Poe

“He who has never swooned, is not he who finds strange palaces and wildly familiar faces in coals that glow; is not he who beholds floating in mid-air the sad visions that the many may not view; is not he who ponders over the perfume of some novel flower—is not he whose brain grows bewildered with the meaning of some musical cadence which has never before arrested his attention.” 
(Edgar Allan Poe: The Pit and the Pendulum) 

The performance is inspired by selected short stories – The Pit and the Pendulum, Hop-Frog and The Masque of the Red Death, which form the basic dramaturgic structure and are interconnected with a series of atmospheres and messages as varied as Poe’s work. Edgar Allan Poe and the characters of his fantastic universe are brought to life in the performance prepared by Laterna magika, combining dance, singing, original music score, instrumental music, vivid stage design and striking costumes, objects, and marionettes. The performance is inspired by selected short stories, which form the basic dramaturgic structure and are interconnected with a series of atmospheres and messages as varied as Poe’s work. The creators open the dark corners of his soul while also revealing his brilliant sense of humour and exquisite poetry. Poe was a master of mocking as well as honouring the whole range of human characters, demonising evil and sense of power, poetising purity and beauty, and reflecting the intrinsic attributes in the character’s physiognomy. The eye-catching costumes, lyrical and hyperbolic, are funny and scary at the same time. Endless labyrinths of dark rooms and corners and omnipresent supernatural creatures – fairies, phantoms, demons, beasts – accentuate the murky atmosphere. The intangible figures materialise thanks to the Peppper’s Ghost effect, which was known in Poe’s times and was first presented to the public in 1860.

Performance profile at the NT website
Photos for download

Creatives

Choreography & Stage direction: Lenka Vagnerová
Sets and costumes: Eva Jiřikovská
Music, projection, dramaturgy: Ivan Acher 
Light design: Michal Kříž
Sound design: Eva Hamouzová 

Cast:

Vladimír Javorský
Ondřej Vinklát
Tereza Marečková
Dancers

World Premiere: 28 and 29 April 2022, New Stage of the National Theatre, Prague

Reviews and references

For more reviews see performance detail

Servis information

1 hour 30 minutes, no intermission.
Recomended age 14+
Performance space:
W × H × D = 14,4 m × 14,0 m × 14,5 m + side portals 1,5 m + rear passage 2,0 m

Technical rider (PDF, 2 MB)