MEDIATHEK

PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS A brilliantly-written tragicomedy by the distinguished contemporary British author Duncan Macmillan. It relates the story of Emma, an actress who repeatedly finds herself in a drug rehab centre, and is forced to admit who she really is. For Emma, drugs were the only way of surviving in this mad era. After finishing her rehabilitation, Emma comes home. Will she pass the last, harsh test? This drama about dependencies, balancing on the boundary of reality and nightmare, brings a unique acting opportunity for the actress in the main role.

// CREDITS //

Attention: a strobo is used in the performance

DIRECTION AND TRANSLATION: Marián Amsler
DRAMATURGY: Marie Špalová
STAGE DESIGN: Juraj Kuchárek
COSTUMES: Martin Kotúček
MUSIC: Ivan Acher
MOVEMENTS: Stanislava Vilčeková
CAST: Barbora Andrešičová, Eva Pavlíková, Branislav Matuščin, Roman Poláčik, Martin Nahálka, Peter Oszlík, Anna Rakovská, Martin Šalacha, Lenka Barilíková, Andrea Sabová

Premiere January 19th, 2018

// AUTHORS //

MARIÁN AMSLER (1979) He graduated in theatre dramaturgy from the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava where he also completed his doctoral study in drama direction. His stagings of Chekhov’s plays Platonov and Ivanov produced at the university were awarded at international theatre festivals in Warsaw, Prague and Brno. For both productions, Amsler won the Dosky Award in the Discovery of the Season category. After the completion of his studies, he worked as a director in collaboration with numerous Slovak and Czech theatres (Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre, Andrej Bagar Theatre in Nitra, Slovak Chamber Theatre in Martin, Aréna Theatre in Bratislava, Dejvice Theatre in Prague, Petr Bezruč Theatre in Ostrava, Drama Studio in Ústí nad Labem). In 2005, he co-founded the independent Letí Theatre in Prague which has maintained an exclusive focus on contemporary dramatic texts. From 2008 he worked as in-house director for the HaTheatre in Brno and between 2010 and 2014 was its artistic director. At present, Amsler works as the director and artistic director of the ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre, and as assistant professor at the Department of Direction and Dramaturgy of the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. In contemporary texts directed by Amsler there is usually a latently present effort to do less traditional forms of theatre and formal experiment. The artistic testimony of Amsler’s work is proportional to the reality in which he creates it – he presents clearly formulated ideas using a broad scope of expression instruments that are compacted into a distinctive, striking whole.

Marián Amsler´s recent awards include:

2015 / Award of the Divadelní Noviny journal in 2014/2015 in the drama theatre category for Best Direction of the Season for the production The Explusion of Gerta Schnirch 2016 / Dosky Award for Best production of the Season for Fanny and Alexander produced at the Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre.

ANDREJ BAGAR THEATRE The first theatre in Nitra was built in 1883 with a capacity of 360 places. The stage, nine metres wide, was lit by petroleum lamps. The building stood on the site of the current-day theatre and served until it was destroyed by a bomb dropped by a plane during the Second World War. The Nitra Regional Theatre was renewed in 1949/1950. For theatre purposes, its headquarters was a specially-altered space in the building of the Town Hall, for a full 43 years. Since 1979 it has borne the name of the distinguished Slovak actor, director, teacher and organiser of theatrical life, Andrej Bagar. In 1992 the Andrej Bagar Theatre moved into one of the largest and most modern theatre buildings in Slovakia, with two stages. A large auditorium with a capacity of 577 and a studio with a capacity of 120 to 150, with variable arrangement, allows the theatre to function uninterruptedly in a poly-functional way, and creates ideal conditions for the birth, presentation and perception of modern stage work. The theatre’s dramaturgy serves both domestic and foreign audiences, and takes into account their variety. The repertoire includes the basic pillars of classic world theatre and modern drama of the 20th century. Recently the theatre’s large-scale musical projects have enjoyed great popularity. After the famous eras of in-house directors (Pavol Haspra, Karol Spišák and Jozef Bednárik) the theatre is trying to find a new and distinctive artistic expression. From 1973 to the beginning of the 1990s the Slovak professional theatre festival Májová divadelní Nitra took place in the last week of May every year. Since 1992 the theatre has hosted the Theatrical Nitra international festival annually in the last week of September.

// PRESS //

At the forefront of the production is the resounding problem of dependency on drugs, alcohol and other opiates. Next to it we see the theme of multiple breakdown of personality under the pressure of today’s chaotic era, above all through the main character of the actress Emma, in a remarkable, multilayered performance by Barbora Andrešičová. The process of curing dependency becomes, at the same time, a process of self-discovery. Director Marián Amsler does not show off excessively in the production, instead emphasising what the text has to offer, and at the same time allowing the harmony of the Nitra company’s acting performances to sound. He is helped in this by the universal but atmospheric set design by Juraj Kuchárek as a space representing two different worlds – the reality of the rehab centre and the hallucinations in the head of the main heroine.

– Katarína Cvečková

Macmillan gradually uncovers the process of the main heroine’s personal transformation (…) until her return to normal life… (…) The set is monumental, allowing us to perceive the main action in another dimension… It is a space of catharsis in which the multiplied personalities of Emma appear. She dances, falls, gets up… It is her inner world, in which she abstains, gets better – the harsh space of her loneliness and pain. Director Marián Amsler, who devotes himself systematically to the production of contemporary plays on Slovak and Czech stages, manages to bring actual themes and translate them into a language that can be understood, giving them a hidden essence with which he interprets the play.

– Marek Godovič

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