Outdoor performative situation

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"Theatre seems to have more in common with sports and games than with ritual or acting. This should give rise to research ... from a thorough examination of the ancient Olympic Games, bear hunts and rooster fights as role models for Greek and Elizabethan theatre, to modern game theory. As Philip McCoy says, game theory examines decision-making in conflict situations."

- Richard Schechner: Performance: Theories, Practices, Rituals

Draw doubles tournament.

During the break, tennis player argues with the coach.

The judge gives an ode to clay.

Someone else gives an ode to a tennis bag.

Hector and Achilles meet on court number 2.

Someone is sitting at the bar, waiting for grilled vegetables.

The tournament manager is still making important phone calls.

The tournament director, after a wonderful speech, politically incorrectly takes part in the matches.

Is it tennis or theatre that is on?

Apart from the above question, the afternoon of culture and sports is also a celebration.

In 2021, 280 years will have passed since the transformation of the ball-room, a space intended for period tennis – jeu de poume – into one of the first major city theatres, the Vienna Burgtheater. We will also celebrate 360 years since the foundation of the major Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, rebuilt from Lisle's Tennis Court on Portugal Street in London; and 400 years since the major boom in the transformation of ball-rooms into theatres in Paris.

We will be presenting an official proposal to declare all tennis clubs as theatre spaces under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic, thus continuing the tradition of placing cultural centres in gyms, such as the A4, or the gym Telocvičňa in Nova Cvernovka.

Petra Fornayová focuses on contemporary dance and theatre. She has created over 20 original performances, such as the Manifesto of Possibilities (Manifest možností), End End, Playing the Future (Koniec Koniec), Opernball that featured in Slvoakia and internationally (International Theatre Festival Divadelná Nitra, Nová Dráma / New Drama, Jamais Vu! Paris, Tanec Praha / Dance Prague, HybajHo! Praha, Korespondance CZ, etc.).

The works Dance with Changing Parts (2018) and Patterns (2019), which she created in collaboration with the Cluster ensemble, premièred at the Opera Nova National Theatre  Prague, were nominated for the 2018 and 2019 Tatrabanka Foundation Award for Art.

In 2006, Petra founded the Nu Dance Fest. She is  member of the editorial board of the magazine for contemporary art VLNA. In 2018, her performance in Juraj Lehotský's film Nina earned her the 2018 National Film Award Sun in the Net. She played one of the lead roles in Mira Fornay's film Cook F**k Kill (Žaby bez jazyka), which was nominated for the 2021 Czech Lion Award in the Best Film category.  //  www.petra-fornayova.sk

Concept, script and directed by: Petra Fornayová

Dramaturgy: Peter Šulej

Text sources: Elfriede Jelinek – Ein Sportstück, Peter Šulej – Phytopaleontology (Fytopaleontológia)

Cast: Vlado Zboroň, Peter Kadlečík, Annamária Janeková, Ľubo Burgr, Vlado Kittler, Marta Poláková, Gertrud Maria Korpič, Ján Šimko, Ludvig Bagin, Heidi Šinková, Anna Čonková, Soňa Ferienčíková, Monika Haasová, Fero Király, Eva Šušková, Peter Mazalán,  Matúš  Szeghö, Soňa Kúdelová, Barbora Janáková, Michal Spielmann, René Schleifer and tennis players – participants at the 1^st edition of the tennis draw doubles tournament Game Play Open.

Production: Martina Kotláriková

PR: Eva Vozárová

Video-recording & editing: Adam Hanuljak

Photorecording: Barbora Dolinajová

Kindly supported by:

The project has been supported from the public funds by the Slovak Arts Council;

Bratislava Self-Governing Region – Bratislava Regional Subsidy Scheme, and The City of Bratislava Foundation.

Project partner: TK Slovan Patrónka.

Running time: 480 min