When director Aminata Keita and dramaturg Anna Hlaváčková began to adapt the film script Who is the director here for the theater stage, they were left with a torso. The skeleton of the story, which worked well as a film, had to be adapted for theatrical use. Where von Trier got by with editing, the two women had to rewrite the play to fit his specific style of humor.
“About a third needed to be finished. It was difficult because some things don’t have an exact translation and therefore have to be reinvented,” said Keita.
What is your relationship with Trier? Maybe he’s a bit like a dill. People either love him or they don’t.
His films are very extremist, but I like it. His stuff is done in depth. And even if I don’t agree with him on something, I can also appreciate things that are not my cup of tea. This particular comedy is very different from the rest of his work.
What is his sense of humor? I don’t find it rude or crass.
Subtle or subtle. He leads us into some situation, we think it’s about something, and he twists, turns, reverses it. Or he will surprise us and not do it. He is known for being provocative. Interestingly, in this comedy he provokes gently.
However, vulgarisms will appear there, so he does not act completely in gloves.
The dirty words are angry slurs. It might bother seniors. Maybe I’m in school.
But won’t this actually be a bit of a drag for a younger audience?
The swearing there is comedic. Let’s put ourselves in the situation of the main character: he sells a company for 300 million, and after it doesn’t work out, that person holds on for five minutes, doesn’t say anything, just fumbles, and then one day he’s relieved. Most of us would use a cloud of expletives if that much money slipped through our fingers. There is not so much cursing for the drama that happens there. Another one is translated by an interpreter. (The company is bought by an Icelander represented by Petr Dohnal, editor’s note). This strikes me as a great move, since most of the swearing is done in Icelandic, which none of us understand.
Does he really swear in Icelandic?
Yes, and every replica is different. Petr Dohnal had several lessons with an Icelandic translator who taught him the pronunciation and simple grammar he needed to be able to speak fluently and with the correct accent. In addition, he has a distinctive mask.
You had a film script in front of you, how did you turn it into a theatrical performance?
Since von Trier is a film director, he consciously or unconsciously works with editing. Many situations seem to have no beginning and end with a sudden black out, a rapid transition that must be completed in the theater. The script then created a torso that needed to be imagined and completed.
I approached his version of the cut. An example is the scenographic solution, because we have an elevator there on the scene. Doors that open immediately close. It’s like a magic box where someone can suddenly appear, disappear. It’s not a film cut, but a similar solution. The theatrical arrival from the portal is long and carries with it a certain tension. When he has to jump out of the side and talk fast. Thanks to the elevator, a person we didn’t expect comes out, and it’s accompanied by sound, it also works rhythmically.
You can’t expect a respite from Lars von Trier’s script. What other themes did you find interesting about him in this game?
An interesting topic is acting itself, putting on the mask. We all reach for our own authenticity and honesty. Also the theme of power and manipulation. In the game, we find ourselves in an environment where relationships are not family or friendly, but formal and professional. And within them they need to assert their own opinions.
The entire performance is based on both Josefs. Love and Pejchal. How do they hear themselves as actors?
I think very well. But it was a difficult journey for both of them. It seems very simple on paper, but the humor is complicated and it takes a lot on the two of them to fine-tune the taste and the degree of what is over the line, because comedy plays with that a lot, that is, what are one’s boundaries and how they are crossed and what is too much and what is actually embarrassing.
Vivaldi sounds in the background of the modern office of an IT company.
Yes, its Four Seasons. We remixed it.
The whole game I was wondering if the main character liked his suit or not. A double-breasted suit is the stuff of early 90s businessmen, but with it being tailored, I’d say it kind of fits him.
That Kristoffer is so unfinished. He wants so much to belong, but people aren’t sure if they want to accept him. That’s his theme.
What kind of humor do you like?
Cynicism, sharper, even throwing down, but in a good way. But when people attack each other with humor, it’s not. I tend to like when someone makes funny comments and glosses when someone can do it, these things happen a lot in this game. Often these comments are embarrassing. And that’s actually a great source of humor when things get awkward. Whether we can bear embarrassment or not, whether we do not feel it and have no idea that we have found ourselves in such a situation, even though it is happening around us and everyone is experiencing it. I find that funny.
Sorry for the personal question at the end. Your Czech is excellent, even if your parents are not Czech.
I am Czech, I was born here, but my father is from French Guinea. I graduated from DAMU here and have lived in the Czech Republic all my life.
