We have visited Hungary repeatedly in recent years, and our socially engaged productions have always resonated strongly there. Unfortunately, this is also because the genre faces little competition as a result of the long-term suppression of independent culture. This time, however, we were looking forward to a new Hungary, freed from sixteen years of Orbán’s rule. That period represented profound destruction for democracy and civil society. We spoke openly about this several times during the post-show discussions as well.

This time we brought the production CRIPPLETREK and performed it, symbolically, in the Lázár Hall (Ervin Lázár Hall). After the performance, Tímea Dénes, head of the Pálos Károly Social and Children’s Centre, and Melinda Bede, a psychology PhD student at ELTE University, joined the discussion. During the debate, focused on social issues, we were once again convinced that our concept works fully: stories and situations from the performance were repeatedly referenced by both experts and inspired a broader discussion about an area in desperate condition and long ignored by politicians. We spoke about problems that are becoming increasingly urgent not only in Hungary — ageing populations, the lack of support for dependent elderly people and their families, who are often pushed into poverty through caregiving, dying and death — topics that society still avoids discussing openly.

We would like to thank Milada Boráros for interpreting the discussion and for tirelessly supporting us, together with her family, during all our visits to Hungary.

We then headed to Rome, filling the two-day drive with a road office and meetings about a new accounting programme. It was our first time performing in Rome. Cooperation with Programma Integra (represented above all by the excellent organisers Amalia Romano and Laura Biancon) resulted not only in successful presentations of our two productions. The Italian partners of the Courage to Know project also succeeded in connecting the themes of our performances with discussions involving remarkable people from both the human rights and theatre worlds.

Both perspectives came together in the person of Cecilia Carponi, who joined the discussion after CRIPPLETREK. This lecturer at Sapienza University and researcher in theatre history is also an activist and volunteer working in the unique space Spin Time Labs. In this seven-storey former office building, now home to around four hundred people of different nationalities, cultural, social and educational activities as well as community events take place. In the theatre hall located in the basement of this enormous squat, we performed CRIPPLETREK and then spoke about supporting poor people, refugees and homeless people in the heart of Rome.

After BLOOD HYGIENE, presented the following day at Teatro Furio Camillo, the audience discussion featured Giovanna Cavallo, a lawyer from the Association for Legal Studies on Migration. The theme of dehumanisation explored in the production opened a debate on migration and refugees, issues that resonate in Italy far more strongly than in the Czech Republic. We also spoke about how public interest and the tireless efforts of activists can intervene in human destinies and make possible what would otherwise seem impossible — for example helping students from Gaza reach schools in Italy.

We are grateful that, thanks to the support of the EU and the Czech Ministry of Culture, we are able to overcome distances of thousands of kilometres. Our performances lose none of their urgency west of our borders. On the contrary, Italian audiences appreciated both the metaphorical language of the productions and the themes they opened so powerfully.

And then just one final toast before the journey home: Glory to Ukraine, Free Palestine!

Pavla Dombrovská, Kateřina Slámová Bartošová

Last evening Pavla Dombrovská and Luděk Vémola drew our attention to the most frequently marginalised social group – people in crisis of homelessness.

The Czech theatre Divadlo Líšeň performed “Crippletrek”, a story about the end stages of life of a sick old couple. The play, infused with dark humour showed us how cartoonish can be reality of such people. The characters definitely captured my heart with their clumsiness and authenticity. Despite many downfalls and twists of fate, they could get up and move on through life. The elders faced many issues, and in the moment when they needed help the most, doctors treated them not as patients but as intruders. 

The scenes, at times absurd, elicited fits of laughter from the audience, and together they resembled a kind of fairy tale for adults. Despite that, the crucial message of the performance was preserved and did not get lost in the dark humour. The performance reminded us that homeless people need to be heard like everybody else. One time we hear the story how the old man met the love of his life, Elizabeth, the other we hear his deep philosophical thoughts. Their deformed heads along with the astute animation by the Czechs became full-blooded characters – not only they moved but danced and played music with the instruments.

The tuba, accordion and songs by Dombrovska and Vémola emphasised the charm of the performance. And into what can a surgical mask and an iron turn on the stage? Pavla and Luděk created expressive characters of doctors with a defibrillator out of them. The audience roared with laughter and the applause seemed to last forever. “Crippletrek” makes us think about whether we can still go beyond the stereotypes ingrained deep within us and extend a helping hand to people in need, regardless of their background and financial situation. // ANIMO MAGAZINE // Cecylia Cesarz

It’s worth noting the excellent borscht with pampushki, vareniki, nalysnyky, pelmeni… and those divine cakes filled with blueberry cream – all washed down with wine and compote! This feast was provided to us by Viktoria and the other women from the Legnica hostel, where we, along with mothers and children from Ukraine, also found shelter. The place also reminded us that even though we’ve been performing our play about the birth of a murderer for the past fifteen years, the consequences of the events we portray on stage still accompany us in our daily reality and affect not only our lives.

Enriched by human, professional, and culinary experiences, we thank everyone and look forward to the next meeting.

We thank Grzegorz Majewski for his willingness to take part in the project, for all his help and support throughout our visit, and we thank the headmaster of the liceum, Piotr Niemiec, for allowing us to perform directly at the school. Thanks also to Pavel Novák for facilitating the contact.

An article about our visit was also published – the student editorial team conducted an interview with us for the local media, Portal Lca.pl.

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Mirosław Stanisław Jasiński is a Polish dissident, diplomat, screenwriter, and director. From 2021 to 2022, he served as Poland’s ambassador to the Czech Republic, and from 2001 to 2006, he was the director of the Polish Institute in Prague.

He was a co-founder of the Independent Students’ Association at Wrocław University (1980) and of the Polish-Czechoslovak Solidarity movement.

The author’s staging of Crippletrek is loosely inspired by real stories. It is a grotesque portrayal of illness, poverty, exclusion, and death. It employs distinctive artistic elements, including original puppets, masks, and live music.

The play is part of the Provoking Theatre programming. Like other plays included in it, it tackles topics we consider overlooked or pushed aside from the mainstream of our daily interests, yet exceptionally important. We aim to provoke interest, inspire, and encourage activity. We also plan to accompany Crippletrek with discussions where we will talk about the themes explored in the production after the performance.

A creative workshop focused on getting acquainted with various types of puppets and working with puppetry and masks.

Puppets from the productions of Líšeň Theater.

#buďjamák

#buďjamák CURRENTLY We are launching the fourth edition of the #buďjamák program! In collaboration with the Department of Theatre Studies at Masaryk University, we organize a series of seminars and workshops for high school students. Due to the nature of the activities, the capacity is very limited – we offer only 20 spots. The price for one participant is 2,500 CZK / 3,000 CZK (registration in June/September). If you know a student from Ukraine or any disadvantaged applicant interested in our program, we are happy to assist … read more

artzONE

With hosts Kateřina Dolenská and David Drozd.

artzonE

You can read the article about us and our anniversary, written by MF Dnes, here:

mladá fronta dnes

The goal of Divadlo Líšeň’s theater workshop was to provide participants with the opportunity to devise, develop, and stage their political stance or opinion. Workshop leaders – Pavla Dombrovská (concept, movement, and directing) and visual artist Antonín Maloň – worked mainly with visual means. Two characters, “powerful men,” with folding bodies were created, upon which their “political actions” were depicted and performed in scenes depicting their acquisition or loss of power. Servants – the puppeteers – wore masks to portray them.

The surprising and unusually diverse aspect was the composition of the participants – in our workshop, people ranged in age from fifteen to sixty-six years, with varying experience in theater and from different professions. Similarly, it was the case in other groups; participants were not restricted by age or deterred by the workshop’s focus – the commitment was evidenced by two daring, approximately seventy-year-old dancers who sustained fractures on the first day of the movement workshop. However, this experience did not constitute a fatal obstacle for them, and during the final performance, they proudly presented their work, with plaster on their hands.

The fact that the small town (not only the local hospital) genuinely lived with the festival was evident in the abundant audience attendance – in addition to the seventy workshop participants, several multifunctional halls of Palais du Littoral were filled with an audience consisting of hundreds of people. Divadlo Líšeň was invited to the festival due to the focus of a part of its work on political and human rights topics. Its play “Putin Is Skiing,” based on texts by Anna Politkovskaya, with which the group arrived in Grande-Synthe, describes the methods by which the current Russian president came to power. Despite the texts of the murdered journalist being over ten years old, they acquire relevance in the context of current events. Three performances of “Poutine fait du ski” were held with French subtitles projected on the ceiling in a packed military tent, which is part of the stage. For the French version of the play, we also modified the final scene of the performance – instead of Václav Klaus and President Zeman “kissing” a puppet-Matryoshka of Putin, Marine Le Pen jumped on stage and briefly joined Putin in a golden tub.

In addition to Divadlo Líšeň, the most politically oriented contribution to the end of the festival was the drama performance “Le Maniements des larmes” by French director Nicolas Lambert, whose original script is based on official and unofficial negotiations of European politicians and is a sharp critique of NATO’s interventionist policy. Nicolas was deeply interested in our work, and the feeling was mutual. Interestingly, it was found that the local creators and the audience do not suffer from the demagogic arguments prevalent in our environment – that anyone who criticizes Russia is regarded as an uncritical admirer of America and NATO, and vice versa.

Le Manifeste concluded with a joint event – before saying goodbye to the main organizer of the festival, Brigitte Mounier, as well as all workshop participants and facilitators, a joint meeting was held to evaluate this year’s thirteenth edition of the festival. This fully manifested the community character of the event, attracting people from all over France who repeatedly gather to express an active attitude toward public space and connect with other engaged individuals from various countries. This thematically oriented, community-oriented, and yet broadly focused festival has no equivalent in our environment. In France, however, political themes relentlessly penetrate daily life – near the town where the festival takes place, there is a large refugee camp and an underwater tunnel where several people die each month while attempting to reach England. Terrorist attacks are becoming more frequent, and the country is under a state of emergency. A few days after our return home, we were struck by the news of the brutal terrorist attack in Nice. Such realities provoke an increasing number of people to contemplate how to prevent violence, end wars, for which Europe bears its share of blame, and spread tolerance, understanding, and solidarity.

Report from the French festival Le Manifeste! About Divadlo Líšeň’s workshop at 5:15 PM.

http://www.tele-astv.fr/video-5538-reportages-le-manifeste-11-juillet-2016.html

Pavla Dombrovská