Date: March 9th, 2025
Time: 19:00
Title: Homo Panellus (Človek Panelový)
Venue: Rovniankova 3
Organizer: Veľká sála, DK Zrkadlový háj, Bratislava
Event Description: Homo Panellus (Človek Panelový)
You can’t step into the same apartment twice.
“I’m in every window of this panel building. In this window, we’re playing. From this window, I observe my neighbors every day. In that one, after returning from a party, I smoke my last cigarettes. In this one, my dinner just burned. What’s happening in those curtained windows? I am made of all those windows. I break into all of them. Do you see me?”
Robo wants to finally do something big, but in his mind, it’s so big that he can’t get it out. Mária returned to her childhood neighborhood for a new film. Though teacher Olga feels very old, her computer is part of something important. Anton, a descendant of nobility, is looking for lost past in the housing estate. Successful doctor Martin is discovering that, aside from work, he wants to experience something else. Manager Irena is not here yet, because she values her freedom so much that she can’t belong anywhere. And the fragile panels of Petržalka stand firmly in the world of collapsing certainties, silently absorbing their intertwined stories.
A comedy with elements of true stories from life in the largest panel housing estate in Central Europe, at the border of three countries once divided by the Iron Curtain, on the site of a former village and concentration camp, on the place of the largest inland delta of the Danube.
The performance is created with the help of documentary theater techniques. It is based on archival research, interviews with historians and theorists, and especially with the residents of Petržalka and panel housing estates in neighboring countries. Both the author’s text and the original music by Fero Király and the set design by Diana Strauszová work with authentic recordings and found materials.
Mass panel construction, launched in the late 1960s, offered standardized housing to millions of people in our countries. In panel buildings, mostly in housing estates, several generations have grown up. Standardized panel apartments created an environment for social equality and reflected a certain kind of social utopia. The material and construction, however, are as fragile as this utopia itself. According to the plans, panel buildings were supposed to bring a better present and future to the people. Meanwhile, several generations have lived through the past in them. Can these constructions, as fragile as the utopia that birthed them, bear the weight of this past?
Cast:
Edita Koprivčević Borsová, Braňo Mosný, Daniela Gudabová, Peter Kadlečík, Eva Mores, Jevgenij Libezňuk
Script: Ján Šimko
Scenography and Costumes: Diana Strauszová
Music: Fero Király
Video Art: Boris Vitázek
Camera: Peter Kotrha
Direction: Ján Šimko
The creation of this performance was supported by public funds from the Fond na podporu umenia.
The project was supported by the International Visegrad Fund.
TUCET – New Drama Studio focuses on creating theatrical performances, performative and participatory projects addressing themes of community, cultural memory, and identity. It has realized several productions of contemporary drama, participatory actions, educational projects from the field of contemporary drama, and original productions. The studio is centered around author and director Ján Šimko.