Magic Hour

“Magic hour” is a term used in cinematography for the few minutes at dawn and dusk when the lights change quickly and dramatically. During this small window night scenes can be filmed while there is still some light. In the story, this has special significance: this is where the subconscious and the supernatural collide. The border between fantasy and reality breaks down ending in either darkness or blinding light. The darkness, which we still childishly fear; and the light, in which we have to face not only each other, but also ourselves - perhaps even more terrifying as grown ups. Narratíva Kollektíva’s theater project takes Chekhov’s most enigmatic work and juxtaposes it with our present. Understanding individual fates and nervous systems allows us to scrutinize an abstract set of problems: how do intellectuals become vulnerable and impotent? Who takes up the mantle and what do they do with the responsibility? 

Ljuba makes some wrong decisions which result in personal trauma. To avoid responsibility, he escapes to Paris. He has a nervous breakdown and completely gives up on his life. His family brings him home in the last minute, but home is not just a place of comfort: Ljuba has to face the immovable nature of his country and his surroundings. In the emerging new world order, those who are incapable of change are deemed to disappear. A storm is brewing around the characters, who, even during the calm before the storm, are lost in their own, petrified ways. Which is still damn funny, liberating, passionate. It’s all so human.