Wonderful Circus / Kouzelný cirkus
Theme: Evald Schorm
Screenplay: Evald Schorm, Emil Sirotek, Jiří Srnec, Josef Svoboda, Jan Švankmajer, Karel Vrtiška
Stage director: Evald Schorm, Jiří Srnec, Jan Švankmajer
Sets: Josef Svoboda
Costumes and masks: Zdenek Seydl
Choreography: Karel Vrtiška, Jiří Hrabal, Vlastimil Jílek, Josef Koníček, František Pokorný
Music: Oldřich František Korte, Vlastimil Hála, Jaroslav Krček, Jiří Srnec
Wonderful Circus had its premiere way back in 1977, and since that time has been the most-performed title of Laterna magika with more than 6 300 re-runs. In the current repertoire it is also the most typical sample of the art of Laterna magika: a work by a great creative team that synthesizes various components of theatre. Theatrical space is turned into a circus tent, and the audience is drawn into the action by, among other devices, a panoramic projected picture and popular tricks involving interpenetration of imagination and reality. This poetic story about a futile quest for the unachievable is embodied by figures of clowns incited by a magician – the Seducer – and a vision of the beautiful Venus, who takes on the forms of earthly women.
