Two Women, Different Worlds, and Playful Emotions
For this year's SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER, DAMU brought an autobiographical collage by two women, Kristina and Jovita, entitled “Anytime, Anywhere.” Through audio-visual, textual, and movement elements, the heroines, whom fate introduced to each other in Prague, convey their feelings, losses, and understanding, interwoven with playful humour.
The production begins somewhat awkwardly. The change of props takes too long and feels clumsy, taking the audience out of the performance. However, as the different parts of the collage progress, the audience’s discomfort gradually fades, giving the audience a greater chance to become immersed in the emotions. While the experience is occasionally disrupted by technical errors (the subtitles are a sentence ahead, for example), the playful dynamics of the two women make it easy to get back into the play.
It is this playfulness that is missing from the first quarter of the play. The production works best when the two actresses are interacting with each other, and when humour appears. It is not forced, but rather comes across naturally and helps to illustrate the dynamics of the heroines' friendship.
The use of several languages in the production is very appropriate, given the subject matter, and the production works with it logically. Cultural differences, everyday problems, and moments of loneliness are depicted here in a combination of text, movement, and projection. Again, there is a problem at the beginning of the show: in this case it’s connected with understanding them, which is also due to the fact that we have not seen into the women's lives enough at this stage to understand their emotions. As we get to know them, the projections begin to look less like random images and more like a focused selection into which the viewer is gradually immersed.
The end of the show lacks gradation, which was reflected in the initial hesitant applause from the audience. On the other hand, ending the production in this way makes sense in retrospect, as it reflects the fact that the two girls’ journey is far from over.
