about the production
Vajdička's new translation of lonesco's drama is a good starting point for a lively production endowed with vitality of its plays on words. Precision and fidelity to the original, alongside the freedom and ability to handle language in a creative way are the most suitable material for constructing the remarkable acting of the central couple. The production is dominated by brilliant acting of Emília Vášaryová and Emil Horváth, the most prominent personalities of the Drama Ensemble of the Slovak National Theatre. The spectators witness a firework of their means of expression, creative work with gesture, mimics and word – its meaning and mood. We can admire the spontaneity of the actors, their mutual harmony, a sense of improvisation which tends towards clowning. Playfulness and imagination of both protagonists are the base for a production which in spite of its burlesque freedom, of its play with the absurd, the banal and the sentimental, offers a reflection of our existence attractive tor the viewer.
creators
Director and translator: Ľubomír Vajdička
Dramaturgist: Peter Pavlac
Stage design: Jozef Ciller
Costume design: Milan Čorba
Music: Peter Mankovecký
Cast: The old woman: Emília Vášáryová
The old man: Emil Horváth
The orator: Milan Bahúl
director
Ľubomír Vajdička (1944)
One of the most important directors of the Slovak theatre. In 1969 he graduated from Theatre Studies at The Academy of Music and Drama. In the 70s he worked as a director in the SNP Theatre in Martin, where he staged with great success above all Slovak and Russian classics. Since 1983 he has been working as director of the Drama Ensemble of the Slovak National Theatre staging world drama (from Shakespeare through Musset to Pirandello). Since 1986 he has been teaching creative directing at the Bratislava Academy of Music and Drama. He translates from Russian and French.
Vajdička's productions are characterised by precise dramaturgie advance preparation and an intellectual approach to the text – its thorough analysis, shifting semantic emphases within the drama and providing sufficient space tor creative acting. Vajdička is not a radical in modifying the piece being staged, but in its innovative interpretation.
In the 90s he produced H. Ibsen’s The Wild Duck (1990), G. Feydeau's A Flea in Her Ear (1990), I. Stodola's Tea at the Senator's (1992), L. Pirandello's Right You Are It You Think You Are (1993), W. Shakespeare's Midsummer Night’s Dream (1994), P. Karvaš´s Patriots from the Town YO or Kingdom for the Murderer (1995), M. Sherman's When she danced... (1996), J. Barč-Ivan's The Greasy Saucepan (1996), A. O. Musset’s Lorenzaccio (1997), N. V. Googol’s The Marriage (1997), L. Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author (1998), and A. P. Chekhov's The Seagull (1999).