting, but especially with their analytical view of reality. In their projects they thematize and question the idea of capitalism and systematically deal with social inequality. The result of this profiling is a socially critical, engaged and appealing theatre which, however, does not lack self-irony and a detached view of serious topics.

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Interview with director Michal Hába 
https://vltava.rozhlas.cz/…utou-9165190 

Reportage
https://vltava.rozhlas.cz/…utou-9165190 

Michal Hába on plans with Lachende Bestien in Divadlo X10
https://vltava.rozhlas.cz/…vaji-8912193 

One-dimensional man, a study by Herbert Marcus that inspired the director
https://www.marcuse.org/…ontents.html 

 

photo Patrik Borecký