I was searching for a free country – and I found you

Imagine there is no loneliness. Imagine there is no distance. Imagine there is dignity. Imagine that it doesn’t work out. Imagine that we do get married.

Anna Klimešová's original production explores the experience of a couple who, even now in the twenty-first century, do not hold their future in their own hands. She is Czech while he is being subjected to the rigours of the asylum process. Their story is happening now – and may end any minute. 

Throughout the past year, we at Goose on a String Theatre have had the extraordinary opportunity to observe, witness and share the asylum process experience of a man who has found himself outside of his home, his culture, and his language. His name is Kali, he is thirty years old, and he has truly become a close friend. He cannot return to his country for fear of persecution and likely lack of social acceptance. In addition to including a host of mentally demanding testing procedures, the asylum process comprises endless weeks and months of waiting. However, Kali is not waiting alone: he is supported by his Czech girlfriend, who stands by his side throughout the entire process. Anna Klimešová's original production maps this very period of waiting, a period filled with existential questions and a constant barrage of notions and fantasies. What will the asylum interview be like? What if they do get married? How would he be treated by her Czech family? And by the people of Brno? What if this experience changes his identity? What might their future together look like? What if it doesn't work out? Anna Klimešová stages this contemporary love story against the backdrop of the asylum process with humour and exaggeration as well as a deep understanding of the intense emotions inherently present in this extreme experience.

Anna Klimešová (1990) is one of the founding members of the 8People ensemble, the initiator of the cultural community platform Horní Maršov – Open Museum in her native Giant Mountains, and a sensitive director of original productions which have ranked among exceptional achievements on the Czech theatre scene ever since her studies at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre of the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. Whether she is dealing with the intergenerational transmission of emotional patterns, examining decision-making processes, exploring the desire for change, or creating a scenic map of the perception of the Czech-Austrian landscape, she views her chosen themes with affection and humour. Greetings and Kisses to all off you is her first play at Goose on a String Theatre.