German premier

Perfect mastery of the body distinguishes this, from the Hungarian/Yugoslavian producer Josef Nadj directed, renown theatre group. The overripe, scenic fantasy of the artists is molded in stark, strikingly contrasting movements. The well calculated rhythm of the overlapping episodes creates visibility in a surrealistic world. Strange, scenic inventions make language unnecessary.

Action never stops on the stage. Walls are disappearing and creating space for new rooms. Trap doors and hatches are opening by themselves. Women in either worn, discarded skirts or in beautifully decorated, rich clothing are glued to the walls like nocturnal butterflies. Men in stark and contrasting black-and-white are balancing on neck-breaking chair pyramids or are see-sawing merrily on beams high up in wall gaps. A dwarf is eagerly building a bridge out of flotsam; it is the only way to his equally small and beloved sweetheart. The well-executed dexterity amuses and serves its artistic purpose.

Surprising and dreamlike change the experience levels. The poetry of poverty and of ostracism ridicules our wealthy and regulated security blanket. The play tunnels into the deep layers of our existence and entangles the audience with the secrets of the human mind. The dust of an ancient Balkan culture blends with the requirements of modern life.

The basis of the production lies in the literary creation of the Hungarian author Géza Csath (1888-1919). Csath died young and during his creative years experimented with opium. »For me existed the requirement to complete a project for which Csath gave his life«, such were Josef Nadj’s comments on his production.

Josef Nadj studied art history in Budapest and since 1980 he lives in Paris. During those years he worked with different dance groups. In 1986 he started his own troupe which dances in Paris and Orléans and which plays in Europe, in the USA, in lsrael and in Australia.