Cancelled: Werther
An original postmodern play, which makes use of the collage form, atmospheric depiction and fusion of media and is based on Johann Wolfgang Goethe’s novel The Sorrows of Young Werther.
“I’ve heard tell of a noble breed of horses that, when they are terribly heated and wrought up, instinctively they bite open a vein, to help themselves breathe. Often I feel like that.”
Werther is a hero whose heart is consumed by a burning passion and a hero, who gives up at the same time. The performance is based on the novel by J. W. Goethe, it develops and moves the story further – more specifically, moves it to the present day, when love borders on an irreplaceable need. The unreachable ideal however changes in the “corrupted world”. The experience of the real and authentic self dissolves in a mass of often shapeless ideas.
“We are all human, and the bit of sense any one of us might have is of little or no use when the passions rage and by the constraints of being human we are put under duress.”
In a world full of short- lasting experiences, isolation and loneliness are the only things a person really experiences. The unendurable feeling of merely surviving eventually forces the young Werther to ask himself: Is it possible to beat life by choosing death? After the publishing of the novel, tens of its readers followed the deeds of the main character and committed suicide, unable to find meaning in their lives.
“Have you first delved into the inner circumstances of an act? Can you with certainty unravel the reasons why it was done, why it was bound to be done? If you have and can, surely you would not be so quick to judge.” Who then is the Werther of the present? Someone like us.
About the artists
The performance is directed by Gabriela Gabašová (Slovakia, Považská Bystrica) and Barbora Klenová (Czechia, Ostrava), who is also the set designer. The young creators met during their studies at the Theatre Faculty of The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and have worked on several creative projects together.