A Very Very Very Dark Matter

Spectacular fireworks in Copenhagen: Hans Christian Andersen is being honoured for his work. During his thank-you speech, which is accompanied by an author’s reading, Andersen gets confused about certain details of his fairytale. More than one question presents itself: is he the real author of the story? What secret is hidden in the wooden box in his attic workroom? And what if Andersen met Charles Dickens, who closely guards a quite similar “skeleton in the closet” at his manor?
Following the triumph of his Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, winner of the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay in 2018, Martin McDonagh (1970) has now come up with a pitch-black comedy on an intriguing theme that is “anything but Irish”. The storyline of the play – the atrocities committed by Belgian colonists in Congo – is an original opportunity to evoke today’s Europe and cultural influences across continents. Has Europe only ever benefited from its own resources? 

English subtitles available

Audience: adult, children 15+

About the company

The National Theatre Brno is a municipal theatre and Moravian cultural centre with three companies: dramatic theatre, opera and ballet. The theatre’s history dates to the 19th century and it is known for having both the first electrified theatre in Europe (the Mahen Theatre) and the oldest theatre building in Central Europe (the Reduta Theatre). The dramatic theatre company, named after Czech playwright and dramaturg Jiří Mahen, is currently considered one of the best acting ensembles in the country, due to its fusing of tradition with a period of renewal in the past decade. The artistic programme is based on the performance of plays and research into language as action and combines the old masters (such as Shakespeare and Molière) with current playwrights (such as McDonagh, Stoppard or Schimmelpfennig).