The Cross by the Stream

Photo: Jiri Sediak

= The Cross by the Stream, from Slovacke Theatre (Uherske Hradiste, Czech Republic) is stunning theatre. It’s an adaptation of Karolina Svetla’s 1868 novel (Czech) of that name, the story of a woman who marries a man from family cursed in their marriages. It has has the power of myth; it reaches a point in our collective unconscious that we hadn’t met before, or had forgotten.

The script itself is powerful, with a dignified poetry: “I can’t love. There is  no heart on me. Only a handful of ashes,” and “A grave blacker and deeper than night.” 

The play uses sophisticated, challenging techniques. There’s murder and suicide, but the victims nonetheless continue in the story. The abusive husband beats a stuffed dummy while his wife watches. Dramatic action has its own rules - events on stage have their own truth. If there are passages that dwell for too long on the moment - well, this is a dramatic poem, and these are mythical moments.

Martin Frantisak’s meticulous direction (he adapted the novel, along with Marketa Spetikova) is non-mimetic; Eva Jirikovska’s set matches it perfectly. The stage pictures give us nothing we don’t need, and what they offer has an expressionist reality, like an hallucination.

Marvelous acting throughout. These are not melodramatic characters, good or bad. In the writing and the excellent performances, there’s complexity. These are specific and timeless characters, at once ordinary people and myths. The Cross by the Stream is wonderful work from Slovacke Theatre!

review
Steve Capra
September 2019
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