Encounter2017_MP04_EN

INTERVIEW
AN EXTREMELY PLEASANT ENCOUNTER WITH KAMILA POLÍVKOVÁ
We are to have a meeting on Wednesday at 11:30. She is standing in front of the Academy
a few minutes before half-past and suggests that we go to Rotor Bar. We sit down
and order. The nervousness is fading away and I am starting to look forward to the
interview. I stammered nervously when asking the first question but from that point
on the conversation was very pleasant. A conversation with a woman of many skills
and talents – with Kamila Polívková. The interview has been published today but we
carried out this interview on the second day of the Festival.
—
After how long are you back in your hometown of Brno?
The last time I was here was three weeks ago on an explication at the HaDivadlo theatre
where I am going to start rehearsing an adaptation of Petra Hůlová’s novel Macocha when
the Festival is over. Otherwise, I get here quite often because it is my hometown and all
of my friends, family and from time to time my work are here. Anyway, I love being here.
How do you perceive that the Festival Encounter belongs to the city you were
born in?
In the past few years, Brno has literally started living and it is wonderful to see how
naturally the visitors and the guests fit in the Festival’s atmosphere and share the popular
paths, coffee places and bars with the locals. I remember that I took part in the
Festival back when I was a student at JAMU but it did not feel so interconnected and
lively. And participation in an international student festival is a unique opportunity for
the city to create conditions for meetings of not only students but also teachers and
experts from all over the world. Brno is a university city and an event of this sort fits it
well. I think that some bonds are often created on such events that can mean mutual
and international cooperation in the future. It is great that a person gets a certain
overview of what is going on in here and right now in the academic settings. I, personally,
have not been a student for a very long time and that is also why I gladly accepted
the offer to become a member of the jury and to have the opportunity to see so
many international and domestic student works and to get a picture of the direction
modern theatre is taking.
What is your experience with being in a jury?
So far only one. I was in a jury at the Prague Quadrennial 2015 where I was a jury member
that chose Czech exposition and a jury member of the main competition. It was
a fantastic experience. Similar to the Festival Encounter in the sense of having the opportunity
to track all of the main events including the main – and student – expositions.
Are you going to evaluate the performances according to some criteria or are
you going to rely on your spectator intuition?
Since you have reached me after the first day of the Festival when I have already seen
three performances I am currently contemplating how to approach it. I am striving
to put myself into the position of an ordinary viewer and to get carried away by the
story, form and most of all by all the young and talented people around. At the same
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