Solo for the Two of Us at The New Stage

On 20 May 2007, the National Theatre hosted the premiere of my original dance-theatre piece Brel – Vysotsky – Kryl / Solo for Three. The production, very specific, singular and unique in many respects, has ever since enjoyed great popularity on the part of audiences in Prague and beyond, and gained acclaim in a number of cities worldwide. Ten years on, I have decided to come up with something that would in a certain way link up to the production, both in dramaturgic and symbolic terms. Something that would bear kindred structural and thematic traits yet as a stylistically different and independent original piece encompass its own, new message. The title, Solo for the Two of Us, refers to several levels at once. It may mean a solo for a relationship between a man and a woman. Or a solo for a human being and his/her demon concealed somewhere within. A solo for an adult and the little child he/she once was and which he/she has lost en route somewhere. And it is also a solo for myself – the outgoing – and Filip Barankiewicz – the incoming – artistic director, to whom soon after this piece has been premiered I will hand over the Czech National Ballet company. And, last but not least, it is a solo for Jaromír Nohavica and Beata Bocek, two fabulous contemporary musicians and performing poets, whose individual creations have naturally positioned them on the borderline between the Polish and Czech identity and psyche. Accordingly, from the viewpoints of Filip and myself, the idea can also be deemed a Solo for the Czech Republic and Poland.
Petr Zuska