The production Perpetuum Havel is based on a previously almost unknown text that Václav Havel wrote in the spring of 1989 while in a cell at Pankrác Prison. The libretto for nonverbal theater, titled Perpetuum mobile, depicts seven days in the life of a political prisoner. Ladislava Petišková, a theorist of nonverbal art, discovered the text in 2014 and subsequently recommended it for graduation exams at the Department of Nonverbal Theater at HAMU. There, under the direction and pedagogical guidance of Radim Vizváry, Vojtěch Svoboda staged the production.
On the ninetieth anniversary of Havel’s birth, Radim Vizváry returned to the text. “From Havel’s director’s note, ‘There are no limits to the imagination!’, it is clear that he encouraged producers to seek a modern stage interpretation,” explains the artistic director of Laterna magika. Petr Boháč took on the direction, placing this return to Havel’s work within the context of current social and political events:
“Lately, the specter of fascist tendencies, crude political tyranny, and calls to suppress the freedom of individuals and segments of society has been haunting Europe—and not only Europe. In this atmosphere, this year—ninety years after Václav Havel’s birth—we return to his legacy and his work. Every look back at Václav Havel’s work is a promise to preserve what society needs most and must fight for—the preservation of freedom.”
In creating the performance, the director drew inspiration not only from Havel’s text but also from the testimonies of contemporary political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, such as Palina Šarenda-Panasjuk from Belarus. The creators also drew on art installations and the narratives of Chinese dissident and artist Ai Weiwei, as well as on the words spoken by Russian political prisoners in courtrooms. The result is a production that places Havel’s text within a contemporary context—which is one reason it bears the adapted title Perpetuum Havel.
Petr Boháč has long-standing experience in exploring themes of totalitarianism in his theatrical work, thanks in part to the production The Last of the Soviets, presented last year in the Off program of the Avignon Festival, where it received positive reviews from international critics. The performances by Roman and Inga Zotov-Mikshin were highly praised in the local press. The daily newspaper La Provence described the production as “a vivid and chilling tribute to those whose voices have been silenced,” while La Scène noted that Roman Zotov-Mikshin’s performance “reveals the cry of the soul.” Roman Zotov-Mikshin is the sole performer in Laterna magika’s production.
The Avignon Festival is one of Europe’s most important festivals of contemporary theater. Its Off program serves as an open platform for hundreds of independent theater companies from around the world. Alongside them, however, are select theaters with their own artistic profiles, including La Manufacture, where the production Perpetuum Havel will be presented on select days from July 4 to 20. Participation in the festival also opens up opportunities for the production to tour internationally.
Jan Burian, General Director of the National Theater, comments: “The performance in Avignon is part of a series of performances and events we are organizing with international partners in honor of Václav Havel—an outstanding theater artist and a pivotal figure in promoting social change in the 1990s. We return to his legacy with a sense of urgency, especially in today’s world, which seems to be forgetting the fundamental values on which there was once a broad social consensus.”
Source: Laterna magika
