“Do you know what love is? Love!”

Petr would like to finish law school and get a job. Tatiana would like Nil to listen to her and love her. Nil wishes for the arrival of a new and fairer world. Polja wants to go to theatre.

This is an iconic text of a realistic Russian drama. A cosy room around the turn of the 20th century serves as a symbol of the golden age of the family, with decent people and tea service. A life with clear boundaries between what is inside and what is on the outside. The task is to protect these boundaries. Costumes and conversations and a dull room. What time is it?

The father of the family, Vasil Vasilijevič Bezsemenov, rents out apartments to young people. He doesn’t like debtors, adventurers or Jews. His house is his castle and he makes the rules. Heat radiates from the family fire, but what if this fireplace marks the beginning of a fire – the fire of a generational conflict?

The hell of the home. How to avoid the farce of never-ending conflicts that have lost all their meaning? Isn’t our society the victim of one such conflict? Can we define ourselves only by our enemy? Who is to judge? How can we avoid becoming a fortress and be able to accept others? After all, in the end, isn’t everything foreign – even ourselves? Shouldn’t we struggle against ourselves, look for what is foreign in ourselves? In praise of darkness.

Ivan Buraj received the 2019 Divadelní noviny Award in the category of theatre drama for his direction of the production.

Season 44: Work