about the production
The performance is an unconventional scenic and music interpretation of the poetry and life of the poet Bohuslav Reynek. Not only will his ideas, spoken by the poet himself, be heard during the performance, but also the ideas of his sons, friends, critics, colleagues... Documentary features alternate with exclusively poetic and metaphorical segments. The performance offers by means of unique authentic records and letters a small and modest view of the life of this forgotten, but exceptional poet, graphic artist, translator and philosopher of life.
The dramatic chamber piece can be seen as a sensitive setting of Reynek’s poetry to music. But also as a supreme theatric interpretation of the thorny destiny of an artis, and of the complicated relationship with his own wife – the French poet Suzanne Renaud. It is an exceptionally fragile scenic piece full of admiration, but also humility for the work and life philosophy of the poet himself. It is interwoven with director Pitínský’s characteristic signature of spiritual purity, beauty, visual and musical preciseness of movements, gestures and glances. A tiny jewel which is simple in its appearance and valuable and rich in its idea, image, emotion, as well as attractive in the depth of its spiritual truth.
creators
directed by Jan Antonín Pitínský
music: Petr Hromádka
music assistance and repétiteur: Richard Dvořák
stage: Jaroslav Čermák
costumes: Renata Wiedlichová
dramaturgical assistance: Kateřina Fitzová
cast:
Singer: Gustav Řezníček, Singer: Helena Čermáková, Dramaturge: Jiří Adámek, Sound technician: Josef Pípa Česal, Lighting technicians: Lubomír Kočenda and Zuzana Lapčíková, Violin: Miroslav Křivánek, Violon cello: Viktor Kozánek
director
Jan Antonín Pitínský (1956)
Along Lébl and Morávek – he is one of the most significant representative of the Czech theatre and direction of the 1990s. He himself and many of his stage works won the Alfréd Radok Award as well as the Theatrical Journal Critics Award. Contemporarily, he is the most sought after director active on various dramatic, alternative and opera stages all over the Czech Republic. His works can be seen on Slovak stages as well, where he has found a great deal of success and where he likes to work.
Pitínský’s signature work combines an intellectual dimension with a deep empathy for the truth, humbleness and knowledge of life. Doubts about the absoluteness of man can certainly be found in his works, just as the conviction and faith in the absoluteness of the higher spiritual principle surrounding the existence of man and the world. All this is interconnected with an extraordinary imagination, scenic phantasy, detailed work and trust in the actors. The linking together of all possible and often even impossible components of the scenic language results in riveting, surprising and innovative pieces in both their ethical as well as aesthetic dimensions.
Recent performances: operas – Tristan and Isolde, Dalibor (National Theatre – Opera, Prague), Bloudění, Maryša, Markéta Lazarová (National Theatre – drama theatre, Prague), Marné tázání nebes (Theatre Archa, Prague), Knives in the Hens, Theatremaker, Ritter, Dene, Vos (Theatre on the Balustrade, Prague), Boží duha (Klicper’s Theatre, Hradec Králové).
He prepared performances in The Town Theatre Zlín: according to Fellini: Eight and a half (and a half) (1995), G. Preissová: Her Stepdaughter (1996), F. Kafka: The Trial (1997), The Fearless Heart (Dialogues des Carmélites) (2000), Thirteen Songs (2000).