The War of the Buttons

The story of a “war” between gangs of boys from two rival villages while a real war wages in the background. How does a children’s game reflect the adult world? What causes the hatred that has roots no one can remember?

The many themes of French writer Louis Pergaud‘s novel, subtitled „a novel of my twelfth year“, are still relevant today. Using the metaphor of a child‘s imaginary world full of life-and-death battles, he not only describes the situation of his time, but also, by describing the petty conflicts between the children from Longeverne and the children from Velrans, he shows the senselessness of a war determined less by generals than by ordinary human weakness. In the world of Pergaud‘s heroes, a button is worth a life. And that‘s why it‘s the greatest prize.

Through a seemingly trivial children‘s game, Pergaud presents the contradictory qualities of war that are revealed through children‘s warfare. On the one hand, the desire to defend one‘s values and sense of identity; on the other, the futility of trying to do so. It is no exaggeration to say that Pergaud‘s novel can be read as a pacifist manifesto that subverts the language of its greates enemy, the language of war.

In the media:

“Šimon Spišák and Barbora Kamenická Pokorná came up with a combination of a highly entertaining, playful, and alienating spectacle with straightforwardly didactic moments. (…) The didacticism of The War of the Buttons is acknowledged but at the same time cleverly dosed not to become obnoxiously violent. This is because it refers with amused exaggeration to a theatrical situation just seen, which might otherwise have passed for a simple joke. It can also be seen more broadly: if I am correct, Drak is consistently involved in this type of production, and they seem to be well aware of what they are doing.”

Vladimír Mikulka, 13. 10. 2024, nadivadlo.blogspot.com