Everybody Hurts

appeal

I took a hot shower. / For the first time since that incident, I was able to stand on my feet. / That gentleman just smiled at me. / I got on the wrong train. / My brother took me by the hand. / I was at the right place at the right time. / Maybe it was because of the sign on the opposite wall. / I started screaming at the top of my lungs. / Just at the moment I wanted to give up on everything, Everybody Hurts started playing on the radio.

At a time when global certainties are shaking, fear, anxiety, and superstition are thriving. The best thing is to slam the apartment door behind you, keep the lights off, and somehow endure it all. But what if someone has just turned on the light in the window across the way? Experienced pain unites people, can shared faith in a better tomorrow do the same? ‘Remember the sun in the darkest of nights’, once urged Jiří Mahen. A production that rehabilitates the word ‘hope’, a production lying in wait for the moment when the first ray of light pierces the darkness.

This time, the script will be you and your stories. During the season, we will collect them and, at its end, transform them into an evening celebrating your courage to persevere. Guided by director Jan Mikulášek, we will not leave ourselves out either—we too dare to share the painful moments of our lives, because simply #everybodyhurts. The full-season challenge by Divadlo Husa na provázku will provide a space to share your stories on the page provazek.cz/vyzva or our social media channels #everybodyhurts #vyzvakesdileni. Become part of our light-footed original production about life’s difficult moments. And even more about what gives us the strength to overcome. Together, we will assemble a kaleidoscope of ways to bounce back from rock bottom.

Jan Mikulášek (b. 1978) is the resident director of Prague’s Divadlo Na zábradlí. His stage adaptation of Bernhard’s Mýcení was named Production of the Year 2018 by the Divadelní noviny Awards. This creator of striking visual gestures, working with editing, musical counterpoint, and parallel unfolding narratives, returns to Divadlo Husa na provázku following the highly successful productions Don Quixote, Dictionary of the Khazars, and The Marx Family Saga. This time, in close collaboration with the Divadlo Husa na provázku ensemble, he leaves the safety of the literary source behind and places his trust in the uncertain work with the real-life stories of everyday experts.