Perception

“Your room is the centre of the world.“

A introspective scenic essay on the melancholy of resistance and freedom in non-growth.

In a new period of history shaped by the climate crisis, the border between work and leisure is necessarily being redefined. When an actor is on stage, he is working. When he is in his apartment, he is living his leisure time. In modern society, time away from work is filled with activity. We try to spend it productively – we are defined by production! But what if a room in an actor’s apartment appears on stage? What if an actor’s performance is compromised by the absence of plot or conflict? Can the Nothing associated with non-productivity (so important for a sustainable future) become a theme? Can Nothing be shown?

A mind that wanders freely. A concentration on the non-human elements that constitute a reality of being equal to that of humans. An exploration of light. Caring for houseplants. A friend’s visit. Sharing fatigue with the planet. Conversations about productivity. What are the challenges of art today? Can art be the vanguard of non-productivity, or is it inherently allied with production? Is it possible to be new all the time? How to free oneself from excess in art?

Being versus signifying. A subtraction of elements. Divestment. Slowness. Incompleteness? Mu means Nothing in Japanese.

The HaDivadlo collective’s project is a continuation of a collaboration with scriptwriter Bohdan Karásek and quotes from Georges Perec’s The Man Who Sleeps and László Krasznahorkai’s From the North a Mountain, From the South a Lake, From the West Some Road, From the East a River. The work is inspired by Jean-Philippe Toussaint’s novel The Bathroom.

Season 45: Resources → Season 46: Adaptation

About the company

A theatre with a progressive dramaturgy, HaDivadlo has been an essential part of alternative Czech theatre since the 1970s. Founded in Prostějov in 1974 as a semi-professional ensemble, Hanácké Theatre has been active in Brno as a professional ensemble since 1985, first incorporated with Theatre on Goose on a String under the auspices of the Brno State Theatre and, since 1992, as part of the Centre of Experimental Theatre. The foundations of HaDivadlo are a trio of strong personalities: director Svatopluk Vála, dramaturg Josef Kovalčuk, and actor, director and author Arnošt Goldflam, who arrived a little later. Over the years, a number of other prominent artists have passed through the ensemble, making space for their own concept of theatre. The current artistic director is Ivan Buraj.