Gallows humor and serious social themes are combined in the provocative play Noční krajina, whose Czech premiere was presented by the National Theater in Brno last week. It was written by the fifty-one-year-old German playwright Marius von Mayenburg, and was performed for the first time at the end of last year in Berlin.
The bitter comedy about the difficult legacy of the German past plays with the motif of a randomly found painting, the author of which could be the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. The game will again be on the program of the Brno Reduta on October 28 and November 17.
Playwright Vít Kořínek in Noční krajina appreciates both the uncompromisingness with which he looks at contemporary society and the refreshing and purifying humor. The heroes of the story are siblings Nikola and Filip played by Petra Lorenc and Tomáš David. They meet at their deceased father’s house. There is no indication that there is anything of value among the junk.
But then the protagonists discover a realistic painting of a small church in the attic against the background of the summer sky. The signature leads to the assumption of the authorship of Hitler, who in his youth aspired to a career as a painter.
Some survivors are trying to discredit the dead family members by allegedly working with Nazi leaders to prove that the painting was indeed painted by Hitler. Then they would sell the work profitably. Filip’s wife Judita is against it, and she doesn’t want to allow the family to get rich just because of Hitler. “I think that Judith’s argument is absolutely factual and accurate, even if sometimes said in a slightly more hysterical form. But the whole situation is so absurd that she basically has no choice,” says Judith’s representative, guest Anna Glässnerová.
Directed by Aminata Keita. According to her, the author “mainly tries to warn against the threat of growing xenophobia and racism, which lies dormant in each of us and under certain circumstances will begin to surface and influence our daily decisions”.
In recent years, drama premieres of the National Theater in Brno sometimes “meet” thematically with current events in the Czech Republic and in the world. During the rehearsal of Mother by Karel Čapek, fights began in Ukraine, during Feminist by Marek Šindelka, an affair of abuse of power by university teachers came to light, during the current rehearsals of Night Landscape, a conflict flared up in the Middle East.
“This is exactly what theater should be able to do: to say the unspeakable at the right time, to name a burning problem or to express compassion. What is happening in Israel and Palestine is alarming, just like in Ukraine, Russia or Belarus, and the list could go on, ” says the director. “The opportunity to speak directly about the current situation is fulfilling, because a real dialogue is created with the audience about things that are important and absolutely crucial for a healthy society,” adds Aminata Keita.
