2015/16
Season 41:
Individualistic society – To be (with) someone?

The topic unifying the forty-first season of HaDivadlo is individualism. We live in a time when, as Zygmunt Bauman writes, “identity ceases to be a given, but becomes a task.” The challenge to be original, special, to take care of the uniqueness of one’s SELF, becomes the universal premise of our lives. The originality of a personality, that is what an individual must not lack, otherwise he or she has lost in their existence. In addition, individuality can be easily bought and is not even expensive. However, the personality and uniqueness of the modern SELF are largely formed by the media and marketing. The obsession with individuality in recent years has only been intensified by social networks, supported by the rapidly growing technological quality of mobile phones, which are largely built on the narcissism of their users. Social networks become an initiator, which inspires in its users a constant desire to create a unique image of their individuality against a multitude of cyber friends. At the same time, the cynical environment of free competition of late capitalism and neoliberalism proclaiming an apparent equality of conditions contributes to this search for uniqueness, so that one does not “get socially lost”. We are constantly being instilled with a responsibility for ourselves and for what our lives look like or will look like. Everything is limited to how right our personal decisions are and if we can prove our abilities. The self becomes a product that must stand out from the competition. But are we really so independent of the world around us, of the society in which we move? In today’s ideologically fragmented, hyper-informed, but also hyper-confused age, where – as Slavoj Žižek wrote “reality is diminishing” – is it really possible to rationally and freely manage the project of one’s life? Is the desire for uniqueness really something natural or is it just very clever marketing that is supposed to give rise to new and new desires in us that cannot be satisfied? And what about people who have not become individuals? Do they have the right to participate in the creation of this individualistic society? Is there a place for solidarity in the age of individualism? Can there be a state and democracy at all? Can we form a community? Is it possible to differentiate between good and evil in today’s illegible times? What are the principles for defining them? Is it possible to be together? Is cyberspace an extension of public space or just a water surface of postmodern Narcissus? Based on these questions, we decided to dedicate the whole new season to the topic of individualism and society. The basic communication code of this season reflecting this theme is portrait. Each of the four upcoming productions on the main stage of the HaDivadlo will be a de facto portrait of the central character and “his or her” society.The topic unifying the forty-first season of HaDivadlo is individualism. We live in a time when, as Zygmunt Bauman writes, “identity ceases to be a given, but becomes a task.” The challenge to be original, special, to take care of the uniqueness of one’s SELF, becomes the universal premise of our lives. The originality of a personality, that is what an individual must not lack, otherwise he or she has lost in their existence. In addition, individuality can be easily bought and is not even expensive. However, the personality and uniqueness of the modern SELF are largely formed by the media and marketing. The obsession with individuality in recent years has only been intensified by social networks, supported by the rapidly growing technological quality of mobile phones, which are largely built on the narcissism of their users. Social networks become an initiator, which inspires in its users a constant desire to create a unique image of their individuality against a multitude of cyber friends. At the same time, the cynical environment of free competition of late capitalism and neoliberalism proclaiming an apparent equality of conditions contributes to this search for uniqueness, so that one does not “get socially lost”. We are constantly being instilled with a responsibility for ourselves and for what our lives look like or will look like. Everything is limited to how right our personal decisions are and if we can prove our abilities. The self becomes a product that must stand out from the competition. But are we really so independent of the world around us, of the society in which we move? In today’s ideologically fragmented, hyper-informed, but also hyper-confused age, where – as Slavoj Žižek wrote “reality is diminishing” – is it really possible to rationally and freely manage the project of one’s life? Is the desire for uniqueness really something natural or is it just very clever marketing that is supposed to give rise to new and new desires in us that cannot be satisfied? And what about people who have not become individuals? Do they have the right to participate in the creation of this individualistic society? Is there a place for solidarity in the age of individualism? Can there be a state and democracy at all? Can we form a community? Is it possible to differentiate between good and evil in today’s illegible times? What are the principles for defining them? Is it possible to be together? Is cyberspace an extension of public space or just a water surface of postmodern Narcissus? Based on these questions, we decided to dedicate the whole new season to the topic of individualism and society. The basic communication code of this season reflecting this theme is portrait. Each of the four upcoming productions on the main stage of the HaDivadlo will be a de facto portrait of the central character and “his or her” society.The topic unifying the forty-first season of HaDivadlo is individualism. We live in a time when, as Zygmunt Bauman writes, “identity ceases to be a given, but becomes a task.” The challenge to be original, special, to take care of the uniqueness of one’s SELF, becomes the universal premise of our lives. The originality of a personality, that is what an individual must not lack, otherwise he or she has lost in their existence. In addition, individuality can be easily bought and is not even expensive. However, the personality and uniqueness of the modern SELF are largely formed by the media and marketing. The obsession with individuality in recent years has only been intensified by social networks, supported by the rapidly growing technological quality of mobile phones, which are largely built on the narcissism of their users. Social networks become an initiator, which inspires in its users a constant desire to create a unique image of their individuality against a multitude of cyber friends. At the same time, the cynical environment of free competition of late capitalism and neoliberalism proclaiming an apparent equality of conditions contributes to this search for uniqueness, so that one does not “get socially lost”. We are constantly being instilled with a responsibility for ourselves and for what our lives look like or will look like. Everything is limited to how right our personal decisions are and if we can prove our abilities. The self becomes a product that must stand out from the competition. But are we really so independent of the world around us, of the society in which we move? In today’s ideologically fragmented, hyper-informed, but also hyper-confused age, where – as Slavoj Žižek wrote “reality is diminishing” – is it really possible to rationally and freely manage the project of one’s life? Is the desire for uniqueness really something natural or is it just very clever marketing that is supposed to give rise to new and new desires in us that cannot be satisfied? And what about people who have not become individuals? Do they have the right to participate in the creation of this individualistic society? Is there a place for solidarity in the age of individualism? Can there be a state and democracy at all? Can we form a community? Is it possible to differentiate between good and evil in today’s illegible times? What are the principles for defining them? Is it possible to be together? Is cyberspace an extension of public space or just a water surface of postmodern Narcissus? Based on these questions, we decided to dedicate the whole new season to the topic of individualism and society. The basic communication code of this season reflecting this theme is portrait. Each of the four upcoming productions on the main stage of the HaDivadlo will be a de facto portrait of the central character and “his or her” society.The topic unifying the forty-first season of HaDivadlo is individualism. We live in a time when, as Zygmunt Bauman writes, “identity ceases to be a given, but becomes a task.” The challenge to be original, special, to take care of the uniqueness of one’s SELF, becomes the universal premise of our lives. The originality of a personality, that is what an individual must not lack, otherwise he or she has lost in their existence. In addition, individuality can be easily bought and is not even expensive. However, the personality and uniqueness of the modern SELF are largely formed by the media and marketing. The obsession with individuality in recent years has only been intensified by social networks, supported by the rapidly growing technological quality of mobile phones, which are largely built on the narcissism of their users. Social networks become an initiator, which inspires in its users a constant desire to create a unique image of their individuality against a multitude of cyber friends. At the same time, the cynical environment of free competition of late capitalism and neoliberalism proclaiming an apparent equality of conditions contributes to this search for uniqueness, so that one does not “get socially lost”. We are constantly being instilled with a responsibility for ourselves and for what our lives look like or will look like. Everything is limited to how right our personal decisions are and if we can prove our abilities. The self becomes a product that must stand out from the competition. But are we really so independent of the world around us, of the society in which we move? In today’s ideologically fragmented, hyper-informed, but also hyper-confused age, where – as Slavoj Žižek wrote “reality is diminishing” – is it really possible to rationally and freely manage the project of one’s life? Is the desire for uniqueness really something natural or is it just very clever marketing that is supposed to give rise to new and new desires in us that cannot be satisfied? And what about people who have not become individuals? Do they have the right to participate in the creation of this individualistic society? Is there a place for solidarity in the age of individualism? Can there be a state and democracy at all? Can we form a community? Is it possible to differentiate between good and evil in today’s illegible times? What are the principles for defining them? Is it possible to be together? Is cyberspace an extension of public space or just a water surface of postmodern Narcissus? Based on these questions, we decided to dedicate the whole new season to the topic of individualism and society. The basic communication code of this season reflecting this theme is portrait. Each of the four upcoming productions on the main stage of the HaDivadlo will be a de facto portrait of the central character and “his or her” society.

Madame Bovary Laserová romance Big Sur Ice Pøz Uncle Vanya Dokonalost ON