Commander | Perform Czech

This unique production combines a physical theatre performance with live music and a film starring child actors to communicate an urgent, yet widely overlooked, topic – the online radicalisation of youth. The performers’ dynamic movement, the pulse of live music and disturbing images combine to create an unusual insight into the digital darkness of which most of us – perhaps intentionally – are unaware. The work incorporates authentic dialogues taken from the real chats of an extremist online group that was run by a thirteen-year-old boy operating under the nickname “Commander.”

In the film, we see these online dialogues transplanted into a new environment: children are saying them in common, everyday situations. This clash allows us to see these children from a new, striking and highly unsettling point of view. The children’s conversations about sex, death, and hatred create a chilling atmosphere on the borders of absurdity, humour, and unease. Through the medium of physical theatre, the performance, on the other hand, depicts a company of immature adults who play their lives like a game, uncovering the hidden patterns that enable radicalisation to occur in the first place.

About the company

In the Czech Republic, the international theatre ensemble Farm in the Cave has pioneered physical theatre and original productions arising from research into neglected phenomena with a significant social impact. Under the leadership of artistic director Viliam Dočolomanský, Farm in the Cave evolved from a “laboratory theatre” into an engaged ensemble whose original work transcends various art forms, and art itself. Farm in the Cave delves into its topics through the lens of various artistic approaches and educational formats.

During its twenty years of existence, the company has received numerous international and Czech awards (including the European Prize for New Theatrical Realities for Viliam Dočolomanský, the Total Theatre Award, the Grand Prix Golden Laurel Wreath Award, Fringe First Awards, etc.)