THE 2022 REHEARSAL FOR TRUTH THEATER FESTIVAL: Under Pressure
The 2022 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival, honoring playwright and human rights activist Vaclav Havel, featured works from the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, Hungary, and the US. With modern life constantly presenting us with new challenges, the festival’s fifth edition, Under Pressure, offered a safe space for reflection and dialogue in order to inspire our New York City audience to find novel means of living in tolerance and peace.
The presented pieces examined the human experiences during war and under oppressive political regimes, telling stories of ordinary people responding to unprecedented circumstances in unexpected ways. These were accounts of people who counter pressure and distress by fighting and laughing at dictators as well as absurd ideologies. (Read the press release.)
PERMEATION (CZECH REPUBLIC)
STAGE READING | A story of the married couple Ivan and Nina, whose lives become deeply impacted by incoming war. Permeation is the second play generated by artificial intelligence—a mix of love tragedy, war drama, and espionage thriller.
Permeation. Playwright: Artificial intelligence. Project author: Tomas Studenik. Director: Erwin Maas. Cast: Jade Radford, Christopher Domig, Joshua Echebiri.
Project partners: THEaiTRE, TACR (The project TL03000348 THEaiTRE: Artificial Intelligence as the Author of the Play is co-financed with state support of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic within the ETA Program 3); Institute of Formal and Applied Linguistics at the Computer Science School, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, Czech Republic; CEE Hacks; Prg.ai; Theatre Faculty, the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, and Czech Centers.
shelves (czech republic)
STAGE READING | An absurd drama taking place in a supermarket of the future in a society where everyone is under surveillance. Reason, truth, and compassion are seemingly left behind.
Shelves, Czech Republic. Playwright: Daniela Samsonova. Director: Ellis Stump. Cast: Stephen Bush, Sophia Caressa, Jake Fallon, Yasmin Pascall.
radio 477!-In concert (USA, UKRAINE)
Inspired by the 1929 Ukrainian avantgarde jazz musical, Radio 477! has original songs and text by New York City-based Yara Arts Group in collaboration with artists in Ukraine.
Radio 477! – In Concert, USA, Ukraine. Text: Serhiy Zhadan. Music: Anthony Coleman. Director: Virlana Tkacz. Performed by: Yara Arts Group. Cast: George Drance, Darien Fiorino, Silvana Gonzalez, Akiko Hiroshima, Susan Hwang, Maksym Lozynskyj, Jeremy Kie Vance, Lesya Verba. Musicians: Anthony Coleman, Hannah Dunton, Frank London, Erica Mancini, Satoshi Takeishi, Francesca Ter-Berg, Doug Wieselman.
The project was co-produced by the Polish Cultural Institute and Yara Arts Group.
THE MARTYRDOM OF PETER OHEY (POLAND)
A family’s home life turns upside down when a tiger suddenly appears in their bathroom. As more and more absurd characters invade their home, the family must decide whether or not to give in and join the circus.
The Martyrdom of Peter Ohey (1959). Playwright: Slawomir Mrozek. Adapted and directed by: Nicole Wiesner. Associate direction, choreography: Miguel Long. Additional writing: Stanislaw Witkiewitcz, Matty Robinson. Performed by: Trap Door Theatre (Chicago). Cast: Venice Averyheart, Dennis Bisto, Tia Pinson, Matty Robinson, Keith Surney, Bob Wilson, Carl Wisneiwski.
Lighting design: Connor Sale. Set design/photographer: Michael Griggs. Sound design/composer: Danny Rockett. Makeup design: Zsofia Otvos. Costume design: Rachel Sypniewski. Graphic design: Michal Janicki. Videography: Dave Holcombe. Dramaturg: Milan Pribisic. Stage manager: Anna Klos. Production manager: David Lovejoy.
The production was co-produced by the Trap Door Theatre (Chicago) and the Polish Cultural Institute New York.
stones of tiananmen (usa)
STAGE READING | Stones of Tiananmen follows Chinese writer and philosopher Liu Xiaobo (the 2010 Nobel Peace Laureate) upon his release from a re-education camp. He struggles to find his footing in pursuit of freedom of speech and democracy in China. As he seeks to recover from personal missteps, he is spurred by his encounters with Ding Zilin, founder of the ‘Mothers of Tiananmen’ and the imagined Lost Souls of 1989. While Liu Xiaobo charts a path of peaceful resistance, his wife, poet and artist Liu Xia, ultimately discovers the acuteness of the consequences.
Stones of Tiananmen. Playwright: C. L. Cooper. Director: Ralph Pena. Cast: Mia Katigbak, Karen Tsen Lee, Eric Yang, David Shih, Jo Yang, Henry Yuk. Stage directions: Jesse Jae Hoon.
The play was developed under the auspices of the Visual Artists Guild, initiated by Ann Lau and Peggy Howard Chane.
HUNGARIAN ACACIA (HUNGARY)
Re-enactment of societal activities in Hungary, with musical performances and recited political speeches that surround the absurd exploitation of acacia, an indigenous American tree that became a national and political symbol in Hungary. The acacia, an indigenous American tree appropriated as a national symbol in Hungary, has become a subject of contemporary debates concerning politicians’ branding of the tree and distortion of environmental facts. The absurd exploitation of a plant for political means drove Kristof Kelemen and Bence Gyorgy Palinkas to launch a movement aimed at rebranding the acacia into a symbol of an inclusive society.
Hungarian Acacia, Hungary. Directed by: Kristof Kelemen, Bence Gyorgy Palinkas. Performed by: Angela Eke, Katalin Homonnai, Kristof Kelemen, Marton Kristof, Bence Gyorgy Palinkas.
TICKET TO THE NEW WORLD
Translator Alex Zucker was in conversation with photographer, curator, and project manager of the Czech National Trust, Eva Heyd, on the occasion of her new publication, Ticket to the New World, and an exhibition of the same name. The exhibition Ticket to the New World featured works by numerous prominent figures of the First Czechoslovak Republic’s cultural scene who decided to leave the country at the beginning of World War II, either out of fear of persecution or refusing to live under a totalitarian regime. Heyd’s book, Ticket to the New World, documents the fates of the artists, many of whom had significant impacts on the American cultural sphere.
The exhibition included photographs by Alex Hammid and Bedrich Grunzweig, images by graphic designer Ladislav Sutnar, caricatures by Adolf Hoffmeister and Antonin Pelc, and documents from the career of soprano Jarmila Novotna.
Project partners: Czech National Trust, Dvorak American Heritage Association, Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences New York Chapter, Embassy of the United States of America in Prague, and Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.
BODY AS A WEAPON (SLOVAKIA)
A dance and multimedia solo performance that examines the cultural and historical context of Eastern European socialist propaganda through the use of female body as a tool for political domination. Body as a Weapon is an intimate confession expressed through physical movement, text, and video.
Body as a Weapon, Slovakia. Choreography and performance: Sandra Kramerova. Dramaturgy: Freek Duinhof. Music: Denisa Uherova. Video design, visuals: Alvaro Congosto. Lighting design, visual effects: Boaz van den Ban.
Supported by Voordekunst and Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst.