HORROR VACUI

ABOUT THE PLAY

Initiation puppet féerie based on the life and work of Josef Váchal.

This production for youth and adult audiences is loosely inspired by motifs from Josef Váchal's life in his voluntary exile in Studeňany in the Jičín region, from his letter-novels addressed by him to Josef Hodek, Jakub Deml and others. And also, Váchal's book "The Devil's Garden or the Natural History of Ghosts".

This imaginative production aims to give high school students and adult viewers an insight into the life and work of one of our greatest artistic personalities of the 20th century - the graphic artist, painter, carver, writer and philosopher Josef Váchal (1884-1969). Among the most famous works of this man, who was completely unappreciated during his lifetime, are the parody of junk fiction The Bloody Novel or the illustrations for Jakub Demel's The Castle of Death.
The production was prepared by musician and director Filip Homola, also signed under the award-winning project There are Places Favoured by Darkness where never and nothing on remote islands is hidden.... Robert Smolík, a regular collaborator of the Naive Theatre, took care of the essential visual art component (About the Lamb that Fell from the Sky, Choo. Choo. Whistle. Woof! And many more).

Czech with English subtitles.

Filip Homola – Robert Smolík

• Length:45 min.
• Age category:13+
• Directed by:Filip Homola
• Dramaturgie:Vít Peřina
• Music by:Filip Homola
• Designed by:Robert Smolík
• Premiere:14. 10. 2023
• Starring:Markéta Sýkorová, Petr Jelínek, Jakub Müller, Marek Sýkora, Petr Štěpánek

About the theatre:

The Naive Theatre Liberec was established in 1949, as one of the first Czech professional puppet theatres. Between 2009 and 2019, its productions received the prestigious Erik Puppetry Award, awarded for the best Czech puppet performance of the past season, five times. Every two years, the Naive Theatre organizes the international Mateřinka Festival, which focuses on puppet theatre for preschool children. Audiences have been able to see productions of the Naive Theatre at international festivals all over the world.