Krabat

Long ago, on a cold Twelfth Night, an orphaned boy wandered through a hostile landscape. His name was Krabat. He had no idea where his name had come from. He no longer remembered his mother or father, as if he had never had them at all. He belonged to those children who must grow up too quickly. Only sometimes, as he was falling asleep, did he hear gentle whispers and soothing words that reminded him of home. That is why he loved to sink into the safety of his own dreams. But one night he almost remained trapped in their allure forever. Suddenly, however, the familiar voices dissolved into the tremendous tension of something far stronger. His body and mind, as if pulled on strings, were driven by a force more powerful than a mother’s voice, until Krabat found himself at an old mill… They say everyone should avoid that place. Perhaps it is inhabited by black magic, and one thing is certain: nothing good awaits anyone there. What choice does a boy have?

This stage production, inspired by a dark fairy-tale story based on an ancient Sorbian legend and given literary form in the early 1970s by Liberec-born author Otfried Preußler, tells the story of the orphan Krabat, who, on the threshold of adulthood, comes dangerously close to dark forces. At first, they seem like the perfect escape from the hardships of the world. Yet, as the boy soon discovers, magic demands a cruel price. The hero realizes he has found himself in the midst of a totalitarian system, firmly ruled by an ever-present yet unseen Master. The creative team Vašíček–Kamenická Pokorná–Czech–Čámský, who first came together while working on The Seven Ravens, continues with this production about a sorcerer’s apprentice to reinterpret well-known fairy tales in which love ultimately defeats darkness. They do so in a language that is characteristic not only of puppet theatre, but also, for instance, of Hitchcock-style detective stories.

Krabat, foto: Milan Hajn