The independent theatre company Spitfire Company has taken home the Scotsman Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2023, the world’s largest theatre showcase in Scotland, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2023. The company won the award for the absurdly humorous evening coverage of Russian TV news The End of Man?!?, with which they represented the Czech Republic in Edinburgh since 7 August this year.

The End of Man?!? is a performance about the power of the powerless, in which Petr Boháč, director and co-founder of the Spitfire Company, was inspired by the literary work of the most important contemporary Belarusian writer and Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich. His production is a chilling account of life in the disinformation hell constructed by the government mass media of contemporary Russia or Belarus. He cast Russian performers Inga Zotova-Mikshina and Roman Zotov-Mikshin, who have been living and working in Prague for many years, as TV presenters. Their authenticity and ability to sharply illuminate Russia’s present and Soviet past brings believability and a certain amount of black humour to the production.

Given the topicality of the subject, the artists from Spitfire Company decided to dedicate all performances at the Edinburgh Fringe  Festival to the Belarusian prisoner of conscience Palina Sharenda Panasyuk and send her a postcard from each performance. Each performance of The End of Man?!? is thus not only a reminder of the current totalitarian power of Russia and Belarus, but also of the inhumane case of Palina Sharenda, who is held captive by Lukashenko’s totalitarian regime.

The Scotsman Fringe First Award is the oldest award given and is dedicated to productions that are not afraid to experiment and talk about pressing social and existential issues.

Source: Taneční aktuality