100 Wounded Tears

Jozef Fruček (SK), Linda Kapetanea (GR)

DOT504 (CZ)

A story of seven characters pulling out a devil for a tail from our entrails and showing him in his full insidiousness. Cowardliness of a poor, humiliation of a queen, harm to a kitty. A crude performance that can be considered even cruder as it displays a real world round the corner which we aren't daring enough to look at. In a rather crude, chaotic but humorous form, the piece tells a story of seven characters searching for their ten thousand lost dreams and one worthy sense of life. A performance that was awarded prestigious Herald Angel Award at Fringe Festival in Edinburgh 2009!

The story of seven characters, born from fourteen images. Of fourteen hands, getting rid of sixty-six kilos of unhappy meat and of the whiteness of two hundred and six bones. Of fourteen funny images searching for ten thousand lost dreams and of one meaningful reason to exist. Of fourteen furious desires to love seventy fingers, covering two gentle breasts in two hundred and seventy-six spoons of soil. Of four hundred and fifteen confused words in seventy-two minutes. Of two litres of water in two cups and in one very, very deep plate. Of forty pieces of wood, four spoons and eight stools, of two hammers and thirty-three hammered nails. Of seven onions, spread in seventy-six kisses and of twenty-nine blows of a stick. And of course, of thirty distorted teeth and one lewd tongue above the head of a dead albatross, in never ending soft landscape.

“Unrestrained collages of dynamic dancing and quirky movement theatre beating with wild energy. The interpreters give it their all – to the very last drop of sweat, and expose even the most hidden weakness of the human soul. The topics, just like sharp nails, dig deep under the skin, send shivers down your spine, grimace ironically and seduce passionately. This is what the DOT504’s performances are like. The ensemble is currently at the top of our dancing scene” (M. Faustova, Lidove noviny, 2008).

Fringe Festival Edinburgh 2009 critics:

Deep breath. Fingers crossed. Could they do it again? Last year, DOT504 from the Czech Republic breenged on-stage at Zoo Southside with Holdin' Fast, a heat-seeking missile of a dance-theatre piece that took no prisoners - but did send a purring pussycat (in the guise of a cleverly knowing sex kitten) onto the surprised laps of gentlemen in the audience. Guess what? The current offering, 100 Wounded Tears (*****) doesn't just match the quirky invention and the physical drive and finesse of that piece: it surpasses it, delving more deeply than Holdin' Fast into the dark and brutal reaches of what we do to one another and ourselves ... in the name of love, country or honour. Subtitled "14 Images of Lost Despair", it's a mosaic of incidents featuring seven characters who could well have strayed out of a Brecht play or a performance by the legendary Kantor. There are little rituals that suggest a community in the aftermath of a disaster. One woman is apparently trying to bury the past, one spoonful of earth at a time. But there are grievances, grudges, lusts and disappointed dreams festering under the surface of the gorgeous, exuberant outbursts of folkloric camaraderie and DOT504 don't shy away from shows of rape, humiliation and reprisals. Despite the visceral bleakness, 100 Wounded Tears is defiant in asserting not just our hunger for life, but our need to laugh and move on. Emblematic imagery - with earth, bread, ash-white dust and nakedness all used with potent, poetic effect - and the sheer gutsy attack of the dance simply reinforce last year's impression: this is a company worth watching, but be quick, their run ends on August 15." The Herald, Mary Brennan, August 11 2009

Directed and choreographed by: Jozef Fruček & Linda Kapetanea (RootlessRoot Company)
Performing: DOT504 – Michaela Ottová, Lenka Vágnerová, Pavel Mašek, Helena Arenbergerová, Tomáš Nepšinský, Jaroslav Ondruš, & Csongor Kassai as a special guest
Music: Michal Kaščák
Costumes: Simona Rybáková
Light design: Daniel Tesař
Graphics of the project: Radek Rytina
Lenght: 70 min
Scale of the stage: medium (variable)

The performance is unsuitable for children up to the age of 15.

More about DOT 504 on www.dot504.cz

show gallery