Romanian Cultural Institute in Prague presents a performance of the Bucharest theatre Masca called Mad Pierrot at the renowned Czech theatre Pod Palmovkou, on Sunday, November 22, 2015, starting from 7 p.m.. Two living statues will greet the audience at the entrance of the theatre, introducing them to the Commedia dell'Arte atmosphere, coveyed in a postmodernist manner.
The show was created in memoriam Ladislav Fialka, the greatest Czech mime, whom Mihai Mălaimare, the director, met in the 90´s on the occasion of his research visit in Prague. He also went to one of his shows which, coincidentally, was about Pierrot. Later, Mălaimare describes the details of this encounter in his book CHANCE/ŞANSA, published by Polirom (Iași, 2006), which is also a hommage to Deburau (born Jan Kašpar Dvořák in Kolín, Bohemia, part of the Czech Republic today), creator of the extraordinary character of Pierrot - who continued to exist through Fialka and now through Masca.
Mad Pierrot brings to the public an original technique, difficult to master but charming: the white pantomime. In this type of pantomime, following the Fialka model, the gesture is the equivalent of the word, which allows the performer to express a wider range of situations and emotions.
The performance comprises several sequences of pantomime, which are all centered around Pierrot acting in different situations. Pierrot is a charming character who fascinated the French audience at the famous Funambules theatre for almost 100 years, between 1830 and 1925. He is eternally infatuated, in love with Colombina, with himself, with life. The audience meets Pierrot as a number of different characters: a photographer, a lover, an adorer, a singer, a fisherman, this all built with fine humour.
"When in front of the stage where our character is performing, one would have the impression of having been transported to the beginning of the 19th century frivolous Paris who knew how to laugh loudly, because its inhabitants were full of life, young and beautiful. When the night falls on the banks of the Seine, everything stops and behind the hundreds of gargoyles rises the moon, red and troubled. At that moment, a creature with face as white as a chalk flies towards it, wearing long white clothes like a ghost. His flight is like a love song whispered with passion by a trubadour. Pierrot, mad Pierrot, they say, still flies today when there is full and sad moon." (Mihai Mălaimare)
The tickets are for sale only at the theatre box office in Zenklova 34, Prague 8 (weekdays, between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.), or can be reserved by e-mail at obchodni@podpalmovkou.cz, or by phone at 283 011 119. For further information please visit the official website www.podpalmovkou.cz.
The Masca Theatre was founded on May 24, 1990, as the only gesture, pantomime and body expression theatre in Romania. The idea to found it came in December 1989, when the political system was falling (Communism) and the art scene needed to be reinvented. The crew of young professional actors are lead by the actor and director Mihai Mălaimare - a Doctor of Philosophy in Theatre Theory, graduate of the Cinema and Theatre Art studies in Bucharest, student of Jean Lecoq, awarded at many festivals, both at home and abroad. He has been a Member of the Parliament of Romania since 2000. In its 25 year-long existence, the Masca Theatre has gained a prestigious reputation at home and worldwide, during numerous tours in France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, USA, Louxemburg, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Turkey, Albania, Macedonia.
