Questions for Next Year

The Question for Next Year is choreography for three performers: Mrs. Iva Gottliebová (1925), dancer Kristýna Lhotáková (1977) and sound designer Ladislav Soukup (1968).

The production is inspired by Iva Gottliebová who allows her life - both past and present - to be explored through her presence on stage.

After finishing her primary education in Benešov, Czech Republic, Iva Gottliebová apprenticed to become a seamstress. During the Second World War she travelled with a group of circus artists as an acrobat in order to avoid the German occupation. In 1945 she entered the Communist party. In 1955 she graduated from the Pedagogical Faculty of Charles University, Prague. Soon after, she worked as a journalist for the communist daily newspaper Rude právo (literally: Red Right). In 1967 she left the communist party and worked as a head waitress. Iva is currently training gymnastics for the Sokol organization. She is retired, divorced, has four children and seven grandchildren.

Choreographer Kristýna Lhotáková and director/sound designer Ladislav Soukup focus on the aesthetics of documentary theatre. They work with non-dancers, or so-called real people, as their inspiration, and these people usually also personally appear on stage. Over the course of the last 10 years of working together and the last 5 years of making theatre Kristýna Lhotáková and Ladislav Soukup have developed a specific dance/theatre aesthetic thriving to catch the essentially Czech, while aiming to stay authentic and different.

The Question for Next Year was presented through the network for performing arts in which Avant Garden, BIT Teatergarasjen and Black Box Teater were members.

Source: BIT Teatergarasjen, Meteor 2005. 17.09.2010: www.bit-teatergarasjen.no archive