Trains

There is a Train Station in my Head. Industrial haiku.

Authors, artists, info:

The primary inspiration stems from the squeaking sound of brakes and inscriptions on rusting train wagons. The atmosphere of a different time imprinted on old rural train stations and crumbling rusty iron scrap was remoulded in the Trains project into an abstract industrial picture.

A concert for the sounds of trains, iron percussion instruments, projected photographs collected in and around train stations, with several performers standing by. A squeaking sound of the old greasy. bygone world.

Czech railway is like a big, heavy animal that moves ahead to follow its destination created many, many years ago. It has been changing though, or it has just started to undergo a change, to be more exact, into a modern means of transport we are familiar with from our neighbouring countries. However, our interest lies in those relics of the past that have survived to the present time.

Press:

„An attempt at synthetic theatre is typical of almost every project presented. In some, the connection of musical and visual elements governs, above all, frequently on the borders of the theatre genre. This is the case in the minimalistic production Trains of Handa Gote, from the surroundings of run down Czech stations. Handa Gote brings the atmosphere to life mainly with the help of three projection surfaces and music (percussion, computer loops, industrial noises produced on a variety of objects). The performers are actually just maintenance men and attendants of the equipment. Sound passages, inspired station noises and rhythms, create almost a concert piece, accompanied by projection of station details - screws, numbers or corroded surfaces, which, taken out of context, are reminiscent of modern artworks. Here and there the sound-graphic surfaces are complimented by gags: exercises with a swatter, a dialogue between passengers created with the help of mini puppets and toy trains, projected onto the screen, or the reading of rail or even life philosophy. The collage appeals to the collective  memory of the audience, and breathes life into the forgotten."

Ester Žantovská: From the Tour of New Theatre Small Inventory Inventory. Kulturní týdeník A2 10/2008

„An hour of output or performance in the sense of provocation of audience reaction and the stroking of bellies, but a more or less prepared stage study, which has conditions suitable for use in theatrical performance. Lovely ideas, entering which the authors certainly sincerely entertained."

Eva Andrejčáková: Output to Infinity. sme.cz piatok 29. 2. 2008