We are Memory: Road 19

The true stories of witnesses are told by 14 final-year students from the Prague Conservatoire through the artistic medium of dance and the voice of the performer Ridina Ahmed. The artists decided to present the bitter subject of the Romani Holocaust in a gallery exhibition space open to the public. The dancers themselves thus become exhibits, calling on spectators to reflect on their own perception of racism and the extent to which it remains a current issue in society. The abstract sounds and environment do not distract spectators’ attention, allowing them to consider whether they, too, might be dividing society into “us” and “them.”

The script draws directly from the testimonies of historical witnesses. In Brno, the dance students met and spoke with two second-generation witnesses – Rudolf Murka (b. 1959) and Antonín Lagryn (b. 1947) – whose parents survived the concentration camps in Auschwitz and Ravensbrück. A memorial in the village of Hodonín u Kunštátu commemorates the time when entire Romani families were interned there. There, dance students met with eyewitness František Němec (b, 1932). Even 80 years later, he still has vivid memories of the humiliating arrival process, the inhumane work conditions, and the typhus epidemic that decimated the inhabitants of the camp, especially the children. 

Audience: Adult, Children 12+

Memory of Nations Theatre is a place where young people come together to search for and dramatically portray stories that capture the main moments of their country’s modern history, including the experiences of World War II veterans, Holocaust survivors, resistance fighters, political prisoners, dissidents and ethnic and other minorities. Meeting with and speaking to the witnesses, the young people become co-creators of their stories. Fully engaging with history, they become better acquainted with the problems facing contemporary society.

Memory of Nations Theatre’s main task is to encourage young theatregoers to constantly ask questions, look for answers, think, seek connections and carefully perceive the world around them. Our projects are based on the young artists’ ideas – their perception of a given topic or historical event and its connections to the present. Our theatre does not seek to experience stories or empathise with characters, but to process our personal impressions.