Hura Collective's ERBEN: HAIR

Hura Collective's ERBEN: HAIR

"The king remained as if a sword had been thrust into his chest. He did not sleep until morning; he thought about what and how to prevent what he had heard from happening..." -K.J. Erben

Hailing from Prague, Czech Republic, Hura Collective's performance, "Erben: Hair," tells the tale of a king who loved to chase animals. After a series of evil deeds, he longs to chase animals forever.

Hura Collective's non-verbal visual puppet production mines classic Czech folklore to examines the theme of the perils of unchecked political power. The performance is part of a series of dark adaptations of Karel Jaromír Erben's fairy tales "Hair - Eyes - Death." Erben, a mid-19th century Czech folklorist and poet, was part of a radical Romanticist movement in Bohemia that sought to strengthen a Slavic cultural identity. He believed that, "An independent nation can only exist as long as it preserves its memorials."

Like the German Romanticists, Brothers Grimm, Erben also collected fairy tales. He looked for elements of ancient myths in living folk narratives and published a selection of Slavonic fairy tales and collected Czech fairy tales in 1905.

In Hura Collective's performance, live music, shadows and strictly analogue techniques create a fragile yet dark and raw atmosphere that tells a fairy tale about the King, three fates, a drowned princess and a revived skeleton without a single word, all in two acts.

The puppet theatre itself is made up of parts of a piano, which, in addition to its new function, has not ceased to be a musical instrument. Live sounds on the springs and bells in the tradition of family puppet theaters in Prague. The theatre was built by Hura Collective's Hza Bažant from material discovered in the Bažant studio, in the baroque Koulka estate in Smíchov, Prague.

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Saturday, March 8 at 7:00 PM (doors 6:30 PM), 35-minutes followed by an interactive Q & A

Sunday, March 9 at 5:00 PM (doors 4:30 PM), 35-minutes followed by an interactive Q & A

Tickets are available for $20 in advance, $23 at the door, and $30 for preferred seating (pay-what-you-can available)

Recommended for ages 6+

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Artist Bios:

The Hura Collective is a lively association of artists that provides protection for the activities of its members. The activities of the Hura Kolektiv are exhibitions, theatre productions and publications.

Hza Bažant and Leona Bažant Telínová are two of the founding members of the Hura Collective

MgA LEONA BAŽANT TELINOVA (TELONA)  * 1979 in Cheb

Leona lives and works in Prague. Her staged photographs are created in a magical studio in the baroque villa Koulka, which she shares with her husband, a stage designer and puppeteer. The environment of the villa, surrounded by wild gardens, as well as the many strange and disparate materials for making puppets all around, inspire the artist to create narrative images with a mysterious atmosphere.

In 2009 she studied photography in Pavel Baňka's atelier, at the Faculty of Art and Design, UJEP in Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic. In the field of photography she is mainly engaged in exhibition activities. Since 2021 she has been teaching photography.

JAN "HZA" BAŽANT (Doc. MgA Jan Bažant Ph.D.) * 1979 in Prague

Hza is a stage designer, puppeteer, graphic designer, comic author, and associated professor at KALD DAMU. The scope of his work combines theatre, street performance, comics and authorial graphic techniques, especially screen printing.

He studied at the DAMU in Prague, and completed internships at Academy of fine atrs in Prague and Universitat der Künste (UDK) in Berlin. He has led numerous workshops in the Czech Republic, Germany, Great Britain and Taiwan. Since 2010 he has been teaching at Department of Alternative and puppet theatre at Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, since 2019 as the head of the KALD Scenography Cabinet.

Hza is awarded as Fulbright Scholar for the spring term 2025 at University of Connecticut’s Puppet Arts program.

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The project is financially supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic

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PAY WHAT YOU CAN

No one will be turned away from MSA events for lack of funds; please contact us at 207-879-4629 or info@mayostreetarts.org to learn more and reserve tickets. Our box office staff are also happy to help.

EVENT PARKING

Free on-street parking is available in Mayo Street Arts’ neighborhood.

There is one paid parking lot conveniently located a six-minute walk from the venue: Top of the Old Port Parking (119 Pearl St, Portland ME 04101)

Mayo Street Arts is accessible by Greater Portland Metro bus routes with nearby transfer points 7, 9A & 9B. Click here to learn more.

ACCESSIBILITY

All performances and most other events held at Mayo Street Arts are wheelchair accessible. There are two accessible spots directly in front of our building, however there is not yet a curb cut out at that location.

If you would benefit from additional information or accommodations, we invite you to contact us at info@mayostreetarts.org or 207-879-4629.

COMMUNITY HEALTH

Audience members — in addition to artists, staff & volunteers — who feel sick or exhibit symptoms of illness should stay home out of respect for others.

SEATING POLICY

We will save your reserved seat until showtime, at which point any unclaimed seats may be offered to other people. Please call our box office at 207-879-4629 if you are running late.

CANCELATION POLICY

MSA has a no refund policy for all reservations. In the event that MSA is forced to cancel an event due to weather, illness, etc., refunds will be offered via the Ticket Tailor platform.