Meeting Point20 April 2013 | 05

16–20 April 2013

EN

1*

SETKÁNÍ / ENCOUNTER

20 April 2013

Editorial 3

Main programme reviews 4

Programme - SATURDAY 20

Offprogramme reviews 22

One festival, please 28

Interview with A. Kuncová 28

Miniplay 30

Must see! 32

Information 34

Interview with Alexander Jerie 36

Grey zone 37

Menu Leporelo + 39

Fagi 40

..................................................

................

..................

...................

...........................

.............

.................................................

..............................................

.........................................

.....

.............................................

..................................

.........................................................

2*

MEETING POINT23rd Mezinárodní festival divadelních škol SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER

16 –20 April 2013

Editor in ChiefMatěj Randár

Vice editor in ChiefMichaela Rusňáková

Assistant of Vice editor in ChiefAnna Machová

CompositionAnna ZdráhalováKarolína Bělohlávková

Correctors of Czech VersionIlona DobrovolnáAnna ZdráhalováKarolína Bělohlávková

Corrector of English VersionAlexander Duncan Packer

TranslationMarek Bednář, Lenka Drbalová, Mária Fileková, Petra Fi-šerová, Anna Havessyová, Simona Kopecká, Martina Kyja-ková, Mája Melegová, Kamila Rozkošová, Kateřina Slováč-ková, Kristýna Staňková, Eva Šoltésová, Lada Štichová, Lenka Tycová

PhotographersIvan Černický, Magdaléna Fiurášková, Markéta Fiuráško-vá, Dominick Benedikt Hájek, Petr Chodura, Václav Mach, Pavel Nesvadba, Kateřina Slováčková, Markéta Tichá, Pavla Klára Urbášková, Alžběta Vašinová

PublisherJanáčkova akademie múzických umění v BrněDivadelní fakultaMozartova 1, 662 15 BrnoIČO: 62156462DIČ: CZ62156462

3*

Matěj RANDÁR

editor in chief

Dear readers,

this is the last printed Meeting Point. Tomorrow’s issue is going to be the online version only and it’s going to be available for download on the Encoun-ter website. Without the editorial. That‘s why I would like to, in the name of the newspaper staff, say goodbye. Thank you for your positive feedback, which found its way to us here on the fourth floor in the same way as the cigarette smoke that rose up during the gatherings in front of the school. It was a signal that everything is going (well).

Allow me one final contrast.

„It came out of the blue. One quick attack and that was it. I‘m not sure if we will get over it. We lost three men. The mood in the troop is rea-lly bad. Today, when the commander was hoisting the flag for boys at the assembly, no one said a word. Opposition? He knows the local terrain well, it gives him a great advantage. We need to put it behind us, focus and fight. It‘s hard, but we do it for the people.“

„It came out of the blue. One quick attack and that was it. I‘m not sure if we will get over it. We lost three points. The mood in the cabin is really bad. Today, when the coach made a video analysis, no one said a word. Opposition? He plays on his own ice in front of his fans, it gives him a great advan-tage. We need to put it behind us, focus and fight. It‘s hard, but we do it for the people.“

Contrasts, as I say ...

Have a nice last day of the festival!

Matěj Randáreditor in chief

ED

ITO

RIA

L

4*

MA

IN P

RO

GR

AM

ME

“Unparalleled, intensive and

incredibly intimate atmosphere.”“

Republic of South Africa, Cape town

Mike Van Graan

Brothers in Blood

length: 80 minlanguage: English

director: Mdu Kweyamaset: Little Theatre Workshopcostumes: Leigh Bishopchoreography: Mdu Kweyamalighting design: Luke Ellenbogenproduction: UCT Little Theatre and Drama Department

cast:

Theatre at the table from Cape TownMatěj Nytra

The guest theatre company from the Republic of South Africa (last year at the Encounter we had the pleasure to welcome actors from Johannesburg) presented their approximately one hour long play called Brothers in Blood. It is a performance about faith, human race and origins. The most prominent feature is the realistic description of the difficult (and as the play presents - insolvable) situation in the South African area, with its conflicts among the social groups and different religions, on the other hand it seems a distinctive meditative depic-tion of the fate of any (religious) man. The crucial element of this play are meanings expressed by the movement. Implications of gestures, body lan-guage and almost dance-like interplay among the three protagonists.

That’s where lies the magic of the whole perfor-mance. The point where those two layers – reali-stic and meditative – overlap. The story revolves around the life of a Muslim man, a girl, a Christian and a Jew, and offers plenty of confrontational reversals that expose the naked truth about the barriers and irreconcilability of different religions.

The performance doesn’t glorify or favour any of them; it tries to give the audience a hint of hope by reconci-ling them – at least through the lyrical world of theatre. The characters regularly

Matthew Trustham, Daniel Richards, Sivankosi Gabanga

5*

MA

IN P

RO

GR

AM

ME

confront their inner world with the reality of a spo-ken word, and they express emotions during their conversations by movements of their bodies. That creates an unparalleled, intense and incredibly inti-mate atmosphere.

The authors needed very little in the way of props (the only constant ones– the table and the chair – were provided by the CET storage room). Just long gradual musical segments, a few shifts of ligh-ting and simple costumes. The rest of the atmo-sphere was completed by the natural intimacy of the stage, located in the spacious brick cellar. And also by the fact that the three actors of different origins didn’t have to pretend their roles very stre-nuously. Their origins, their inner truth and their beliefs were written on their faces even before the performance.

The play is problematic on the level of feelings due to one thing: an open and arguably too rash ending. It is of course a way to show that the real conflicts can’t be resolved artificially just for the sake of an ending. However, we wish it could’ve happened. Although it might sound as a cliché, we should also consider the possibility that the play would lose its carefully created air of “truthfulness” with any other than its original ending.

6*

MA

IN P

RO

GR

AM

ME

Brothers in Blood get enthusiastic standing ovationsMichaela Havlíčková

The theatre is in its essence amazing at zooming in on otherwise only abstract, intangible concepts, in this case on religious intolerance in post-apar-theid society in Cape Town. The realizational team of South Africa took the chosen topic without any signs of forced melodrama or pathos. All the more

does Brothers in Blood impress its audience. The staging is in prin-ciple very intimate in character – no supp-orting crutches in the form of rich scenes or a dozen actors. One can focus on the cha-racters without any distracting factors.

The trio of actors gave excellent performan-ces. It had the potential to drive tears into one’s eyes. At the same time, they made use of only a table and chairs on stage. A significant element was the inserted dance components, with which the actors added stress to their already striking lines, along with very suitable musical background. The result is, therefore, a very meaningfully spent eighty minutes that the audience in the theatre At the Table rewarded with enthusiastic standing ova-tions.

“No supporting crutches in the form

of rich scenes or a dozen actors.“

7*

MA

IN P

RO

GR

AM

ME

How can you hate so much?

Markéta Špetíková

It sometimes happens that the content does not have due form or that the form drowns out the content. It happens only rarely that both of these components coexist. This happened with the stage creators in Brothers in Blood. It mediates the pro-blems of post-apartheid African socienty in an almost intimate way. On the cellar stage, we have been able to see really big theatre. It was big in its ability to comunicate as well as there was a very fine and sensitive lead performance, which - I would say - has found its way to its audience fairly. It did not rely only on the choice of topic but it also offered its own qualities: most of all, it offered „clean“ direction and concentrated actors‘ performances. They acted in words but also often in movements (which were oftentimes more effective) and they man-aged to look somewhat moderate (in the positive sense of the word) even in charged moments.

It was apparent that what is being acted out really touches the creators. At first, I would call some of the storylines too simple or the choices that the character had to make, it might be considered that they suggest themselves too much - but then I thought that such are my choice as well: choices between black and white or lighter and darker shades of grey.

For a long time, I shall retain in my mind the images of a Muslim praying for his enemy - a Christian - and this Christian who will not let him pray, as well as a question: How can you hate so much?

“Clean direction and concentrated

actors‘ performances.“

8*

MA

IN P

RO

GR

AM

ME

“The main character resembles

Charlie Chaplin from time to time.“

Switzerland, Verscio

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky

Bobok

length: 70 minlanguage: Italian (with English subtitles)

director: Grigoriy Lifanovset: Ricky Maggicostumes: Stephanie Metznerchoreography: Corinna Vitalelighting design: Christoph Siegenthalerproduction: Final production of Bachelor studies in Physical Theatre

cast:

Waiting for BobokIveta Novotná

The play performed by students from Verscio in Switzerland is based on a short story by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky. It is a fanciful story:

unsuccessful writer Ivan Ivanovich tries to write a story, but to no avail. Probably because of his exhaustion (or perhaps excessive alcohol drin-king) Ivan’s alter egos appear. The mess in his head is depicted by a

quintet of musicians.

The well-planned scenography, where every article has its own function, is dominated by a black canvas whose importance comes to light in the second part of the story. The first part takes

Naima Bärlocher, Chloé Bolliger, Char-lotte Engelbert, Sebastian Kläy, Julian Mücke, Laura Hagemann, Marc Ooster-hoff, Shahaf Michaeli

9*

MA

IN P

RO

GR

AM

ME

place in a small flat furnished with a table, two chairs, a screen, and something which looks like a bed. In the second part, the setting shifts to a cemetery and the bed becomes a tomb.

The play begins as the audience arrives to find the main character “sleeping” on stage. Then a female cellist appears and starts (and later also concludes) the performance. Her arrival is drama-tic and it seems that the whole play will pass off in this tense atmosphere. But then it suddenly chan-ges completely. When Ivan wakes up, many jokes and comic situations follow and they are intensi-fied by the splitting of Ivan’s character into two or three alter egos. The play is sometimes on the edge of a tragedy. Compared to the tragic aspects of the play, the funny sketches, in which the main character resembles Charlie Chaplin from time to time, come to the fore.

The second part is set at the cemetery where musi-cians and alter egos become zombies. Ivan watches what is going on from a distance. He is happy that he finally has something to write about and joins in, but he does not realize that the cemetery is his new home. At this moment, the play becomes a bit boring, despite the great performances given by all actors. In my opinion, the zombie scene could be shorter.

However, the overall impression is very good. The performance draws the audience in the story and bewitches them. This is exactly the kind of perfor-mance I missed at the festival, and apparently I was not the only one: the audience rewarded the actors and the whole crew with thunderous applause that lasted for about ten minutes.

10*

MA

IN P

RO

GR

AM

ME Bobok, bobok... an every-time-different

chorus Alžbeta Vrzgulová

Dostoyevski’s fantastic fiction story came alive by means of playful variations.The play was divided into two basic situations: Ivan Ivanovitch’s flat – in which a compulsive search for inspiration takes place – and the returning-to--life cemetery.The first part was the one less adhering to the script, being more of a mixture of variations and movement and situational gags. The role of Ivan Ivanovich was played in a witty manner by three protagonists, half mime artists and half clowns. The actors showed their sense of artistic feeling. Their performances made up a smooth sequence of situations complete in themselves, intersper-sed with the actors’ playfulness and innovation; there were a couple of well-known silent-comedy--like gags, which, despite being widely known, are always amusing thanks to how true they are.The actors were accompanied by an enchanting female orchestra, whose live music brought to completion the situations onstage and the atmo-sphere.The second half of the play adhered more to the plot of Dostoyevski’s story. Unlike the first half, it was loaded with words; thus, it is clear that a change in the play’s nature and dynamic had taken place. The “cemetery part” was strikingly domina-ted by functional scenic design. The drapery, which was present in the first half as well, came alive in the second one, creating an unusually decadent afterworld. In this second half of the play, too, the actors showed their movement abilities and made use of some elements of pantomime and slapstick comedy. It was a constant movement of bodies; a single-breathing mass of people, and the waving of fabrics – it all created the impression of a single organism, some new formof life, which was born in the cemetery. The adaptation of Bobok was a vigorous and pla-yful answer to Dostoyevsky’s story. The authors chose an imaginative form, which perfectly matched the world of the story – dreamy, and yet so true.

11*

MA

IN P

RO

GR

AM

MEBreathtaking experience

Daniela Boková

In order to describe this play I could manage with only one word: Spectacular!

The costumes, stage, jokes, actors and actresses, music and especially movements – a charming and compact spectacle. Only if it was not for the twenty minutes added on, which were not indica-ted in the programme and neither are they inscri-bed in my memory.

Allow me to divide the whole play (that spectacle!) into two parts:

Part 1: One man, two men, three men, instrumen-tal accompaniment and everything we could see on the stage – beauty, beauty, immense beauty! I could not even move for rapture. I was immersed in the story and enchanted to the highest degree possible. What fascinated me was the mime work, facial expressions of the actors, their movements, the adorable idea itself, wit and bodies moving in perfect synchronisation. Especially when all three men appeared on the stage and they played, they played with each other and danced and jumped and… yes, just yes! Per-fectly performed, frolicsome but also touching: Thank you!

Part 2: Zombies want to play, live, dance and speak. In my opinion, their rendition of Swan Lake was the funniest and most impressive scene of the whole second part. The corpses’ elegant dance, their desire for life and clumsy grace, limbs falling off the girl’s body and then… You keep watching the performance with bated breath. How could the story possibly deve-lop any further or escalate? You wait but you wait in vain. The continuation of the zombie charade loses intensity and cohesion. Gradually, everything falls apart and gets repeated. Why? I almost cried. The mystery surrounding Bobok gets lost, you lis-ten to exchanges about corruption and you watch representations of sex. Once again, why?

Despite this minor tragedy towards the end, the overall impression is more than positive, the ovations are huge, the audience stand up and the melody still resonates inside my head as I write.

“One word: Spectacular!“

12*

MA

IN P

RO

GR

AM

ME China, Shanghai

Cao Yu

Wilderness

length: 75 minlanguage: Mandarin

director and script editor: He Yanset: Tong Weilicostumes: Lin Qingxiamusic: He Yanlighting design: Xu Xiaohuanproduction: Jin Ye

cast:

Wilderness without wilderness

Ján Tomandl

Students from the Shanghai Theatre Academy brought to Encounter a production of the drama Wilderness by dramatist Cao Yu. He is often consi-dered the most important Chinese theater author of the 20th century, and Chinese experts give him

different nicknames, for example Chinese Ibsen. And the impact of European tradition on Wilderness from 1937 is significantly visible, but I highly doubt Ibse-n‘s impact - this dull literary text has some-thing from expressio-nism and its chattiness

recalls the tragedies of French classicism.

The story is executed realistically and is fairly banal. Families Chou Hua and Jiaa Yanwanga were once allies, but Jiao took Chou‘s property, killed

Sun Yuying, Zhang Yicong, Yang Mingxin, Yang Zi, Zhao Qingyi, Zhou Chengao, Wang Lu, Cao Zhen, Zhang Caicai, Zen Ziyou

„Hopelessly locked behind

the fourth wall.”

13*

MA

IN P

RO

GR

AM

ME

his parents, made his sister a prostitute and threw him into prison. Chou escaped from the prison and prepared for the revenge, but he finds that Jiao is already dead and his son married Chou‘s mistress, with whom Chou decides to run away.

The actors in the production play realistically, they manage to maintain a high commitment, but it’s not enough to maintain attention of the audience. They are hopelessly locked behind the fourth wall and do not perform any interesting or surprising actions or nuances. After a while I lose interest, and during the rest of the productions they don’t perform anything to get it back. It does not appear to have any special moment.

The stage designer decided on a blank set, which

was lined with the audience on two sideds, facing each other. This principle is indeed visually very clear and is accompanied by elegantly mastered lighting design, but the director couldn’t make the actors act for both sides of the audience simulta-neously, so I often saw their backs only for relati-vely long passages. With all these points, the only thing which kept me awake was the audio, because about two meters away from me was a musician with a gong and some kind of extremely loud woo-den drumsticks, who tested the resistance of my hearing more than one nameless director from Brno.

I do not know why the production didn’t draw more from Chinese tradition - especially when it comes to an ensemble, it could be much more appealing.

14*

MA

IN P

RO

GR

AM

ME Large, white and saggy Wall

Jiřina Hofmanová

Stories of love and revenge are eternal. The pro-blem is that in every culture the word „eternal“ means something else. For us it means an inex-haustible number of topics, themes and interpre-tations what these foundational images hide. In The Far East it is probably a synonym for „immu-table“. There are no new interpretations, radical modifications, forced updates. It is enough preci-sely to bring an atmosphere of the old conflict of passion and it will affect the viewer. Further work then falls to him or her. But what to do with the Western audience who isn’t used to contemplate? And to not be one-sided - what to do with the Eas-tern performers who refuse to alleviate the way which we have to follow ourselves?

Performance Wilderness of Shanghai group embo-dies these differences which cause that in the hall gradually rises the wall of misuderstanding. But some things, which are capable of bridging the wall, remain. One exception is the stage design. Very simple white, saggy sail create the universal environment. It change modestly and simply using the light only. Equally understandable is a natural event always rhythmised by gong or the drum-sticks. The last big positive of the performance was Yang Zi in the role of Mother. Young girl with abso-

lute precision plays the role of the old blind woman - her stance, movement, voice, an inner tension is com-plete embodiment.

Yes, from the per-spective of the Wes-ternerit does not make

sense to watch for two hours something s/he has seen many times, but can we expect from the country imbued with the philosophy of Zen any straightforward enunciations?

„What to do with the Western

audience who isn’t used to

contemplate?”

15*

MA

IN P

RO

GR

AM

ME

Wild ChinaPatrik Boušek

A young man, falsely accused and imprisoned for eight years, known to everybody only as Tiger, longs for revenge, but his greatest enemy is dead. And to take revenge on an innocent son goes against his beliefs. And when love for a woman who belongs to the object of the revenge comes his way, together with a blind mother who sees deeper than anyone else, and an innocent infant, it is virtually impossible to escape the vicious circle of uncertainty, desire and fear. A fusion of classical tragedy and the Spanish Golden Age.

The plot seems slightly confused and confusing. Nevertheless, it was possible to find one’s bea-ring thanks to small number of carefully defined characters. And despite the fact that the subtitles barely kept up with the actors. One thing follo-wed another so quickly that little nuances (which I suppose were meant to refer to their existence) unfortunately went unnoticed by the majority of the audience, although two women (most pro-bably Chinese) laughed at times. A huge white sheet covering a substantial part of Marta clearly defined that the performance is only for a very limited number of spectators, who can sit in two rows on the longer sides of the sheet. The sheet was raised in the back, creating a backstage, where the Chinese actors also made sounds and occasional shadow play.

The acting consisted mainly of emphatic face play, but most people had no time to appreciate it, as they had to read the subtitles. Well, that’s part of it, I guess.

What was probably the biggest disadvantage of this classical Chinese play was its volubility. Nume-rous episodes naturally make plot longer (even though it was considerably reduced). However, one could probably find more to cut so the result is not too boring for the European audience.

“Fusion of classical tragedy and the Spanish

Golden Age.”

16*

MA

IN P

RO

GR

AM

ME Austria, Graz

Henrik Ibsen

Playing Peer Gynt!

length: 135 minlanguage: German

director: Elina Finkelscript editor: Botho Strauβ, Peter Stein, Elina Fin-kelset and costumes: Lea Haslehnerchoreografphy: Hanna Rohn, Franziska Plüschkemusic: Eddie Luislighting design: Ralph Beyer, Elina Finkelproduction: Uta Marong, Hanna Rohn (assistant director)

cast:

Peer Gynt or Exactness in the Chaos

Michaela Havlíčková

Playing Peer Gynt surprises from the beginning till the end. Literally.

Immediately after entering the theatre hall, the stage catches your attention. The white canvas with the black triangle is empty (apart from a few props and white boxes on the sides). Only a few viewers notice the disco ball hanging in the air. The white stage gets dirty during the play and becomes more and more confused (the famous onions are-n’t missing). This should have symbolized Gynt’s mental frame of mind.

The entire cast of five actresses and five actors is introduced in English to the audience at the very beginning. The beginning of the play is very amu-sing and optimistic until the moment when the plot starts to develop. From then on, only a few moments are funny. This play doesn’t intend to join the reckless comedies which you watch when you want to relax. Extreme changes extreme, as well as nice words change slaps.

The audio-visual equipment is substantially used in this play; the work with the lightning is particularly good, which is achieved by motion illusions and screening on the white canvas.

Angelika Berger, Felix Breuel, Maria Burghardt, Dominik Jedryas, Claudia Kain-berger, Oliver Lau, Daniel Langbein, Josef Mohamed, Aline Müller, Christian Neuhof, Franziska Plüschke, Lukas Stöger

17*

MA

IN P

RO

GR

AM

ME

The actors very often communicate with the audi-ence - sometimes within their roles, sometimes it seems that they has fallen out of their roles on purpose (for example when they announces a break). In this way, the actors pleasantly get in touch with the audience. In the same way, the Eng-lish language appears from time to time during the German play - especially while actors adresses the audience.

The implementation team is successful in its effort to incorporate the singing and dancing per-formances into the show. Covers of ‚Maya the Bee‘ and the biggest hit of the last summer - Gangnam Style - aren’t missing; both of them have adapted lyrics.

The whole play creates the impression of a daring and provocative piece; the technical implementa-tion is high and the actors put on a harmonized and very precise performance.

18*

MA

IN P

RO

GR

AM

ME

Seven averted faces of Peer Gynt

Kateřina Uhrová

The well-known play of Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen - Peer Gynt - was performed by drama stu-dents from Graz in Austria. They originally blended their native language with English. This served to introduce the story to the audience and to eluci-date individual scenes.

The stage design was an important aspect of the performance. A simple, steplike arrange ment of boxes hid other props that were taken out during the scene one by oneand put the finishing touches to the environment. The scenery and sounds of nature were made by the actors themselves. It rai-sed the dramatic level of the scenes and it illustra-ted the atmosphere. Viewers were brought to the boil by the global hits ‚I will always love you‘ and ‚Gangnam style ‚, during which the actors put on the masks of celebrities Barack Obama, Queen Elizabeth or Lady Gaga and entertained the audi-ence with original dance creations. Individual sce-

nes from the life of Peer Gynt were projected on the screen and completed stage.

We were dragged into the story by seven actors - Seven Peer Gynts - sha-ring the same fate but in other life situations. Five

actresses impersonated the five important women - mother, love of life and lovers - in an unrestrained portrait of the protagonist. Gynt lives a perver-ted life of violence, women and sex. He lives from day to day, while still looking for a way home. The final scene is The Last Judgement where the angel reminds Peer his sins, especially how he behaved cruelly towards women. Individual Peers confess their sins and come to absolution - and death.

“He lives from day to day, while still

looking for a way home.“

19*

MA

IN P

RO

GR

AM

ME

Being Peer Gint!

Marek Lollok

These Austrian students interpret Ibsen’s drama with a traditionally strong main character, as a story that can happen to literally anyone. Each of the male actors becomes a different Peer for at least one episode. Gynt, with whose thirst for knowledge we often rather empathize, thus becomes more transparent in terms of his adven-turous and metaphorical journey. Naturally, the actors tend to choose type-specific, rather than character-specific way of acting.

One of the keys to the Austrian performance is a look from the side, or maybe a look from above. They don’t only play Gynt, but also a play about a play. The cast, which is one of the most inte-resting subjects of the performance (as a whole rather than individually), tells us right at the begi-nning and then twice during the play, how they see and play Peer Gynt; they talk to the audience, they talk about themselves, occasionally comment on themselves and the story, in other words, they break character.

The Austrians did not manage to avoid fragmenta-ting the play; notably different approaches cause the play to deviate from the genre: physical the-atre blends with singing, serious theatre blends with irony, they play with masks or with playback, use big projections and subtle facial expressions, etc. However, thanks to the solid concept by Elina Finkel, the director of the play, the differences are not disturbing; in the diversity, the good technique, synchronization and the coherence of the cast stand out.

20*

PR

OG

RA

MM

EProgramme 23rd SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER

9:00 Discussion with a breakfast Chill out room (DIFA JAMU)

10:00 Austria, Graz Playing Peer Gynt! Na Orlí Theatre

12:00 Mexico, Puebla Macbeth‘s Furies Theatre Studio Marta

13:45 Street Theatre: We Lead, You Enjoy

21*

PR

OG

RA

MM

ESaturday 20 April

15:00 Mexico, Puebla Macbeth‘s Furies Theatre Studio Marta

15:00 Offprogram: Miracle Love 401 (DIFA JAMU)

18:00 Closing Ceremony Goose on the String

20:00 Encounter Night: Oldies Party Livingstone Club

22*

OF

FP

RO

GR

AM

ME

offprogramme performance

Workshop with Banderas

length: 75 min

director: PhDr. Oxana Smilková production: Tereza Řezníková

cast:

Grafting shoes, polished patent shoes, stilettos, ballet shoes, worn sneakers and bare feet bounce on the tiled docking of the first floor of JAMU. Live piano music evokes a relaxed, bar atmosphere and prepared treats tempt those present to taste today’s menu.

The screenwriters have taken only the names from Fulghum’s original work. They don’t use the short stories to continue or elaborate, they don’t maintain the personality of characters. They create their own plots and situations, braid their own relationships according to their wishes.

Spectators are witness to the hinted problems like voyeurs behind an imaginary mirror of the ball-room, but they can’t follow everything, so the sto-ries are only drafted according to what precisely is happening in this room. They have to figure out the entirety themselves, if they only get enough clues from the abbreviated acts. The stage direc-tors also work with intentionally unclear and open endings.

Every participant and customer of the dancing course bears his or hers own story. Infidelities, reproaches, disappointments, misunderstandings, problems in communication that lead to argu-ments, old relationships that broke and new ones that are created or old ones that get new direction. However, the young actors let the sudden changes of mood in their pleading effort escalate con-vulsively. However, they each get space to show their best dispositions. Director and teacher Oxana Smilková expertly chose roles for her students to suit their natures and the current abilities of these future actors.

Michaela Malčíková

Lucie Ingrová, Zbyšek Humpolec, Táňa Malíková, Jan Řezníček, Vojtěch Říha, Tereza Slavkovská

23*

OF

FP

RO

GR

AM

ME

coverage

The Visegrad Four Under the Scrutiny of Martina Černá

Martina Černá came to Brno to introduce us to The Arts and Theatre Institute, for which she has wor-ked for several years. In her lecture she concentra-tes on post-communist Central Europe, especially on the situation in the countries of the Visegrád Four (V4), founded in 1991.

In the lecture, Martina Černá connects interactive media with printed text and mobilises the audience with the help of games. At the beginning of the presentation we watch a video created to support artistic programmes. The clip contains symbols of the Visegrád Four countries: Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia; their view of theatre culture during communism and after it, typical photos, national heroes and monuments symbolising these countries. From these hints the audience is to match photos with their respective countries. No one knows the answer, not even the Czechs know their country or culture as well as it seemed at first. Martina Černá goes on to describe music, dancing and theatre in the V4 countries.

The final and fundamental part of the workshop is dedicated to theatre since the fall of the commu-nist regime until today, which is influenced mainly by the political situation in each particular country. The audience is divided into five groups, each one receiving an extract from plays, which they are supposed to read and present. The Czech Repub-lic is represented by the play Poker Face by Petr Kolečko.

Kateřina Uhrová

24*

OF

FP

RO

GR

AM

ME

review

Meeting of educators

On Friday afternoon, the second meeting of edu-cators at this year’s Encounter Festival was held in the test room at the Husa na provázku (Goose on a String) Theatre. Among those invited were not only teachers, but also their guests. Although the event was supposed to start at 5 pm, the meeting was delayed by half an hour due to a festival per-formance which ran late. And it would seem that this delay negatively affected attendance, as only half of the educators invited were there.

The meeting was divided into two parts moderated by two professors from the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno – Marek Hlavica and Hana Krejčí. Their task was not only to lead the event, but also to provide for interpretations for foreign colleagues from Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Slo-venia, Poland and Estonia. The goal of the the first portion, which lasted half an hour, was to intro-duce the schools and individual study programmes of those teachers in attendance.

The second portion featured a moderated discu-ssion in several languages about the current form of instruction, future of the individual schools, accreditations of specific disciplines, as well as the culture of each country. The discussion also inclu-ded a small buffet and was conducted in a fairly friendly atmosphere around a single table. There was also a nice surprise as a teacher from Kazakh-stan treated everyone to a rendition of a Kazakh song, thus adding a touch of originality to proce-edings.

Despite the initial organizational problems and low attendance, overall the meeting was a worthwhile accompanying event for the festival and, thanks to the pleasant atmosphere, turned out to be an enjoyable and friendly encounter among profes-sional colleagues.

Karolína Svitálková

25*

coverage

The Moravian Night

Seats are difficult to get at the party. The deco-rations, made out of scarves with traditional folk motifs, combine with the Moravian folklore music to create an excellent atmosphere. Bread and lard are here for the guests to taste.

“That dulcimer is not a musical instrument, it’s a weapon!” says the man sitting next to me at the table with enthusiasm. The dulcimer music impre-ssed not only at our table. Foreign guests listen, those knowledgeable of the lyrics hum along and everyone applauds excitedly afterwards. After a few songs, the ensemble is joined by dancers in traditional folk costumes.

“That’s what a real Moravian girl looks like!”

The dancers perform twice with great success during the evening, and even teach volunteers folk dances.

The main idea of the evening is to introduce the traditional Moravian culture to the guests. It works splendidly. I’m going to go have some more fun…

Nikola Boková

OF

FP

RO

GR

AM

ME

26*

DISCUSSIONS Friday 19 April

The themes of yesterday‘s discussions were He Who Says Yes / He Who Says No (Kazakhstan), Shopping and Fucking (Poland, Lodz) and The Cau-casian Chalk Circle (Bulgaria).

OF

FP

RO

GR

AM

ME

“Do you like moretraveling theatre

than.. stone theatre?”(When the moderator

can’t recallthe right term.)

“And the groupfrom Bulgaria…”

“It is me.”(Says one guy.)

“There are fivenational theatres,

none of which you like.So what do you do

after school?”

“Go abroad.”

“We could have two Brechts. One is not so

interesting.”(It was supposed to be

a discussion with people from Kazakhstan and Bulgaria, but

the Bulgarians didn’t come.)

“We have two schools, but I don’t

know what the other school is like. They haven’t done any

performance yet.”

27*

One festival, pleaseEconomic supervisor MgA. Kristýna Vávrová

speaks about the funding of the festival SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER

Festival SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER is one of the most important events that JAMU annually organizes. Although the festival has a long tradition and this year has been its twenty--third year, the organising team is able to keep the festival‘s budget above two million crowns each year. As the organization of the festival crosses all ateliers of the Theatre Faculty at JAMU, also the financial resources come from different areas.

Thanks to the enthusiasm and professionalism of the organizing team, they managed to succeed in several grant proceedings this year. The festival received financial support from the International Visegrad Fund in a record amount of 9 000 euros. Thanks to the involvement of the civic association MuseYou in organising the festival, which brings together mainly students of the Atelier of theatre management and stage technology, it has opened new possibilities for financial support. The associ-ation was successful in the grant proceedings of Foundation Life of Artist, an abundant co-opera-tion expanded with the Foundation VIA in the form of online donations. Fun and playful videos attract donors from all around the world to provide finan-cial contribution and become friends of the festival. We are still waiting for the result of the application for a grant from the South Moravian region.

Although this year the support from the private sector is generally in decline, we were able to esta-blish cooperation with major companies, whether in the form of material or financial donations. The Theatre Faculty shows its interest in this impor-tant event, which the festival is, in the form of its distinctive contribution. A significant part of the budget also consists of the income from its own activities, in particular from the sale of promoti-onal items, which are this year the irresistible and indispensable commodity for every visitor and participant of the festival. If you purchase during the festival design earrings, jewelry, magnets or t-shirts, know that you will be supporting a good cause. If not, keep your savings for the next time and remember to support students who are already planning the next year of the festival.

Kristýna Vávrová

economic supervision team SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER

28*

Interview with designer Alexandra Kuncová

"Illustrating is very fulfilling for me and I can relax, escape from the chaotic and confused world and for a moment, think about nothing, just enjoy every single line I draw,“ says the visual artist of this year‘s SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER.

How did you get to work on the Encounter?

I got here through my school, Tomas Bata Univer-sity in Zlín, where at the end of every semester we get an unspecified assignment. This time it was the festival Encounter. Of all my classmates my work was chosen, which, of course, like any designer, really pleased me.

Where did you get your inspiration?

I draw inspiration from everything around me. You never know what will come to your mind when you look at an object, person, building, or what you

hear around. Sometimes just a fragment is enough, sometimes you have to sweat a lot sweat before your muse kicks. I defini-tely wanted to express the world of theatre actors and emotions in a visual form. I felt all this when I saw the photos

from the past years. Their costumes, facial expre-ssions and attitudes speak for themselves.

And because illustration is one of my favorite acti-vities and ways to create, I decided on this way. So I illustrated the figures from the photos. It pleased the people who organize this festival and together we work up to the final form. There are repre-sentations of actors from different countries to

“I felt that we were now

one big family!“

29*

express that Encounter is an international theater festival, completed by the wise and beautiful sta-tement "Actors are born, not made.“

What is it like to walk around Brno and see your work practically on every corner?

I admit that it‘s a very strange feeling for me. It might be also because I have never experienced it, but certainly the feeling is not bad, quite the con-trary, I am very honored! I am glad that I could present myself this way and work for Encounter. Again, I gained a lot of experience.

What attracted you to the festival?

First of all, I noticed all those actors that I illustra-ted and searched my memory to remember which country they were from. The first day we got festi-val pendant necklace. Everyone who passed by me and also had this (festival) pendant nicely greeted and smiled at me, even though we did not know each other. I really like all those friendly people, I felt that we were now one big family.

I had an opportunity to see different cul-tures and I was plea-santly surprised by almost all the per-formances. I admit that before I have never experienced such great actors and amazing spe-eches. Each of them was in a different style and it was simply amazing! Actually some of the per-formances forced me to reflect on the given pro-blem or situation, wondering if it‘s still a game, or if it‘s fact. And I have to praise the entire Encounter team for their great work, I enjoyed it to the fullest and I have something to remember for a long time. Everything worked in the best way as it could.

“I definitely wanted to express

the world of theatre actors and emotions

in a visual.“

30*

MIN

IPL

AY

Students write short texts with the “contrast“ as the topic.

Šimon Peták

Broken Tooth

Women’s lavatory, a mirror, mascara on the basin, lipstick, eyeliner, contrast eye-shadows etc., an older and a younger woman.

Young: Smile. He likes my smile the most.

Older: Oh, please.

Young: Everything lights up when I smile, he says.

(brushes her teeth – distorting her next sentence)

They hay you cang tell what a perhon ih like on the inhide by the way they hmile.

Older: People really think about this stuff?

Young: He’s full of mysteries.

Older: And… what could possibly mean: “Hey, didn’t your backside get larger?”

Young: I wonder how he’ll surprise me today.

Older: Do you have tweezers?

Young: I’ll pluck your eyebrows if you want…

Older: I’ll just stick this tooth on.

Young: Tooth?

Older: It broke.

Young: What do you have there?

Older: Superglue.

Young: Shouldn’t you make an appointment for that?

Older: It takes too long. We’re off to a supper in a bit. I can’t go without a tooth.

Young: So that you can smile.

Older: I’ll have a steak. He invited me!

Young: I like how he always motions with his hand when he wants to foot the bill. With a nice tip.

Older: Yeah, he’s the one tipping. Mostly.

Young: Mostly?

Older: It’s nice, when they’re this generous.There! (Clicks her teeth.)

Young: How long does it hold?

31*

MIN

IPL

AYOlder: How? Hm…since the time I wound him

up so much that he…ehm. It’s been two weeks.

It came off this morning. He called at midday if we shouldn’t make up. Isn’t it crooked?

Young: Hm…

Older: He won’t notice. Well? Well what? Smile! Everything is better with a smile! Bye!

Young sighs

32*

INV

ITA

TIO

NS

MUST SEE!

20 April, 13:45 h.Svobody square, in front of McDonaldWe Lead, You Enjoylenght: 35 min.A group of men controls pedestrians.

20 April, 20.00–3.00 h., Livingstone Club,Oldies PartyParty will follow after the closing ceremony at The Goose on the String Theatre, the official end of the festival. The theme of this party is oldies style. Don’t miss the amusing offbeat karaoke and delicious drinks!

15–20 April, Na Orlí TheatreBefore I Die WallFor the first time wall of wishes Before I Die Wall will be installed in Czech Republic during 23rd fes-tival SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER. You can write your wishes from 15th to 20th April to Na Orlí Theatre.

16–20 April, every day of the festival 9:00–20:00 h., FoT JAMU (DIFA JAMU)Chill Out RoomThe “Chill Out Room“ is a place for all the parti-cipants of the festival, who are searching for a quiet place to relax and to rest. There will be free magazines to read, table football to play and Wi-Fi connection. The room will be equipped with comfortable bean bags, courtesy of Los Pytlos company. There will also be a screen where some films will be projected.

There is the Dalibar, the school bar, nearby the Chill Out Room. Visitors can buy refreshments there for reduced student prices.

17–20 April, 9:00 h., Chill out roomDiscussionslanguage: English

The last discussion, which is focused on the aus-trian performance Playing Peer Gynt! is going to be immediatelly after the performace, i.e. from 12 pm right at the Na Orlí Theatre.

33*

Big festival competition withLos Pytlos has a winner

During Encounter the competition for two Original bean bags took place. The first bag was for the one who got on their photo with the sack the most number of „likes“ on Facebook. One bag will be shared by Markéta Indráčková a Anna Burianová.

The second winner was decided by a jury consisting of the member of the organizing team of SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER. The winner of this category is The Carrot.

Congratulation!

34*

INF

OR

MA

TIO

NINFOCENTREOpen from 15 April every day of the festival.

opening hours9:00–21:00

Kde nás najdete?Theatre Faculty JAMU, BrnoRoom No. 2Mozartova 1622 15 Brno

festival infoline: +420 733 127 612

TICKETSTickets can be bought at the Infocentre 30 minu-tes before the performance at the latest. If the performance is not sold-out, additional ticket sale will start 15 minutes before the performance at the ticket office of the respective theatre.

At off-programme performances, free seats can be taken without a ticket 5 minutes before the start.

ticket prices

MAIN PROGRAMME

100 CZK public 80 CZK students and seniors 50 CZK students and JAMU pedagogues

OFFPROGRAMME

Off-programme performances are free but it is necessary to collect the tickets at the Info Centre

50 CZK OFFPROGRAMME bAND You are entitled to free entrance to Encounter Nights and to other benefits:

Restaurant LEPORELO+

festival menu from 1pm to 3pm for 69 CZK

Café at Na Orlí Theatre 10% discount on all items in the menu

Café Alfa espresso 25 CZK cappuccino 30 CZK latte 35 CZK tea 25 CZKbar, který neexistuje / bar free welcome drink

35*

FESTIVAL PREMISES

Theatre Faculty JAMU * Mozartova st. 1Infocentre + Chill Out Room + Dalibar

Theatre Studio Marta * Bayerova st. 5

Na Orlí Theatre / Music and Dramatic Laborato-ry of JAMU * Orlí st. 17 - 19

Goose on a String Theatre * Zelný trh sq. 9Great Hall + Cellar Stage

HaTheatre * Poštovská st. 8d

Fléda Club * Štefánikova st. 24

Livingstone Club * Dominikánské sq. 5

Kunštátská Trojka Café * Dominikánská st. 9

Leporelo+ * Malinovského sq. 2

INF

OR

MA

TIO

N

facebook.com/tvencounteryoutube.com/user/tvencounter

tvENCOUNTER

we collect pixels for you

Watch TVEncounter – daily reports and invitations to performances.

36*

Five questions for the jury Alexander Jerie

What were you working on before you came here to attend SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER?The usual – drama translation. This time, I’m wor-king on an incredibly emotional and utterly engro-ssing monodrama from the French writer Antoin Rault, La vie sinon rien (Life or Nothing).

Is there anything in the program that you’re parti-cularly looking forward to?I’m curious about everything, but there’s one per-formance I’m especially excited to see, and that’s RITE OF SPRING. One, I really like Stravinsky’s music. Two – correct me if I’m wrong – the directing duo of Lukáš Trpišovský and Martin Kukučka were the first students of DAMU to ever win the Evald Schorm Prize, which was back when I was working for the DILIA agency, so I’m really interested in see-ing their work more than ten years later. And three, it’s in Czech so I will understand the language.

What is your favorite thing about theatre festivals? Do they provide you with any inspiration?There’s a lot I like: meeting new people and seeing their work, meeting old friends and colleagues, and last but not least, I like the lively atmosphere of theatre festivals.

Of the manifold contrasts in today‘s world, which do you perceive as the strongest?That’s a difficult question that requires a smart answer, but unfortunately, I’ve got nothing but old clichés in my mind right now.

What are your plans for after the festival?My answer for that is very simple: more transla-tion so that I can keep my brain running.

AlexanderJERIE

• Czech republic• Translator

37*

Miriam Grey

Black Widow,

White Crow

Just as itdoes every year, Encounter now nears to its end. It saddens me to say it even within this context when I could boldly claim that a new festi-val is always around the bend. One great friend of mine (I‘m struggling whether to refer to her as a student of psychology or simply call her a psycho) diagnosed me as a „ fanatic festival-goer.“ Thus when I‘m done with one international theater fes-tival I am likely to end up in another jolly heart of the action.

It would be worth concluding with something absolutely crazy. Yet in order to get my message through, I need the reader‘s cooperation. Other-wise there is the possibility that it may only become a self-enclosed „pseudo“ avant-garde and intellectual container - as they say among the young and talented. So here is a little game on words.

Grumpy/…………

Silky/……….

Cute/……….

Fuzzy/………….

Tenacious/…….

Quarrelsome/………

……….../Brown

This is my goodbye. I hope that the Grey Zone did-n‘t squander the potential of another column that could could have been written by someone more with more creativity, a better sense of humour and maybe more engaged. Perhaps you‘ll come across my articles in next year‘s issues. And if not, we may at least bump into each other at a canteen of one of the stable festivals.

PS: If you cross a black widow and a white crow, you‘ll get something greyish. Something like me. My mobile and email can be found in this magazi-ne‘s issue from June the 32nd. Smack (the booty) and x (a kiss), let‘s kill some young geese.

GR

EY

ZO

NE

38*

Want two free tickets? Look for a character!

Each day at the one of the festival venues there will be hidden a character. In Meeting Pooint, on the festival Facebook page and website each day will be a hint which will help you to find this character. Who finds it and brings it to the information centre, will win two free tickets for the next day performance.

“ Before I die I want to find a festival figure.“

Congratulation to today‘s finder of the charakter! Look for it also TODAY and win T-shirt.

39*

LUNCH MENU WITH OFFPROGRAMME BAND

69 CZK

MondayBroccoli soupChicken Penne with tomato sauce

TuesdayCreamy parsnip soupRisotto with pork and vegetable

Wednesday

Tomato soupBaked French Potatoes with smoked meat

Thursday

Poultry stock with meat and noodlesHoney chicken drumstick with jasmine rice

Friday

Leek soupPork chop in herby sauce with baked potatoes

Saturday

Onion soupFried chicken fillet with mashed potatoes

Sunday

Sweet corn soupSpaghetti arabiata

Leporelo+ RestaurantDům umění města BrnaThe Brno House of ArtsMalinovského náměstí 2

Brnorestaurant@leporeloplus.cz

www.leporeloplus.cz

40*

Encounter is great! Fabulous! Heavenly! It‘s been lively here for five days! Super!

Modrý nonstop = Modráč

I see, there are also performances at Encounter.

RozRazil&

RozRazilonline

The festival is held under the auspices of the Rector of Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno, the Mayor of the Brno City, the South Moravian Region, the Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic, Czech Commission for UNESCO and European Network of Cultural Administration Training Centers.

With financial support of the International Visegrad Fund, the Brno City and Nadace Život umělce Foundation.

Financial Support

Main Partners

Transportation Partner

Partners

Main Media Partner

Media Partners

Print Partner

Co-organizers