Snow Negatives: Wetzler, Vrba, Schulman, Lux

(Dávid Paška)

Predstavenia

Štvrtok 1. Máj (19:00)	First performance	Kúpiť
Piatok 2. Máj (19:00)	Premiere	Kúpiť
Sobota 3. Máj (19:00)		Kúpiť
Streda 14. Máj (19:00)		Kúpiť
Utorok 27. Máj (10:00)		Kúpiť

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„To write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric.“ Using these words, German philosopher Theodor Adorno urged the artistic community to react to the horrors and suffering of the biggest genocide in human history.

The original theatrical production Snow Negatives: Wetzler, Vrba, Schulman, Lux, directed by the talented Dávid Paška, is being created as a large international coproduction, one of its kind, on the occasion of 80^th anniversary of the end of World War II. This ambitious project is created by the Ján Palárik Theatre in Trnava (Slovakia), the Jan Kochanowski Theatre in Opole (Poland) and the Academy for Theatre and Digitality in Dortmund (Germany).

The three destinies of fighters against fascism. Actor Štefan Lux, tired of the failed artistic attempts to provoke the citizens and the government to stop the growing Nazism in the country, travels to Geneva in 1936 to protest against Nazi Germany. He therefore reflects on the power of art and the possibilities of rebellion, considering even the most radical forms of resistance. The second story follows Jewish photographer Faye Schulman from small town Lenin, who buries valuable negatives in 1943. After she lost her family and saw the genocide perpetrated on the Jews, she joins a Soviet detachment and fights actively involved in the partisan resistance until the war’s end. The last narrative is about Trnava-born writer Alfréd Wetzler and Rudolf Vrba, who escaped concentration camp in 1944. Their firsthand testimony is one of key witness accounts of the 20^th century. Passing through the Slovak state, their former homeland, they hide and struggle to convince the people of the horrors they have seen including the gas chambers and the “final solution to the Jewish question”. Will they succeed in convincing the local population? Where is hatred born? Why do we have the tendency to trivialise evil or to be apathetic towards injustice? Are we wiser and more resilient than our predecessors? Is this state of war? Can it be avoided? If not – what comes after?

This unique production combines theatre and digital innovation. As the performance takes place simultaneously in Trnava and Opole, a livestream from each theatre will be broadcast in the other. Additionally, a specially recorded film from the Deutsches Theater in Berlin and various locations in Slovakia will be shown on screen. Experts in digital technologies from Dortmund Theatre are collaborating with us to bring this unique multimedia experience to life.

The performance takes place through live streaming or with pre-recorded material as a backup.

We would like to thank our partners at Deutsches Theater Berlin for the opportunity to shoot some video scenes of this production on their Kammerspiele stage.

Premiere:   April 26^th, 2025 (JK Opole Theatre) and May 2^nd, 2025 (Ján Palárik Theatre)

Dávid Paška is a graduate of directing studies at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna and belongs to the upcoming generation of theatre directors and playwrights. He participated in the creation of productions in leading European theatrical institutions (Ein jedermann in Romanian Teatrul National Radu Stanca, 2022; NAT.U.R.AL in Linz, 2023; Don Karlos in Kasematten Wiener Neustadt, 2023; 1984 in Schauspielhaus Salzburg, 2024). Many of his productions were showcased on international festivals. The work of Dávid Paška enhances Slovak theatrical context with unconventional interpretations of world fiction and drama, approached in an authorial and generational manner and with a significant social charge.