February 21st and 22nd, 2002 at 8 p.m. - first and second performance
February 23rd, 2002 at 8 pm, premiere!
The premiere of a new movement performance made in cooperation by Archa Theatre, the director Zoja Mikotová, and actors from the I Can't Hear Theatre (Divadlo Neslyším).
The performance was inspired by the work of the great Spanish painter Francisco Goya, his Los Disparates (the Fool) graphic series, and what is known as the Black Paintings, which he created after he went deaf in his farm-house, also called the House of the Deaf - Quinto del Sordo. The fantasy that appears in this mural transcends everything that had been created up to this point. Goya's "second life" took place in an unexpected world of complete silence. The graphic works and paintings from this period became a unique statement of a person, suddenly seeing many images of the human soul, and the real face in the place of moving shadows.
In the same way that this work shows Goya's inner and outer world after going deaf, the deaf actors convey their thoughts and feelings through the theatre performance. The performance combines movement theatre, large puppets, expressive lighting design (the colours similar to those in Goya's paintings) and live music. The musical accompaniment was created by Dorota Blahutová (cellist from the group Tara Fuki), Zdeněk Kluka (music composer and percussionist) and Karel Heřman (singer from the group Čankišou). The performance reflects, one the one hand, Goya's personal case with deafness and his relationship to the inescapable woman Cayetana, and on the other hand, unexpected meanings that the deaf actors discovered in his paintings and graphics. The performance incorporates songs, and the poetry of R. M. Rilke and F. G. Lorca translated into sign language.
Zoja Mikotová is the creator of the dramatist discipline for the hearing impaired and since 1992 has run the studio Drama Department for the Hearing Impaired (VDN) at the JAMU Theatre Department in Brno. Together with her students, she has produced many works: i.e. Caprichos, Povídám (I Tell), Znakuji pohádku (A Sign Language Fairytale), Genesis, Pták ve vzduchu (Bird in the Air), Ryba ve vodě (Fish in the Water), Odyssea or Věc není věc (The Thing is Nothing), which have been presented in guest performances at theatre festivals and tours around the world (i.e. Prague Quadriennale 99, Festival European Region Hradec Králové, Mimos - Perigueus, France, 15th Festival de Théâtre Europeen - France, Kašparův kolínský mimoriál, and in Austria, Poland, Germany, England, Belgium, Turkey, Holland). In Archa Theatre, audiences had the opportunity to see some of her work in the past with the performances Odyssea and Genesis.
With actors from the I Don't Hear Theatre (Divadlo Neslyším) - 1st section Theatre in 7 and a Half: Jan Fiurášek, Michal Hefty, Monika Kurincová, Lada Lištvanová, Lenka Ryšánková, Petra Vaňurová, and Eva Vrbková (Goose on a String Theatre) and Tomáš Dastlík (student at the Janačková Academy of Musical Arts - JAMU)
Dramaturgy: Barbara Vrbová Stage design: Tomáš Rusín Costumes and puppets: Sylva Marková Music: Zdeněk Kluka, Peter Graham Acrobatics: Petr Šmolík.
This project was developed through the support of the Open Society Fund.
Photos from the performance