Smokeout

This was an unprecedented case in the history of Czech theatre. Cardinal Dominik Duka’s lawsuit against Brno-based theatres over performances of the production by the Croatian director Oliver Frljić at the festival 2018 Divadelný svět ended up at the Constitutional Court. In October 2022, it confirmed that judges cannot be guardians of morality. The Brno Municipal Court had previously dismissed Cardinal Duka’s lawsuit. It acknowledged that, even though the production team had depicted John Paul II or Jesus disrespectfully, Cardinal Duka was not restricted in professing his faith. This case has raised numerous questions to the Czech media and culture: what is and what is not art; are there limits to freedom of speech; what is the relationship between political power and art; what is a symbol, an allegory; what is direct and overt incitement; what is the role of political theatre in contemporary world? At the beginning of the collective work by Husa na provázku entitled Smokeout, there was a need and desire of the theatre makers for a cleansing and a different reflection of the event than what appeared in the media and had stirred public discussions and court hearings, to cleanse the name, the space, the relationship with its audience. The performance therefore begins as a purification ritual associated with fumigating the space, the actors move among the audience and ceremonially disperse smoke from incense sticks around the space. We learn about the outrage in the performance and see all sorts of things – letters and emails from angry audience, feelings and doubts of uncertain actors, many familiar and unknown facts, or a peculiar reconstruction of incriminating scenes from the productions by Frljić. Yet, it is up to us to answer what we expect from theatre today, where our personal boundaries are when it comes to controversial topics in theatre, where power can reach and whether it is possible to ban art. After all, we have many opportunities for such reflections in Slovakia today. Jiří Havelka, in Slovakia known for his distinctive productions, together with a team of excellent cast from the legendary Brno theatre (plus the unmissable faces of the now iconic television series Good Morning, Brno!) will take us through this wildly entertaining cleansing ritual, both seriously and quite frivolously, with inimitable humour.