The Black Light Theatre
It's the start of the 60s and Jiří Srnec, student of puppet theatre in Prague has just discovered the age-old principle of black light theatre. At first it's just a game, a surprise. Who could have guessed that this stroke of good fortune would stand at the inception of the worldwide success known as the Black Light Theatre of Jiří Srnec?"It was just a lucky coincidence," says Jiří Srnec when he talks about the beginning of his theatre. He tried out student performance. He combined live actors with puppets. On the stage there was black velvet, a black screen, and girls in black T-shirts, and all at once they disappeared, leaving just a hand holding a bottle.The Black Light Theatre will be a poetic documentary film, visually magical and mysterious. We are looking for a way to use film to express the passion and determination that accompany this original Czech theatre concept.The Black Light Theatre of Jiří Srnec was founded more than 50 years ago. Since then its performances have been attended by more than 5 million people in more than 70 countries. Standing at the inception of the Black Light Theatre and Laterna Magika were schoolmates from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. They were personalities like Jiří Anderle, Jan Švankmajer, Jiří Menzel, Josef Svoboda, Miloš Forman and Juraj Jakubisko.The story of the Black Light Theatre is at the same time the life story of its founder and creator Jiří Srnec. This scenographer, director, visual artist, composer and theatre manager is an extraordinary figure. Part of the film will focus on the preparation of a new production KAFKA, which Jiří Srnec and the Black Light Theatre are preparing. We will witness the creative process and change and birth of the new work of this energetic 83-year-old artist.The whole film should present much more than a brilliant but simple idea with enormous possibilities for personal expression and creation idea that entered into the history of theatre and continues to fascinate