Elfriede Jelinek: Ashes

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Even that air would have been more durable if made of plastic, had we not grown accustomed to our stupid breathing.

A severed bond, a change of state, a loud silence. Orientation in a space that has transformed but we cannot yet see it. Someone has gone away forever, but the world and my body persist — precariously and increasingly worse. How much longer? And God - is He laughing at it?

Elfriede Jelinek, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, responds in the text Ash from 2024 (described as part of the trilogy Sun/Air/Ash) to the death of her life partner, the composer and computer scientist Gottfried Hüngsberg, in September 2022. She responds to it with an elegiac text whose language and focus defy the usual sharpness with which she has described this declining world for decades. She responds to it with a painful smile in which longing still resonates - to recite once more, so close to the horizon of life, the origin of the world (as the ancient Greek poets and philosophers captured it), and to add her own commentary from the "plastic age," when we are likely to be outlived by our own garbage.

The memory of the bodily grace of people, of the physical beauty of the Earth, mingles in this bitterly tender confession with awkwardness over operating machines, with sorrow for the vanished language of two kindred souls, but also with the assurance that certain trajectories, certain ways of wandering, still endure even on an overheated planet.

"When I have my sad day, I go into my little chamber, open the door and fall into nothingness, because death is not something you can adjust. And neither is life."

The German director Katharina Schmitt has taken on the first Czech production, in Jitka Jílková's translation, at MeetFactory. She offers a theatrical sequence as a mourning journey not only through the images of Ash, but also through the corners of the Smíchov factory. Together with composer Christoph Wirth, set designer Pavel Svoboda and costume designer Tereza Kopecká, she leads the audience into the underworld of a music club, into the corridor of fled beings, or outside MeetFactory to the places where a catastrophe occurred. The production features actors Ivana Uhlířová, Pasi Mäkelä, Kateřina Měchurová and Jáchym Sůra.

Practical information:
The production takes place in various parts of MeetFactory, including outdoor areas (we recommend warmer clothing, possibly an umbrella) and the first floor, which is not wheelchair accessible.
The mourning procession lasts approximately 90 minutes and is divided into several parts; for most of the time, the audience stands.
If you need advice or have any questions about this, please do not hesitate to contact us at pr@meetfactory.cz.
The show is in Czech only. 

Before visiting MeetFactory, we recommend checking the Information page.

Elfriede Jelinek: Ashes
Translation: Jitka Jílková 

Director: Katharina Schmitt
Dramaturgy: Tomáš Soldán
Music: Christoph Wirth
Set Designer: Pavel Svoboda
Costumes: Tereza Kopecká
Light Designer: Václav Hruška
Graphic Designers: Julie Hrnčířová (fotografie), Jakub Kučera (grafika)
Recording Production: Adam Koller 
Production: Magda Juránková 
Production Assistant: Ana Doljanin 

Cast: Ivana Uhlířová, Pasi Mäkelä, Kateřina Měchurová, Jáchym Sůra

Photos by Karolína Malá 

Press Kit 

Copyrights to the dramatic text and the translation in the Czech Republic are represented by Aura - Ponts s.r.o., Veslařský ostrov 62, 147 00 Prague 4. The production was supported by the Czech-German Fund for the Future, the State Fund for Culture of the Czech Republic, and Culture Moves Europe.

Admission:
350 CZK
250 CZK for students and permanent residents of Prague 5

Tickets can be booked at rezervace.divadlo@meetfactory.cz.
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