Meeting Point21 April 2013 | 06

16–20 April 2013

EN

1*

MEETING POINT23rd Mezinárodní festival divadelních škol SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER

16 –20 April 2013

Editor in ChiefMatěj Randár

Vice editor in ChiefMichaela Rusňáková

Assistant of Vice editor in ChiefAnna Machová

CompositionAnna ZdráhalováKarolína Bělohlávková

Correctors of Czech VersionMichael KalábekAnna ZdráhalováKarolína Bělohlávková

Corrector of English VersionAlexander Duncan Packer

TranslationLenka Drbalová, Petra Fišerová, Mária Fileková, Kateřina Slováčková, Nikola Sobotová

PhotographersIvan Černický, Magdaléna Fiurášková, Markéta Fiuráško-vá, Dominick Benedikt Hájek, Petr Chodura, Václav Mach, Pavel Nesvadba, Kateřina Slováčková, Markéta Tichá, Pavla Klára Urbášková, Alžběta Vašinová

PublisherJanáčkova akademie múzických umění v BrněDivadelní fakultaMozartova 1, 662 15 BrnoIČO: 62156462DIČ: CZ62156462

SETKÁNÍ / ENCOUNTER

21 April 2013

2*

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“The actors were united theatrically,

in movement and in dance.“

Mexico, Puebla

Gustavo Alberto Cuallo Gonzáles (adaptation from W. Shakespeare and Aeschylus)

Macbeth‘s Furies

length: 80 minlanguage: Spanish

director: Gustavo Alberto Cuallo Gonzálezset: Juan Haua Florescostumes: Mónica Parra Hinojosachoreography: Edmond Scottmusic: Jacob Arroyolights: Gustavo Alberto Cuallo Gonzálezproduction: Carmelo Martinez

cast:

InterconnectedBarbora Reichmanová

The beginning of the production brings us back to the times of Orestes, who killed his mother Clytemnestra and thus avenged his father. For his crime, he has to be punished by the Furies, but not at this moment. The

Furies will take what is theirs from Macbeth, who will inherit the destiny of Orestes.

One of two things that I would like to pra-ise is the scenery, ingenious, premedita-ted, yet simple and effective. Ropes and cords, various strings and cloths were hung over the stage and the auditorium, creating a supernatural and magical environment. Almost

Jacob Arroyo, Daphne C. Herver, Aurea Vallejo, Lucía Fernandez

3*

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every thread had its place in the production, because everything was connected by some knots, therefore the construction moved as a whole. Three connected ropes created the centre of the stage and were during the course of the perfor-mance separated into single units.

The second important thing is the work of the actors, who often seemed almost perfectly uni-fied. The three Furies or witches had an amazing coordination as one character and were able to give a unanimous and congregational performance even with Macbeth, which appealed as magically natural. The actors were also integrated in move-ment and dance and demonstrated amazing coor-dination and teamwork.

I don’t consider the overlapping of two languages – Spanish and English – a good choice, because it shattered the whole progress of the play, which was up to that moment very fluent. Even though actresses tried to connect it by a similar tone and even possibly by Spanish accent, it broke the impression of an otherwise very tense scene.

However, I cannot forget to mention the use of masks that separated reality from supernatu-ral, real from fictional. Thus, they could in a very inventive way change the personnel and witches were able to play with the constant change of rea-lity with Orestes, who himself many times partici-pated in it with his own mask.

The Mexicans have my sincere admiration for joi-ning these two masterpieces together, creating this whole motif and script and first and foremost the amazing scenery.

4*

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Not too convincing Furies. Markéta Špetíková

The stage is illuminated in red, and there is a dark block in the middle. An irregular web made of threads, white cloth strings and ropes is tied above the block. Three Furies are here already at the arri-val of the audience. They are whispering and quietly wailing.

It might have been caused by the language barrier or distance from the stage but the speeches and movements of the witches-Furies are unconvincing, without energy and often lost in the mess. Someti-mes, the Furies seem unnecessarily hysterical and their acting „at full speed“ lacks a certain easiness.

Maybe a bit of selfish inner delight would be enough and it might lighten the hysteria. Their show falls short in nuance and gentle-ness in speech and movement. They don‘t have the necessary rapport with the audi-ence as well. At the

moment they let themselves slow down and make the contact, the play achieves heft and concentra-tion. Nevertheless, the vital and slightly electrifying moment is interrupted by ongoing speeches and inaccurate motion.

Maybe the shielding, refinement of the relation to the male character and pursuit of more pronounced composition (I don‘t mean trivial) would help people who do not understand Spanish. They might have had better orientation and access to more aspects of the play might have opened. Unfortunately, these aspects have remained incomprehensible.

“The play achieves heft and

concentration by slowing down. “

5*

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Guilt and remorse in an artistic way

Ján Tomandl

The production of the Mexican school links two stories. The story of Orestes and the story of Macbeth. They are connected by the theme of guilt, which they have in common. The setting is made with threads, strings and ropes, and three actresses and an actor create impressive images in here. He is Macbeth and they play the Furies, the goddesses of vengeance. They are changing from witches to Lady Macbeth to get their revenge which was withheld from them in Orestes. The director does not create real situations but he does not need them, since the dynamic images are just completed with speeches and music. In this way the poweful work is made and at the end of the show the audience is asked a question about conscience.

I think the authors are successful in conveying the theme of ruthless conscience to the audience. In Aeschylus‘s work the conscience is personi-fied and separated from the characters, on the other hand it is realistic in Macbeth. The connection of two great dramas with a similar theme is not surprising but it is neither simple. But most impor-tantly, the connection really works in this piece. (I don‘t know if it works in spoken words in the same way as in visual parts. Oh, the language barrier!)

The acting has a very specific role because it is pri-marily based on graphic and acoustic techniques. And mainly it serves to create the images, which is bit of shame. The presence of a real situation would not be that bad after all. It could bring some relief and humour to the piece, which is not here. (Perhaps. Oh, the language barrier again!)

“The audience is asked a question about conscience

at the end of the show“

6*

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MALE ACTORJulian Mücke and Sebastian Kläy– for colourful acting, full of phantasy and humour. Switzerland, Verscio: Dimitri Theatre SchoolBobok (F. M. Dostoyevsky)

DIRECTING

Lukáš Brutovský– for the expression of the essence of the text in the framework of the contemporary society.Slovakia, Bratislava: Academy of Performing Arts in BratislavaA Profitable Position (A. N. Ostrovskij)

FEMALE ACTOR

Ekaterina Georgijeva– for still voice of humanity in the extraordinary stylised production.Bulgaria, Sofia: National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts

The Caucasian Chalk Circle (B. Brecht)

STAGE DESIGN

Adriana Černá– for creating the imaginative space for this extra-ordinary ensemble performance.Czech Republic, Prague: Academy of Performing Arts in PragueRite of Spring (SKUTR and collective)

FEMALE ACTOR

Yang Zi– for intensity of her performance.China, Shanghai: Shanghai Theatre AcademyWilderness (Cao Yu)

FESTIVAL DIRECTOR AWARDMdu Kweyama– for the choice, directing and interpretation of a topic which is globally important and which was brought together with a simple production consisting of drama and dance. Republic of South Africa, Cape Town: University of Cape TownBrothers in Blood (Mike Van Graan)

review

Closing CeremonyFriendly end of Meeting full of Contrasts

MARTA AWARDS

7*

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As soon as I arrive at the Goose on a String The-atre, the venue of this year‘s closing ceremony of the festival, it is clear that I won‘t find a free seat easily. The hall‘s capacity is not enough for all the teachers and students who want to attend the last official event of the Encoun-ter. For a moment it looks like I’ll succumb to despair, but in the end I find one of the last free seats at the top of the gallery, where I have an unusual view of everything going on below me.

This year‘s festival was thematically connec-ted with the phenomenon of contrasts, which is apparent at the closing ceremony. The mood is relaxed, however the majority of people seem to be tired, which, after five days of hard work, is not surprising.

After a few minutes the hall goes dark, and suddenly I become a part of an imaginary black--and-white world of contrasts, which is create by a group of deaf artists. They are perfor-ming a charming mime routine, the theater full of shadows and abstract concepts, which, alt-hough dominated by black and white, doesn’t exclude even colorful lights complementing the framework of the entire show. It also includes a musical component - guitar and vocals.

8*

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ME The peak becomes a remarkable acrobatic perfor-

mance by one of the members of a troupe, which, I dare to say, leaves more than just me breathless. From the first moment it is clear that the perfor-mance of artists is a very good move for the cere-mony.

After the spectacle it’s time for the preparations for the spoken word which is filled by accompani-ment of two guitars. The audience is restless, the hall is filled by murmur and apparent nervousness and anticipation of the students‘ awards (Marta) hangs in the air.

Suddenly the room goes dark again and on the screen the slideshow of black and white photos of the most important moments of the festival starts. At the same time two moderators step on the stage. Their job is to MC the evening and also take care of the translation into English. Behind them, the view opens up to the actors and live puppets that embody the characters of this year‘s

festival and the atmosphere of the ceremony. One moderator introduces the jury and without delay brings us to the awards for the outstanding par-ticipants of Encounter, who won’t be given the statue of Marta only, but also original sunglasses. Six people receive these prizes. The ceremony is brought to a close by the statement of one of the jurors: “Art is no competition. There are no winners or losers.“ I have no choice but to agree.

During the ceremony the jurors, participants and organizers all want to thank numerous people. Tereza Koudelová, the main organizer, gets an unexpected kiss from a moderator, much to the amusement of everyone.

After all the prizes have been handed out, the festival director, Petr Oslzlý, gives a truly original speech. The main role is played by the word “com-munication” in all possible and impossible variati-ons. The speech is like the icing on the cake at the end of the closing ceremony.

The moderator has the last words and invites everyone to the reception. It is the end of the last official activity of Encounter, the festival full of contrasts, which were chasing us on every corner, in every moment, even when it came to the wea-ther.

Karolína Svitálková

9*

review

Miracle Love

lenght: 50 min

director: Lukáš Kopeckýdramaturgy: Sabina Machačováscenography: Veronika Watzkováproduction: Ludmila Havelková

cast:

The drama Miracle Love, written by the contem-porary German author Martin Heckmanns and staged by JAMU students, was the last off-program performance of this year‘s SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER festival. We are introduced to the story‘s central characters, lovers Anna and Johann. Their relation-ship is going through a crisis and they try to solve it by capturing their relationship on film, a project which they callRefinding Love. Their flat becomes a rehearsal studio for this project. Anna considers the relationship to be only „an option“. That‘s why it‘s no wonder that, for such a weakened relation-ship as the one between Johann and herself, the arrival of a social worker is another trial, with him soon becoming an integral part of the project. His presence drives Anna to end the previously hope-less situation, as Johann doesn‘t want to admit the possibility of a break-up.

The staging, directed by Lukáš Kopecký, offers a countless number of familiar situations, images, old saws and character traits describing various areas of relationships. Even though it‘s cliched, it works with the audience. Why? Maybe because the three actors succeed in performing life situa-tions that perhaps everyone can relate to. And that brings us to the play‘s fundamental question. Is love permissible in a world like ours? For Anna it is a question that she tries to answer with the film project. Finally, she does find a solution to getting out of a relationship that is seemingly impossible to end but... “What do we do now?“

Kateřina Balíková

Zbyšek Humpolec, Lucie Ingrová, Jakub Rek

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10*

Questions for the jury Eduardo Rovner

What have you been working on before your parti-cipation on SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER?I was working in Prague. I gave a lecture in DAMU about the visual creative process (It´s a topic that I like very very much) and I had some meetings with directors interested in my plays. And, of course, writing a play on which I´m working.

Is there any performance you‘re looking forward to the most?Regarding the second question, I‘m open to sur-prise myself and learn.

What do you prefer about theatre encounters? What does inspire you?Theatre encounters inspire me to find new ways to create and, of course, I get to know interesting people.

What are your plans after the festival?After the Festival it is almost sure (I don´t know what days yet) that I´ll go to Ostrava for the 10th anniversary of my play “Vrátila se jednou v noci“ (that’s where the play started out - it was then played uninterruptedly for 10 years in the Czech Republic) and I´ll give a lecture for the students of Hispanic Studies of the Ostrava University. It´s also possible that I´ll go to Bratislava where „Vrátila...“ is on stage as well (in Trnava) and to have a meeting about a new play already translated into Czech and into Slovak.

EduardoROVNER

• Argentina• Author and director

RozRazil&

RozRazilonline

The festival is held under the auspices of the Rector of Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno, the Mayor of the Brno City, the South Moravian Region, the Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic, Czech Commission for UNESCO and European Network of Cultural Administration Training Centers.

With financial support of the International Visegrad Fund, the Brno City and Nadace Život umělce Foundation.

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