There are no winners in Zdeněk Adamec, only losers
How much courage and determination does it take to commit suicide? And what if it wasn't a rebellion, but a simple reflex? More than twenty years ago, Zdeněk Adamec poured petrol on himself, struck a match, and burned to death. If he had only played with fire - as small children do - he might be with us today. A young man who did not know how to live in a society he perceived as superficial and corrupt, he said goodbye in a letter with the words "Please don't make a fool of me". Zdeněk Adamec's production was performed by the DAMU theatre ensemble.
In the green backlighting of a dingy bar, an evening and night full of difficult fates and deep feelings begins to unfold. One man and one story, which each of the characters looks at through a different perspective. Heartbreak Café blends characters and performances. The viewer doesn't learn much about any of the protagonists. We don't know what their names are, what their relationship to Zdeněk was, or why he found himself in the Heartbreak Café on that particular evening. But on each of them, the event seems to have left deep scars. However, a clear story line that would bring the audience closer to their fates, and thus help us understand them better, is missing from the play.
The individual monologues and dialogues are interrupted by a man in white - whether it is Zdeněk or someone else, he is understood the best by a simple girl who seems to be able to rise above the superficiality and narrowness in which the others live. Was Zdenek an ordinary boy who liked to go back to the woods in the Highlands where he came from, or was he a villain who helped a terrorist organization? Maybe neither, maybe both. A lot is left to the viewer's imagination and ability to navigate the story. In the sonically and emotionally tense final scene, the pain and suffering is carried throughout the theatre and into the hearts of the audience.
In the backdrop of a hipster bar, playwright Peter Handke and director Mykhailo Fedorov present the audience with the perspectives of the individual actors, each of whom, in their unique cocktail of life experiences, are united by a single name - Zdeněk Adamec. But for the tough woman, the bartender, the girl who talks like an encyclopedia, and the naive girl, it means something else. After watching the show, you may start to think about who you are. How much good or bad is left when your fire burns out?
Well, you can turn the lights off now, Zdenek.
