LIBERTÉ [trigger warning]

About

1789? 1917? 1989? 2011?
Does it even matter?

An original production showing how language is distorted by power, how shame is turned into a weapon, and how propaganda contaminates collective consciousness. The production premiered in 2024 in Georgia in direct response to the adoption of a governmental law against LGBTQ+ “propaganda” and instigated massive public rallies. Since then, the production can only be performed abroad.

Through scenes alluring to the French Revolution or the October revolution, director Data Tavadze stages a harsh reflection on the language of freedom at times of oppression. To this end, he combines fragments of documentary materials about the history of revolutions, physical theatre, and immersive stage layout that puts the audience at a minimum distance from the performers. The attempt at transforming violence into a poetic resistance offers intense and multifaceted experience.

Cast

Magda Lebanidze, Natuka Kakhidze, Gaga Shishinashvili, Sandro Samkharadze

Creatives

Written and directed by Data Tavadze
Music: Nika Pasuri
Set design: Ketevan Nadibaidze
Costume design: Simon Machabeli

Data Tavadze is a Georgian theatre director, playwright and producer. Since 2009, he has served as Artistic Director of the Royal District Theatre (RDT) in Tbilisi, where he has developed a repertoire confronting political and social realities. A board member of the Tbilisi International Festival of Theatre, Tavadze is the recipient of the Talking About Borders prize for the play Warmother (2015), the Fast Forward Festival Prize (2016), and the Sandro Akhmeteli Award for Women of Troy. He has directed at Deutsches Theater Berlin, Staatsschauspiel Dresden, Schauspiel Frankfurt, Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Polish Theatre Bydgoszcz, Dailes Theatre Riga to mention but few. He came to Prague for the first time in March as a guest of the Month of Ukraine festival to present his acclaimed production Women of Troy, unveiling women’s fates at times of war.

The hosting of this performance was made possible thanks to PROSPERO NEW Platform co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.

The Teatr Dramatyczny in Warsaw is a partner for the festival presentation of the production.

We would like to thank the Tygr v tísni for lending us chairs for the performance.