Multimedia project Something is Red was underway in Košice for almost two months. First, there was the stage scene. Then, the actors were getting accustomed to the cultural space of military background. The French were learning Slovak and the Slovak were absorbing French. On April 29th, the experience with unconventional type of stage performance enriched hundreds of spectators as well as the actors of Divadlo na peróne. Actress Zuzana Psotková alias The Red Riding Hood shared her impressions with us.

What was it like to act with your French colleagues?
It was fabulous.  We were a well-coordinated team. Everybody knew what to do. The collaboration with them was seamless. We hit it off well outside of work too, and we spent a lot of time together. It is important for an actress to know her partner, to trust him/her, to be able to rely on him/her, to make sure they are on the same wavelength. In this regard, the project was successful. 

How long did it take you to learn the French parts of the script?
In the end, it worked out like this - I can speak French a bit and I did not get any French speaking parts, just one children song, while some colleagues, to whom this language is like Latin, had many texts on their hands. I think we managed well. How much time they spent drilling, remains their secret.

On the other side, the French did not escape Slovak language either.
Simon had to deal with a lot at the beginning, but in the process, Natali (the director) decided to cut away a great deal.  Najip was doing very well and he learned the script quite quickly. We had a lot of fun together as we checked and corrected each other. In the end, they were easy to understand, and they learned many Slovak phrases they did not use in the play itself. They really liked the language and tried to use it wherever possible.

What impressions did this project leave with you?
It was another very positive experience. We have already worked with an international team when we had worked on two of our plays, but we had never worked on such an extensive project in large space before. We were glad that Divadlo na peróne was a part of it and that were are equal partners to our French colleagues.  We view the completion of this project as a good start to similar future residential stays in the military barracks, in which we would like to take part once again.

How was Something is Red inspiring for you?
We had not worked with direction for quite some time.  As we do author-based theater, direction is mostly a matter of joint effort, even though it is usually Peťo Kočiš (actor of Divadlo na peróne) who usually takes the reigns. This time, we had to let ourselves be led. We had to become a part of something that had not been ours from the very beginning, which rose many questions and issues. The methodology of work was inspiring in itself. One had to be ready to react on any given impulse.  It was vital to stay in the game and always bring in something fresh.

Do you think Slovak spectators are ready for performance art?
It is one thing whether they are ready, and quite another thing what their individual experience is. This was the first time people in Košice and its vicinity were able to encounter it. We had been asking ourselves what the reactions would be.  The response was positive. All the spectator needs is to keep her/his eyes open and to let themselves be carried away, surprised, absorbed... The reaction of the spectators proved that despite minimal or no previous experience with this genre they were ready and curious.

What is the primary difference between a regular performance and performance art?
Performance, with which the majority of spectators are familiar, works around a staged script with a more or less invariable structure that can be acted out repeatedly at any given time while it is principally the same show.  The spectator is reserved a role of an observer who is separate from action the stage.  Multimedia performance art in Something is Red unrolled two hours of unrepeated sequences. We, the actors, would not be able to act out identical performance again either.  It was a process that was completely live as it was conditioned by momentous impulses between actors, and the interaction with the audience.  The spectator was not a mere observer seated in his/her place. Instead, they were a part of the performance art, the changeable element of the play - they could decide where to go and what to see, thus influencing the rhythm of the play in an indirect way.

Was it more demanding?
We had to be ready for everything. We did not know what we would come across in the course of the two hours - what ideas our colleague or we would get. We could not foresee how the improvisation would come off.  None of us knew what our colleagues in other rooms were doing, what was happening there, and what the effect it would have on what we were doing at the time. It was an adrenaline experience really – the one when you never know what will happen next but you always have it under control. The preparation and the performance itself were demanding physically as well.  Yet, we felt truly happy during the work.

Did you manage to observe the reaction of people while you were acting?
The reaction of the spectator was important. We based our movement within the space on it. There was an older lady who fabulously reacted to a whisper of a French actor with a conspiring wink – she let herself be absorbed and daringly became its part.  In the course of the two hours, I met the same people in various rooms several times.  It filled me with joy.
It was clear the spectators were curious and they wanted to see it all even though it was impossible.

Would you please describe the story of the performance, or at least its major theme?
The project's director, Natali, would be able to reply exhaustively. In principle, the performance was pointing out the relativity concerning the position of a victim vs. brute in the well-know fairy-tale.  In the course of the performance, the spectators, among others, saw wolfish Red Riding Hoods, docile wolves, or a granny who was close to both. The whole show created one big live scene, through which the spectators could walk and discover many things.


zuzana.lehotska@kosice13.sk