A Bit Worse than Romeo: Tragedy from Caprice + Report from Scheherazade’s Brother

We are pleased to invite you to the  inter-genre evening: join us for the summer project A Bit Worse than Romeo: Tragedy from Caprice and the opening of Report from Scheherazade’s Brother.

A Bit Worse than Romeo: Tragedy from Caprice is an inter-genre experiment, created in collaboration between the theatre and visual arts dramaturgies of the MeetFactory. The project is based on reinterpreting three texts: the canonical Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, a novel titled Dark Energy by the contemporary German writer Juli Zeh and an extraordinary piece of writing by Søren Kierkegaard, The Seducer’s Diary. The result is an interdisciplinary, partly site-specific production on the edge of theatre and a monumental art installation. The leading theme is the image of love as a paradoxical Archetype. In the name of searching for the meaning of life, the loving subject throws himself into a self-destructive abyss: tirelessly, over and over again, throughout the centuries. Non-ideologically, inexplicably, with a dose of genuine narcissism, inside the omnipresent stage set of love triangles, repeatedly hurt by their vertices. The project examines the theme of passion and seduction as an aesthetical act, at the same time exploring the motifs of abundance and excessive intellect, which can be both destructive and driving forces in life, in the present moment and immortality.

The sculpture installation Report from Scheherazade’s Brother at Kostka Gallery takes the viewer into a surrealist jungle of shapes and words, where seemingly disparate elements set out to a joint journey to both the human soul and to distant lands. The exhibition is at the same time the artist’s diploma work at the Sculpture Studio at Prague’s Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design

LINE-UP
6 PM - Site-specific Performance  A Bit Worse than Romeo: Tragedy from Caprice (reservation required)
7 PM - Site-specific Performance A Bit Worse than Romeo: Tragedy from Caprice (reservation required)
8 PM - Opening Report from Scheherazade’s Brother at Kostka Gallery
9 PM - Opening of the art installation A Bit Worse than Romeo: Tragedy from Caprice

For the site-specific Performance  A Bit Worse than Romeo: Tragedy from Caprice make a reservation on rezervace.divadlo@meetfactory.cz.

A Bit Worse than Romeo: Tragedy from Caprice
Authors: Karina Kottová, Matěj Samec
Artist: Jan Haubelt
Light design: Jiří Thýn
Cast: Halka Třešňáková, Vojta Švejda, Matěj Nechvátal
Direction: Viktorie Čermáková
Costumes: Inês Liberal

Jan Boháč (CZ): Report from Scheherazade’s Brother
Curator: Karina Kottová
Exhibition will be shown from 11 June to 5 July.

About the Artists

Jan Haubelt (1977) puts together his sculptural work with the elements of photography, photo-collage and a number of research procedures. He often deals with the angle of viewing an object, may it result in a deformation of a part of a Baroque statue by Mathias Braun, or exploration of the planetary movements through animal optics. His thought often plays around working with a shadow, mirroring and other shifts in the field of visual perception. Jan Haubelt is a lecturer at the Sculpture Studio, UMPRUM (Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design) Prague, wherefrom he graduated in 2007. He also studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Athens and undertook a study visit to ISCP New York. Jan presented his artwork at a number of both solo and group exhibitions at prominent independent art galleries and institutions in the Czech Republic, in Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary and Italy.
For the project A Bit Worse than Romeo Jan Haubelt prepared an installation consisting of eleven monumental statues, their shapes derived from the motives of “ABDC” poem by Vítězslav Nezval (1926), where graphic designer Karel Teige presented a dancing concept of individual letters. Haubelt’s statues grasp this inter-genre and gestural principle by means of rotation transferring Teige’s signs into the third dimension. The statues become almost universal yet specific characters, assuming both the role of actors and autonomous art objects in the production. Another part of the installation is a brick wall whose strength contrasts with an imprint of a human body part. The wall thus becomes a reminder, a fossil of touch.

Jiří Thýn (1977) graduated from the Photography Studio at the Prague Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design. He also studied at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts for one Year and at the UIAH in Helsinki. His main focus is photography that expands into an object or an installation by means of exploring the lighting conditions, studio components or relationships between images, objects and words. In 2005 Jiří Thýn together with Jan Haubelt and Adéla Svobodová founded a group called Ládví, which created interventions into public space in connection with local communities and socially useful work. In 2011 Jiří Thýn was the finalist of Jindřich Chalupecký Award, and was invited to residential stays in Mexico City, Bern and New York. He has exhibited internationally at many prominent institutions. For the project A Bit Worse than Romeo he prepared a lighting installation based on his procedures applied in visual art, as well as on his search for a relationship with the theatrical means and Haubelt’s sculptural installation.  

Hálka Třešňáková (1972) is Czech actress and choreographer, a prominent personality of Czech alternative theatre. She studied Realschule in Heidelberg and later the Nonverbal Theatre and Comedy at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts. She started her acting career at Alfred ve dvoře Theatre, at Roxy/NoD and the MeetFactory. She was the co-founder of the group Seconhand Women. She acted in productions The Last Fire and The Thirteenth Love of Mary at the Prague National Theatre New Scene. She cooperates with a number of theatre troops as a movement specialist and choreographer. She also appears in film, both in documentaries – Efekt přihlížejícího (The Onlooker’s Effect, 2008) and Jan Hus – Service for Three Dead Men (2009) – as well as in feature films. In 2009 she acted in a comedy drama of Jitka Rudolfová Zoufalci (The Desperados) and three years later in a criminal thriller of David Ondříček Ve stínu (In the Shadow). Hálka acted in part one of the Czech TV criminal series Clona (The Smoke Screen, 2014) and continues performing the role of a lobbyist’s assistant in a political satirical web series Kancelář Blaník (Blaník Office).

Vojta Švejda (1976) devotes himself to acting, author’s theatrical creation and improvisation. He graduated from the Nonverbal Theatre and Comedy at the Prague Faculty of Performing Arts. In 2012 he won the DNA Theatre Award for high artistic and creative integrity and representation of the new Czech Authors Theatre abroad. He was selected the Talent of the Year in the Alfréd Radok Award for the year 2009. In 2008 an overview of his theatrical work under the title “The Dreams and Reality” was presented at Alfréd ve dvoře Theatre. He won the audience award for the production Albert se bojí (Albert is Scared) at the Czech Dance Platform Festival. In 2002 Vojta was awarded for his acting and dramaturgy of a performance called Bliss at the Mimolet Festival in Irkutsk. He is member of an improvised invasive rock grouping Woříšci and the anecdotic-punk duo Exclusive Mars. He is the founder of the Wariot Ideal civic association. He co-founded the theatrical group Krepsko where he was active both as an actor and co-creator for seven years. He has also been a clown doctor since summer 2012.

Matěj Nechvátal (1987) studied Dramatic Acting at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts, the Theatre Faculty, in the same year with Daria Ullrichová, Jan Nebeský and Eva Salzmannová. At present he is a free-lance actor, guest-playing at the National Theatre, Na Fidlovačce Theatre, and co-operating with the theatrical association the Tiger in Need. He has a regular co-operation with the MeetFactory Theatre, where he appeared two years ago in an author’s production of Jan Kačena Protože jsem to nikdy nikde nedělal, už asi budu (As I’ve never Done It Anywhere, now I probably Will). At present the viewers may see him at the MeetFactory Theatre in the title role of the dramatization of Ingeborg Bachmann’s novel Malina and as Karenin in Nespavost (Insomnia). 

Viktorie Čermáková (1966) is stage director and actress. At the age of fourteen she joined an amateur theatre troupe “A Studio” under the Prague Divadlo na okraji (Theatre on the Edge). She trained as a photographer but later theatre prevailed. She remained member of the “A Studio” where she worked mainly under the leadership of Eva Salzmannová and Ondřej Pavelka until 1989. Together with David Czesany she lead “A Studio II”, where she debuted as a stage director. During 1985 – 1986 she acted at Husa na provázku Theatre in Brno. In 1991 – 1994 she was member of the Kašpar Theatre Society, which performed on the stage of the Rokoko and Divadlo v Celetné theatres. In 1994 she left, together with a part of the Kašpar group, for Divadlo Komedie, where she remained engaged until 2002, acting in productions of directors M. Dočekal, J. Nebeský, J. Pokorný, J. A. Pitínský and more. Apart from acting she was the teacher in drama clubs for both elementary and high school students. Some of the performances accomplished in these theatre workshops under her supervision were successively played at the Divadlo Komedie, Citadela Studio and NoD. During 2002 – 2005 Vitorie studied stage direction at the Theatre Faculty, Academy of Performing Arts Prague. In 2006 she co-founded the Továrna theatre studio. Since 2005 she has created productions at Činoherní studio Ústí nad Labem, Rubín, Divadlo v Celetné, Ta Fantastika, Bouda ND, Divadlo v Řeznické, La Fabrika, Středočeské divadlo Kladno, Śtúdio SND Bratislava or City Theatres Prague. She also co-operates with the Alfréd ve dvoře Studio. Her mainly focus as a stage director is contemporary Czech and world drama as well as authors projects. In 2007 she was awarded for her contribution to Czech Theatre at the Příští vlna (Next Wave) Festival.  She was the Talent of the Year nominee for the Alfred Radok Award in the same year. In 2010 Viktorie played the female lead, Klára, in the movie Hlava - ruce - srdce (Head – Arms – Heart), directed by David Jařab. In 2012 she performed one of the two leading female roles in Jan Hřebejk’s film Svatá čtveřice (The Holy Foursome). In the MeetFactory she directed the production Chladnější vrstvy vzduchu (Colder Layers of Air) and was one of the four directors of the Nespavost (Insomnia) production.