Life is Life (Život je Fajn) is a new piece by a wholly bizarre but innovative theatre company. Using dance, movement, music, and comedy, they harness the imagination created by black lights and UV paint to paint a strange but engaging piece of performance.
Prague has small, almost fringe theatres down nearly every side-street, as well as their National Theatre and other more central venues. Down one such road and through a tiled restaurant complex sits the Divadlo Metro, home of one of several Black Light Theatre groups, but the only place in which the secrets of this style are revealed in a short hands-on workshop after each performance.
Designed by František Kratochvíl, Life is Life explores the life cycle of a man, pre-birth through to death, focusing in on ordinary and some rather extraordinary moments in time including encounters with horses, a car ride through the city, and an ongoing courtship with a mysterious and dangerous woman in red. Using fairly basic principles of UV paint and black light, the performers drew you into a world of mild chaos amid intricate choreography and funny (not cheesy) pop-culture references. Merunka Matěj played the main man and did so with charisma and charm throughout, alongside Stolařová Lenka whose dancing ability was beautiful to watch.
If you ever find yourself in the wonderfully unique city of Prague, spare an evening and seek out Black Light Theatre. It’s not traditional, it’s not quite comprehensible, but it’ll have you giggling and gasping throughout.
