Photos from the performance
Oratorio for Performers on the Theme of the Old Testament
The play Jób tells the story of a simple Russian Jew, named Mendel Singer, and how his life parallels the difficult life of Job as we know from the Bible.
His family is a victim of substantial pressure from all sides, but the greatest restraint for them all is the serious disease of Mendel's son Menuchin. Not even the departure of one of the family members to the United States solves Singer's problems. On the contrary, through all these illusions, a new complication appears - the escalations after World War II breaks out. A whirlwind of revolutionary events tugs at Mendel Singer, and gradually prepares him for the imminent - in a once pious man, the doubt of God's intentions emerge. These doubts finally lead to an indignant revolt against the Almighty's authority.
A remarkable aspect of Pitínský's staging is created by Martin Dohnal's oratory compositions, blending important passages of the play and bringing their message spiritually and somewhat closer to the heart. Dohnal conducts an orchestra of seven musicians, accompanied by soprano Eva Svobodová, tenor Zoltán Korda, as well as a chorus made up of the entire cast of actors. The unique combination of a theatre play and concert celebrates an unusual success - these individual components do not overpower one another, nor do they exist in mere symbiosis. It is possible to say that they compose an ideal synthesis in a higher level of the meaning
Milo Marálek is a sensitive performer in the leading role as he convincingly finds Singer's evolution, rendering and bringing out the key moments of his spiritual transformations. His perfect acting partners are Iva Volánková in the role of his wife Debora, Mariana Chmelařová as their daughter Mirjam and Pavel Lika playing with a naturalistic precision the ill-stricken Menuchin. We could also name the other actors who merit the ability of conjuring up the atmosphere and time, as well as their ability of expressing the important elements of the Jewish community.
Vladimír Kolář, Práce, 19. 11. 1997