Black Light Theatre Srnec - Antologia

Antologia
Black Light Theatre Srnec

„The experience with the international audience has shown that each thing the human has invented and made may contain humour that may be understood by anybody. The convincingness of the objects coming to life is given by the manipulator’s acting mastery. The critics from all the continents appreciated the invisible actors who made the audience laugh or think by means of the objects. The silent movie era, Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin – these masters are still being admired. Laughter, or smile at least, is needed more now – in the over-engineered period of too many words and few good deeds – than before. “

Antología is the most successful performance of the last years that has been appreciated on all the continents.

Its success can be shown on the following: sold-out square for 15,000 spectators in Campobasso, Italy; the presidents‘ visit on the tour in Nicaragua and El Salvador; or a performance in the NATO Summit in Prague, 2002 – four scenes had been chosen to represent the Czech culture to the presidents and prime ministers of the member states.

The audience is guided through the 53-year history of Srnec Theatre. You may see, for instance, the oldest black light theatre scene „Launderette“ that had been created two years prior to the official foundation of the Srnec Theatre. The scene „ Magician“ allows the invisible performers to show their mastery. The objects appear, change, and vanish again. The audience gets surprised and fascinated. The nearly human behaviour of the four-legged friend of a Western bartender in the scene „Horse“ makes the audience laugh heartily.

More scenes in Antología, such as „Photographer“, „Luggage“, „Prisoner“, „Lamps“ and „Fish“ will entertain and touch the whole family.

Place

Since its foundation, Srnec Theatre - the 1st Black Light Theatre in the world – has belonged among the best known representatives of the Czech dramatic art in the world. The ensemble was established in 1961 in the middle of the avant-garde era. From the very beginning it made its mark as an ensemble of unique artistic qualities, which goes beyond the standard of most of its peers. The principle of the black light theatre, invented by the founder and artistic director Jiří Srnec, is based on a new creative exploitation of a simple trick, the so-called „black cabinet“, in which the actors dressed in black using props cannot be seen against the black background from the spectators‘ perspective. The props and all the other objects become able to move and they seem to live unique lives of their own. For Jiří Srnec and his performers, the effect of the trick is, of course, not the goal, but the means to achieve the artistic metaphor, implemented through the musically organized movement of plastic art objects and actors. The very first performance of the ensemble, which had already brought international attention, took place in 1959 in Vienna. The real debut for the ensemble, however, was its participation in the Theatre Festival in Edinburgh in 1962. The performance, held in a sold-out festival arena was awarded by tumultuous ovation, which opened the way for Jiří Srnec Black Light Theatre to the world stages. Many more performances in Europe, America, Australia, Africa, and Asia followed. By now, the theatre organized about 300 international tours and participated in 77 theatre festivals. Under the artistic leadership of Jiří Srnec, the ensemble was applauded both by the audience and the critics, e.g. Premio Teatral „Juana Sujo“, Caracas, MAMBO pub Barcelona, Premio del Teatro El Espectador y la Critica Madrid, Premio – mejor cojunto Extranjero Vina del Mar, Premium World-Fest Certificate Missouri. The ensemble was chosen a s a representative of the Czech culture during the NATO Summit in Prague, 2002.

More than 5 million spectators in 68 countries around the world have seen the performance of the Black Light Theatre by now. For example in Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Canary Islands, Costa Rica, Columbia, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador , Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Chile, China, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Madeira, Morocco, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tasmania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uruguay, USA, Venezuela, Yugoslavia. Today the ensemble of the Black Light Theatre consists of young dynamic artists - dancers, actors and mimes. The heart of the theatre is the touring ensemble. Thanks to its exceptional mobility, the ensemble is able to perform abroad almost constantly, and while globetrotting, it has achieved a special position within European as well as within world culture. In 1993, the Prague ensemble that supplements the globetrotting one was established. In its repeated performances it trains young talented artists, who will be able to follow the tradition of the black light theatre in the future. Since 1999, the Black Light Theatre has performed 200 times a year, on average. The ensemble has introduced 20 original performances for black light theatre. Flying Bicycle, the last of them, has already been performed in Mexico, Greece, Germany, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Brazil, and Italy. In 2011, the team of Srnec Theatre in co-production with Laterna Magica has created the newest production of The National Theatre called “The Legends of Magic Prague”.