The Life of Mankind

Pavol Weiss
The Life of Mankind
The main characters in this original Slovak play are two young men who are initially very similar – both rebel against social realities. One sprays “Down with capitalism" on walls, the other smashes the windows of luxury cars with an iron bar. During the course of the play one of them becomes a neo-Nazi, the other becomes an intellectual leftist, essentially a heartless money-grabber. The young men are – as always – linked through a woman, beautiful and pure, or merely longing for purity in the dirty world. Monika is hit hard by the reality and disappoints not only the two men, but also gradually looses all her ideals. Their parents appear in the play, the generation that "is to blame for everything", and this is not a flattering picture. A loveless marriage, sex for money, alcoholism, the despair of the poor and the rich, the lack of affection between parents and children, and also the harrowing desire to find meaning.
Dystopia is a genre which the author writes in conflict with their own system of values, it is the image of a world that believes it should look and function differently. The reason for which dystopia is written is to warn society. The production is part of a project in which we invite renowned foreign directors to premiere new Slovak works. From the Life of Mankind will be directed by Bosnian director Dino Mustafić.
Running time: 3 hrs with one interval