The Church
length: 70 minutes
The only play by Louis-Ferdinand Céline that explores all the topics that he later covered in his highly acclaimed works of prose. In The Church, a bitter Céline castigates the inter-war society. Regarding the themes, the piece can be divided into four parts: colonialism, capitalism, anti-Semitism and socialism. To Céline, the world is a doomed freak show. The protagonist is a symbolic character of a doctor rambling around a world he cannot heal.
The production has two layers of meaning: The first presents Céline as an author consumed by his own malice and style; the second introduces him as a character in his not very successful play that has become a prototype of Céline’s most famous novel Journey to the End of the Night and started his brilliant literary career and the path to self-destruction.
Czech premiere: 7.10.2012
Duration: 70 minutes
The Church was funded with a grant from the festival …příští vlna/next wave…
Karel Dobrý was nominated as the best actor for the Alfréd Radok Awards 2012 for his part of Bardamu / Céline.
