Participants

20 DEN

When I was little, and my mom cried, I said to her, “Don’t cry, because I will cry too.” And we cried together. When I was twenty-three, I said to her, “Don’t die, because I will die too.” But as we know, it didn’t happen.

When your mother dies, it feels like someone is ripping out your insides – the ones from your chest – with bare hands, and a little worse, nonetheless.

Who does the daughter become when her mother dies?

Inspired by Mira Marcinów’s book ‘Bezmatek‘ (Queenlessness) I decided to create a play about being a daughter. What does it mean to be a daughter? If the mother dies, are you still a daughter? When do you cease to be one? How much can one love a mother? Is the love between a mother and daughter the greatest love in the world? I wanted to find answers to all the questions that were troubling me.

Shooting Snow White

Shooting Snow White is a daring exploration of the power of fairytales and their influence on gender roles, identity and self-perception, in a costume of a live, clownesque horror movie. Anna Lisa embodies and presents her own version of the iconic fairytale Show White by brothers Grimms, waiting for a prince who may never come. By staging herself, her soul, her heart and her own physical and mental nudity, the author stands for all the wo*men through the ages and radically reveals the absurdity of patriarchy.

In over 60 minutes, Anna Lisa morphs into every character – Snow White, the evil stepmother, the huntsman, the dwarfs, the horse, even the mirror and the prince – using her body as a living, shifting canvas. Her physical transformation is raw and impulsive: she sings, dances, screams and cries, turning the fairytale into an exploration of freedom and societal expectations. Apples become puppets, a piano transforms into a deflowered glass coffin, and a beetroot becomes a torn-out heart. The performance is an emotional rollercoaster, reimagining the fairytale into a space for questioning the role of women in a patriarchal system.

The piece is both provocative and critical, examining how these archetypes shape gender norms. Can we rewrite them? Can we reframe the tale to challenge these values or must we point out society flaws through them? The audience is invited on a trip inside the glass coffin where exaggerated emotions, movements and clichés are turned on their head to reveal something new, something that can break out of the glass coffin.

Come on this trip with us!

Bernarda Alba

Is family honor more than family itself? What goes on behind closed doors – in a house where the sun’s rays barely penetrate through the cracks in the wood of boarded-up windows? Are we willing to take off our social mask, at least in front of ourselves, and are we even capable of it anymore, or has it grown on our face?

Although Bernarda Alba tries to close her family off from the world, the gates of her house are opening. The evil that is kept behind the walls takes human form and the fight for freedom becomes a fight for life. Michael John LaChiusa has taken Federico García Lorca’s drama The House of Bernarda Alba as the subject of his musical. Using music with authentic Spanish elements, he tells the story of five daughters and a mother who wants to be in full control of their lives. But is she the evil one or is she just trying to protect her daughters?

Zdeněk Adamec

Seven figures met in a space filled with artificial light and junk memories. They could be different characters, there could be more or less of them, but tonight, just here, and not anywhere else, these are the ones who came together. They start talking, just like the last guests willy-nilly do. And perhaps by chance, perhaps it could not be otherwise, Zdeněk Adamec will become the main topic of the speculation. Have you heard of him? Do you know who it was? And is it even important? It is important to ask if it is important if you have heard about him?

he Austrian Nobel prize laureate Peter Handke was inspired for his play by the real Czech high school student called Zdeněk Adamec, who immolated himself on The Wenceslas Square in Prague in 2003. The tragedy has motivated many contradictory public reactions, which the play allows to be heard in the fanciful debate. The conversation sometimes abandons the topic of Zdeněk Adamec, then rejoins it unexpectedly. We will sob together over the suffering, the destruction of the world, the ignorance of the masses and the absolute loneliness. We will rejoice in the liberation, enlightenment, blueberries and all the women’s butts out there. But let’s not forget that we’re at Heartbreak Café, so: “Truth doesn’t apply here.”
“Truth doesn’t apply here.”

DIONYSUS CITY

The power of the gods, the curse of the Atrids, insoluble conflicts, never-ending wars. But the not-so-old Greeks no longer want to be victims of fate, to be determined by external constraints that constantly and inevitably break in on them. They come into conflict with the gods and the world of myths and begin to struggle, even if every way out initially seems to be the wrong one, laden with guilt and fatal. Today people have different problems, right?

A quick ride from the fall of Troy, the suffering of the Troyans to the murder in the Oresteia. The performance reflects our world today with terrible wars and abuse of power by those in power. An evening at the theater that is at the same time quiet, vulnerable and touching and a lurid TV soap opera of power.

The Caucasian Chalk Circle

A Journey Across the Caucasus

The Caucasian Chalk Circle, written by the renowned German playwright Bertolt Brecht, tells the gripping story of the servant Grusha. Amid the horrors of a revolution, Grusha saves the child of deposed rulers, flees the city, and sets out on a journey to her brother in the Caucasus Mountains. Along the way, she encounters a colourful array of characters and gradually bonds with the child, eventually raising it as her own. But the price Grusha pays for the child is immense. So, when she is summoned to court because the biological mother demands the child’s return, she defends her claim with all her might.

A Testament to Epic Theatre

The play intricately intertwines multiple storylines, narrated in an episodic structure. Grusha’s journey, a testament to resilience, is punctuated by the story of Judge Azdak, infusing a robust political dimension into the narrative. This political undertone, a hallmark of Brecht’s work, is a stark reminder of the societal issues that often shape our lives.

After all, how could Brecht’s work be staged without this profound political accent, making the audience feel the weight of these issues?

Brecht himself stated, “Theatre must engage with the times we live in,” advocating for the use of all the tools of epic theatre, which significantly differs from traditional dramatic forms. These tools include the narrator’s presence, blending theatre with music, song, and dance, engaging the audience, and intertwining multiple plotlines. One of Brecht’s most distinctive techniques—actors stepping out of character—is less commonly seen but powerfully employed here. How can this be achieved? You’ll see it in The Caucasian Chalk Circle, where the magic of theatrical illusion is purposefully disrupted.

Theatre Within Theatre, Organized by Arkadi Tcheidse

The story of Grusha and the trial over true motherhood is, in fact, a play performed by a group of actors organized by the poet and singer Arkadi Tcheidse.Arkadi Tcheidse’s role is not just that of a director, but also a commentator on the action, providing a unique perspective on the events unfolding on stage. Imagine yourself as an audience member watching this performance. At first, everything seems fine, but gradually, something feels off—the characters are caricatured, somewhat black-and-white. Now imagine you are one of the actors in this play. Or perhaps you must act in it. Is this about “just” a child—or something more?

THE PANIC SONG SHOW

An audacious social experiment, a globally broadcast event never seen before: in the not-so-distant future, six ordinary folks are kidnapped from their homes, torn from their loved ones, deprived of sleep and food, and thrown into the ruthless arena of Reality-Talent: THE PANIC SONG SHOW.

Spied on day and night by the cameras, the 6 unwilling ‘contestants’ of this cutting-edge TV format must prove to the audience their resilience against the gratuitous violence -both physical and psychological- from their tormentors. A panel of experts will choose the winner.

But despite THE PANIC SONG SHOW being an act of pure anthropological avant-garde, it doesn’t unfold as planned: public outcry erupts, and the broadcast faces a blackout in viewership: ratings reach the zero mark… until the masterminds behind the show decide to shake things up: they introduce the ‘vote from home’ and adjust the notion of a ‘winner.’

The ultimate victor becomes the last person standing, and viewers at home must decide – day by day – who receives a lifeline. Consequently, those considered ‘not worth saving’ will face a death sentence and will be executed live.

The repercussions of this change are catastrophic: public anger boils over, violent protests erupt demanding the program’s cancellation from the authorities… but – and “Nothing else matters” – the concept of choosing who to ‘save’ from the comfort of home, sends ratings soaring.

A clear, crystalline, pure TRIUMPH.

The Nape

1. Performance Introduction
The Korean title of , Deolmi, is the name of a traditional Korean puppet play, named for the fact that the puppets are manipulated by their napes.

This an adaptation of Euripides’ three tragedies: ‘Iphigenia at Aulis’, ‘Agamemnon’, and ‘Electra’, restructured around the female characters (Iphigenia, Clytemnestra, Electra). This ancient Western story has been reimagined from the perspective of a contemporary Korean writer, with direction incorporating traditional Korean mask dance (Talchum) and puppet theater.

Although these genres seem completely different, the aim is to reveal the connections and boundaries between things we categorize. By doing so, we hope to bring something that cannot easily be defined as either here or there into the theater.
The characters in The Nape, with skins that are indistinguishable from human or puppet, East or West, female or male, share the same ancient blood flowing beneath their skin, just like us.

2. Synopsis
Act 1: – Iphigenia
At the shores of Aulis, a thousand ships are stranded, unable to depart because the goddess Artemis has calmed the winds. Artemis demands that Agamemnon offer his daughter Iphigenia as a sacrifice. Agamemnon summons Iphigenia and his wife, Clytemnestra, to Aulis.

Act 2: – Clytemnestra
After Iphigenia’s sacrifice, Clytemnestra returns to Mycenae. She waits for her husband’s return from the war, along with the women of Mycenae, for ten years.

Act 3: – Electra
Ten years after the Trojan War and Agamemnon’s death, the people of Mycenae celebrate his death annually with a feast. Electra, however, refuses to join and remains locked in a pigsty, waiting for her brother Orestes to end the cycle of vengeance.

Fortissimo

“One of the most important piano competitions in the world.
Eighty-seven young pianists.
Eight hundred and seventy fingers. From trembling to chafed to blood.
All practised to perfection.
And only one winner.
Next chance in five years.
Does your stomach hurt the second time as much as the first?
Is it possible to listen to the same songs for seven hours a day?
How long is the journey to the Competition if you take the bus?
What are you capable of when you discover you are not capable enough?
What’s better: entering a competition or a zombie apocalypse?
Bolí popraskaná kůže na konečcích prstů?
Will there be a Chopin?
Can you cut a diamond too hard?
Why doesn’t anyone teach us how to deal with pressure?
What if my playing doesn’t make the whole world go quiet?
Who should I tell that I’m quitting?
Mazurkas, Sonatas, Nocturnes and the whole scales of emotion. All fortissimo. Only the crying in the bathroom muffled.
Chopin competition, are you having fun?

Don’t copy the masters to achieve success. Don’t copy yourself once you’ve become a master. Break. Constantly. It’s the only way to carve your own shape out of stone. Play in slanted scripts, always leaning toward unwritten lines. Backward.”

FORTISSIMO directed by Marcin Liber with text by Małgorzata Czerwień is inspired by the documentary film “Pianoforte” directed by Jakub Piątek. “Pianoforte” is the only Polish documentary film to have won the prestigious Emmy Award.

It is a story about the participants of the legendary Chopin Competition entering adulthood. The protagonists of the film are young people coming from all parts of the world. They have in common one thing – since childhood they have devoted themselves entirely to playing the piano.

The narrative is structured around the rules of the competition and is divided into three stages and the final. They all share a similar dream and will be mercilessly verified by the competition mechanism – it will turn out that the number of places on the podium is limited, so some of them will not pass on, and only a few will make it to the final.

Psyacha Buda (Dog House)

“Psyacha Buda (Dog House)” is a performance created on the basis of the poetic work of the authors of the literary group “Bu-Ba-Bu”, which was active in the 80s and 90s in Lviv and was a significant phenomenon of Ukrainian literature.

The creators of our theatrical performance are young student actors, who strive to go beyond academic academicism and create their own artistic expression. In this work, we seek to rethink the creativity of “Bu-Ba-Bu”, which seems close and relevant to us today. At the same time, it is important for us to reflect on contemporary social and political events that create our reality and resonate with the past, as well as to immerse ourselves in our own research on current existential issues.

“Bubabist” poets followed methods of experimental artistic search, which is close to us. In addition to the research itself, it is important for us to try to form our own new, sharp, provocative and subtle expression in the form of a performative action. We are interested not only in the topics addressed by “Bubabists” (such as: war, politics, love, death), but also in the language they choose for their own expression: paradoxical, experimental, challenging. It is this playfulness of language, its ambiguity and provocativeness that is a good teaching acting material for us.