Divadlo MeetFactory

MeetFactory / Czech (subtit. ENG) / 65 min

“He could not live with himself. It was just a phrase, but an exact one. Under the pressure of Power, the self cracks and splits. The public coward lives with the private hero. Or vice versa. But that was too simple: the idea of a man split into two by a dividing axe.”

A literary adaptation of a fictitious biography of Dmitri Shostakovich who spent almost all his life in Soviet Russia. He was persecuted during Stalin’s regime because his formalist music did not meet the state propaganda requirements. After exposure to Stalin’s cult of personality, he was pushed to cooperate with the state power.

What are the options of a person fundamentally believing in their talent but facing inhuman and morally corrupted conditions of their time if they want to survive, create, and also save their face, at least before themselves? What is the meaning of creating art in a society where the truth cannot be said out loud? How much do they struggle against their own conscience, and could this struggle be ever won?

These are the questions that cross our minds not only when we study the life and work of the world-famous composer, but also in relation to ourselves.

Translation: Petr Fantys
Screenplay: Viktorie Vášová a kol.
Direction: Viktorie Vášová
Dramaturgy: Matěj Samec
Scenography: Anna Gumboldt
Music: Jakub Rataj
Light design: Jiří Zewll
Production: Magda Juránková
Inspection: Jana Hrušková
Lights: Jiří Zewll
Sound design: Jakub Rataj
Performers: Tomáš Janypka, Anna Datiashvili, Matěj Šumbera/Michal Sikora
Violoncello: Štěpán Drtina

More info HERE

Photo by: Andrea Černá

Tickets HERE

Supported by: Capital City of Prague, Ministry of Culture Czech Republic, Budweiser Budvar, State Fund of Culture Czech Republic, Prague 5, dial telecom, Radio 1, ČRo Vltava, Czech News Agency, artmap, artalk
MeetFactory is supported in 2024 by a grant from the City of Prague amounting to 12.000.000 CZK.