Žilina Town Theater: Rozhovor s členkou kultu

Text: Mária Modrovich; Dramatizácia: Petra Fornayová; Dramaturgia: Zuzana Palenčíková; Scéna:
Matej Gavula; Kostýmy: Iveta Haasová; Hudba: Ambróz Šulej; Directed by: Petra Fornayová; Starring: Natália Fašánková, Adam Herich, Ada Juhásová, Sandra Lasoková, Iveta Pagáčová, Tajna Peršić, Kristína Sihelská, Peter Martinček

Six women, tired or disgusted with the system of today’s society, escape to the crumbling cabins of a former pioneer camp somewhere in the woods, hoping for the teachings of N., which are no teachings at all. They find themselves in a place from which they expect a miracle – an understanding of the meaning of their lives.

The lyrics teeter on a delicate dividing line of clichés, real fears, and profound truths that we scoff at even as we would prefer to live them ourselves. We won’t witness the confrontation of characters and the unfolding of artfully punctuated dialogue. Solitary existence is more tragic when it takes place in a group.

Recycling will be part of the production – not because we necessarily want to ride the fashion wave, which, moreover, ceases to be a wave as it becomes a necessity. Recycling old worn-out ideas (costumes, sets, music) in a world where everything is changing at the speed of a click is, for a while, a lifesaver. It’s a bit late for a feminist manifesto, for example, but why not remind ourselves of certain things from time to time.

One important aspect of the production will be to maintain the rhythm of the individual statements – as in the original text of the novel. Not the passage of time, just the rhythm. But working purposefully with silence doesn’t mean that we won’t allow ourselves minor excesses, since we’ve already been inspired by N., a former world rock star.

Supported using public funding by Slovak Arts Council and Bratislava City Foundation.