WE ARE A COUNTRY: the story of people, a dam and time

The Jozef Gregor Tajovský Theatre in Zvolen is an ensemble on the rise that is surpassing its artistic limits. Thus, it frequently features at Divadelná Nitra in recent years. The director, author and performer Petra Tejnorová is an exceptional artist and a distinguished name on the Czech independent scene. The joint venture between Tejnorová and the Tajovský Theatre created a unique documentary theatre that takes us to the village of Slatinka near the city of Zvolen, in media res of the reconstruction of negotiations on the investment plan for the construction of the dam. The fate of Slatinka, the waterworks that never came into being – the fate of the village and the river – has become synonymous with civic engagement and an individual’s responsibility for his or her surroundings. “Slatinka is an ecological, though essentially socio–political reflection of how we live. It is seven decades of searching, finding and losing, it is a drama of civic responsibility and individual destinies, a drama of the river and its valley,” explain the authors. If the landscape is a record of time, it records all that we once did to it. On stage and in the auditorium, we watch a number of testimonies about Slatinka. Everyone will get a chance to express themselves – desperate villagers, officials, businessmen, politicians, conservationists, and activists, actors, as well as the river. WE ARE A COUNTRY is a stage essay about the country we are part of. It is based on diverse documentary material: period documents, recordings of discussions, witness and actor testimonies; it brings a powerful and gloomy testimony about our contemporary society. Exciting and emotionally powerful theatre that takes place not in front of us, but within us.

directed by: Petra Tejnorová
dramaturgy: Marta Ljubková
sound design: Jan Čtvrtník
set and costumes design: Antonín Šilar
video: Erik Bartoš
camera: Dominik Žižka
editing: Petra Maceridu
performed by: Mária Knoppová, Jana Pilzová, Richard Sanitra, Juraj Smutný

The production uses footage from the documentary Na vode [On the Water] (2001) directed by Robert Kirchhoff – thanks for permission.

Petra Tejnorová (1984) created several acclaimed productions as part of her studies at the Faculty of Theatre of the Academy of Performing Arts (DAMU) in Prague. In 2008, she was nominated for the Alfred Radok Award in the Talent category. She has been long dedicated to documentary theatre, physical and author’s theatre, theatre probes into various social and social strata, the live cinema genre and connecting theatre and film. As an author and director, she collaborated with important Czech theatres and ensembles, e.g. National Theatre, Dejvické Theatre, HaDivadlo, Archa Theatre, PONEC Theatre, ALTA Studio, VerTeDance. Her productions were hosted at leading international festivals such as Zdarzenia – Tczew, Stockholm Fringe Festival, APAP New York, Fira Tárrega. She made a number of short films and documentaries. She is also a lecturer at the Department of Alternative Theatre at DAMU and the co-founder of the new creative platform Temporary Collective.