SLAPSTICK SONATA is a performance which mixes Mozart’s sonatas with silent-film-era comedy to create a literal combination of high art and popular culture. Visual poetry meets absurd physical comedy and contemporary circus expression. Aerial acrobatics, falls, clowning, dance, live music and elements of theater amalgamate into a free-flowing stream of references to a variaty of genres ranging from classical opera to classical slapstick comedy.
For this performance, Cirk La Putyka approached Maksim Komaro, the director and art director of Finnish Circo Aereo company. „After one of our shows at the end of 2010, we were looking for interesting contemporary circus stuff on the internet and we happened to find a sample from the Petit Mal performance by the Finish Race Horse Company which was directed by Maksim Komaro. The video swept us away so much that the very same evening, we decided to write Maksim and invite him to Prague. A few weeks later in Prague, we offered him to direct this new project“, explains Vít Novák, manager of Cirk La Putyka. The work on the project started in January 2011 with most rehearsals taking place at the Švandovo Divadlo rehearsal center on Preslova street in Prague, while some preparatory was done at the newly opened Cirko Center in Helsinki. During the rehearsals, the six performers from Cirk La Putyka who appear on stage met with such contenporary-circus professionals as Janne Rosen, Petri Tuominen and Ilona Jäntti.
Production: Cirk La Putyka (CZ), Circo Aereo (FIN)
The project was created with the support of:
NOKIA CZECH REPUBLIC, THE PRAGUE MAGISTRATE, THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC, BUDWEISER BUDVAR, HUSKY, SCENOGRAFIE, LA FABRIKA, THE NEW STAGE OF THE NATIONAL THEATER, MAC COSMETICS, REDKEN, NET ČISTÍRNY & PRÁDELNY, AUTO-PLUS
Premiere: Feb. 22, 2012 – The New Stage/La Fabrika
Length: 110 minutes with an intermission
Suitable for children from 5 years of age.