The author knew it a long time ago. The audience was crying only when extremists triumphed in the German elections
Theater Flora has a strong program.
Olomouc. « This evening is dedicated to everyone who lives on the outskirts of society, » says actress Popov, when she enters an almost empty stage. The next hour will stand on it, sing, bang in the door, which almost never opens, and if so, it will not be possible to enter them.
He will tell the story of a lawyer, philosopher and publicity of Michel Friedman. The seventy -year -old who lives only because his parents were on the Schindler list. Activist who has promoted the fight against anti -Semitism and dialogue between different religious groups all his life. A man who struggled all his life with the feeling that he does not belong anywhere and most of his life felt to be alien.
The Festival of Theater Flora in Olomouc, Czech Republic, introduced an impressive monodrama of the Berlin theater Maxim Gorki Theater called Fremd (foreign). In Germany, in which they again strong anti -Semitic moods and extreme right -wing AfD reached in early elections The best ever result in nationwide elections since its inception, has a simple production to an apocalyptic dimension. « We are between two big wars and people are foreign, » said director Lena Brasch during the discussion.
Mom cried too over ice cream
Friedman comes from a Jewish-Polish family whose part was murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust. He was born in Paris in 1956 and has been living in Frankfurt am Main since 1965.
In the book Fremd describes his childhood and adolescence in poetic and very disturbing paintings. It shows a child absorbed by the fear that comes to Germany. It is here, in the country of the murderers of his family, is to take the roots and build his life. He wants to be a child, dreaming and living, but he experiences a cold and a feeling of alienation wherever he moves. In a society that wants to sweep the past horrors under the carpet, but there are still poisonous tendencies present.
It is also complicated with parents. They survived thanks Oscar Schindler, but the traces that the Holocaust experience left on them were also reflected in his relationship with him. There is a father who can’t hug him and a mother who will cry over his first ice cream cup. He reminded her of Poland.
All this is portrayed by Friedman in paintings and fragments. The result is a moving, poetic kaleidoscope of the past and presence.
The door that doesn’t lead anywhere
Equally interesting is that after this model the young creators reached. However, both of the theme of theft and the feeling of isolation have experience. Actress the vision of Pop’s has Bulgarian roots and is only the second generation of her family who lives in Austria.
Theater Flora Olomous
- One of the most important cultural events in the Czech Republic, which maps the theater trends and reflects the current artistic and social phenomena
- It combines the presentation of Central European drama productions with the latest works with an emphasis on the production of the German speaking theater scene.
- This year, in addition to the German and Czech sections, there will also be a distinctive Slovak line and seven production of Slovak creators will be presented at the festival.
- The festival takes place from 9 to 19 May.
The director is also associated with the theme of religion. « As a Jewish director, I could easily identify with the topics and identity that Friedman describes. But the foreigning production also applies to universal experience: the feeling that you really do not belong anywhere, whether because of origin, religion or sexuality, » She said in an interview Lena Brasch.
The hourly monodrama is fully controlled by Popov, which, by the way, is physically significantly on Friedman. Easily, sometimes with delicate humor, passes the memories of an older man, and he does not try to imitate an aging man or point out the differences between her and him. In its submission, the topic of a strangeity becomes at most universal and everyone can identify with her own experience.
The scenographic metaphor of the door is strongly influenced. There are several of them on the scene, but although the actress pounds them and tries to pass through them, she is not doing well. Behind some is only a wall, behind other ties of smoke and others will bring it again where she came from.
Tatark, happy end and illiterate Slovaks will bring the festival New Drama Read
A production that is gaining weight
Very distinctive is the musicality, which is partially based on the text itself, but it also greatly helps the singing extraordinarily talented Popov and violinist, who makes her society on stage all the time. There will be great versions of Jewish or Macedonian songs, but also hit with the Far of Israel’s folk group Habanot Nelema and the final composition of Creep from Radiohead.
The FreMD production premiered more than a year ago and is gaining strength, especially after the February early elections in Germany.
They ended up with the victory of the conservative block CDU/CSU, but the extreme right -wing AfD finished second with 20.8 percent of the vote, which is its best result since its inception. The AfD won all five former East German States and received more than 30 percent of the votes everywhere. In addition, it also dominated the age category of productive age voters from 35 to 44 years.
« At the performance we played after the elections, people cried, » the director said during the discussion.
