Mr. Theodor Mundstock
length: 90 minutes
reviews:
A speculative take on Ladislav Fuks´s famous novel conceived and directed by Miloš Horanský, who describes his production as “a play about conversations and battles with God and love. Also about ‘practicing’ to speak with death and changing one´s own identity.” His Theo Mundstock, interpreted by Vojtěch Dyk, isn´t a broken man but friendly, steadfast, and sensitive – all this, however, in the context of the Holocaust. Gabriela Míčová and Dana Poláková each interpret several characters of Fuks´s novel. Among Gabriela Míčová´s roles are Theo´s mythical, provocative, and wise love, Žesli, originally a chicken and later reincarnated into a cruel prison camp matron. Dana Poláková appears as the Stern family and also the wise and kind rabbi. Horanský´s variation on Mundstock is a form of staged poetry.
Mr. Theodor Mundstock fits perfectly into Studio Hrdinů´s profile and is a production which is, finally, disturbing in the best sense of the word and, thanks to a few very strong moments, worth seeing.
Marie Reslová, Hospodářské noviny, 30/5/2016
Set-designer Michal Pěchouček works with the set he designed for Studio Hrdinů in a minimalist yet breathtaking and exact fashion… The visual aspect of the play (along with the music) plays an uncommonly important role in this production. Miloš Horanský´s Theodor Mudstock shares with its audience an unbearably strong dose of pain, meticulously balanced with those rare moments in which an open audience member may share with the actors a belief in God as something which utterly overreaches us.
Kateřina Nechvílová, www.literárky.cz, 30/5/2016
Despite the difficult theme – that is, the philosophical debate with and about God – and the Fuksian darkness which the play retains, the theatrical version of Mr Theodor Mundstock is very comprehensible. The creators were able to achieve that delicate balance between theater, contemplation, and an attractive, accessible spectacle.
Tomáš Šťástka, MF Dnes, 30/5/2016
Miloš Horanský, at once author and director of the adaptation, has created his own vision for Studio Hrdinů, a stage poem which follows the original novel only in details but, with the exception of the central theme of the Holocaust, poses its own set of questions. It therefore doesn´t use Fuks´s method of blurry transitions from reality to imagination in the mind of the half- schizophrenic Mundstock but, rather, like poetry, sets various images side by side, creating a string of free associations and symbols. (…) Dyk proves himself a malleable actor with excellent verbal expression, becoming one with the character of a hunted man and infusing him with inner strength and sensitivity. Most impressive of all is his rendering of Jewish songs. Gabriela Míčová is able to use in Mundstock what she was able to practice many times as a star at Divadlo Komedie. Without preparation or warning, she´s able to conjure the appropriate atmosphere, creating sharp cuts between the kindness and tenderness of Sli to the cruelty of the prison camp matron. Next to the aforementioned five-character part of the Stern family, Dana Poláková surprises with her accurate and spirited mini-etude of the wise rabbi.
Saša Hrbotický, www.aktualne.cz, 31/5/2016
