VÁCLAV HAVEL ♡ 90 Performance by the Vršovice Theatre MANA Words without meaning, power without restraint. Havel's comedy about a bureaucracy that talks to say nothing. The cast: Vilém Udatný, Radek Valenta, Jakub Kropáček, Bořivoj Čermák, Dana Černá, Tereza Vítů, Tomáš Vlček The play comes from a happy period in the author's life. He was already an established collaborator of the Na Zábradlí Theatre when in 1965 he came up with the absurd play Vyrozumenie (Understanding), the theme of which is corporate communication. Careers are built or destroyed through the artificial bureaucratic language of ptydepe, and the artificial language of misinformation is not only a source of misunderstanding but also a means of oppression and coercion. Havel depicts the games of officials for positions and privileges with bravura exaggeration and engaging humour. It is remarkable that his play, like all good plays, is still very relevant. Trying to manipulate one's fellow men and throwing away moral values and even all inhibitions for career advancement was not the prerogative of the 1960s generation alone. Even today, there are bureaucrats who blackmail their superiors with their weaknesses, obfuscate communication, flood the space with misinformation and swing their elbows when a promotion is within reach. Even today, there are bosses who abuse their position, blackmail their subordinates, make servants of them and deny them credit. Even today, gossip, denunciations and all sorts of intrigues run through companies. We may have freedom, but at the same time we have a talent for making ourselves unfree by our ambition or greed. And to make fun of these mischiefs, to laugh heartily at what is in fact more or less monstrous, can be very liberating.
Annotation:
EXPLORATION - Václav Havel
