About this event
VÁCLAV HAVEL ♡ 90 A performance by Vršovické divadlo MANA Words without meaning, power without barriers. Havel's comedy about bureaucracy that talks just to say nothing. 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 Divadlo Na Zábradlí when, in 1965, he came out with the absurdist play The Memorandum, which focuses on corporate communication. Careers are built or destroyed through the artificial bureaucratic language 'ptydepe'; this artificial disinformation language is not only a source of misunderstanding, but eventually a means of oppression and coercion. Havel depicts the office workers' games for posts and privileges with brilliant exaggeration and gripping humor. It is remarkable that his play, like all good plays, remains very relevant. The effort to manipulate one's fellow humans and cast aside moral values—and even all inhibitions—for the sake of career advancement was not a privilege only of the 60s generation. Even today, there are bureaucrats who blackmail their superiors with their weaknesses, obscure communication, flood the space with disinformation, and elbow their way through when a promotion is within reach. Even today, there are bosses who abuse their position, blackmail their subordinates, turn them into servants, and deny them credit for their work. Even in today's companies, gossip, denunciations, and all sorts of intrigues spread. We may have freedom, but at the same time, we demonstrate a talent for making ourselves unfree through our ambitions or greed. And making fun of these vices, laughing heartily at what is actually more or less monstrous, can be very liberating.
VÁCLAV HAVEL ♡ 90 A performance by Vršovické divadlo MANA Words without meaning, power without barriers. Havel's comedy about bureaucracy that talks just to say nothing. 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 Divadlo Na Zábradlí when, in 1965, he came out with the absurdist play The Memorandum, which focuses on corporate communication. Careers are built or destroyed through the artificial bureaucratic language 'ptydepe'; this artificial disinformation language is not only a source of misunderstanding, but eventually a means of oppression and coercion. Havel depicts the office workers' games for posts and privileges with brilliant exaggeration and gripping humor. It is remarkable that his play, like all good plays, remains very relevant. The effort to manipulate one's fellow humans and cast aside moral values—and even all inhibitions—for the sake of career advancement was not a privilege only of the 60s generation. Even today, there are bureaucrats who blackmail their superiors with their weaknesses, obscure communication, flood the space with disinformation, and elbow their way through when a promotion is within reach. Even today, there are bosses who abuse their position, blackmail their subordinates, turn them into servants, and deny them credit for their work. Even in today's companies, gossip, denunciations, and all sorts of intrigues spread. We may have freedom, but at the same time, we demonstrate a talent for making ourselves unfree through our ambitions or greed. And making fun of these vices, laughing heartily at what is actually more or less monstrous, can be very liberating.
