‘Travelling’ Light Black Light Theater of Prague fools the eye with fantasy

Jakub Marek’s publicity manager in the United States joked that it could be difficult tracking down the performer late in the day. He might be at a pub somewhere in Prague and not answering his mobile. But when the 23-year-old Marek, who manages one of Prague’s famed black light theaters, came to the phone, he was all business.

“In the Czech Republic, people have found out that it is not very difficult to do black light theater, and there must be eight companies in Prague,” he said. “About two of them are good.”

Presumably, Marek’s Black Light Theatre of Prague is one of the good ones. A unique storytelling theater ensemble, the group will land in this country next week for a monthlong U.S. tour that grew out of a run three years ago at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. A defining festival for many theatrical groups, the Fringe catapulted Black Light into the national performance spotlight and called its multimedia production “Gulliver” the “best political fantasy” of the festival.

The group will present “Gulliver,” based on the classic novel “Gulliver’s Travels,” as well as “Alice,” based on the children’s story “Alice and Wonderland,” in a program called “Fantasy Travellers” Thursday March 7 at the Maine Center for the Arts in Orono. Both shows have no scripts and last about 50 minutes each. They are appropriate for audiences of all ages, said Marek, with colorful visual qualities for small children and technical spectacles for adults.

A newspaper in Scotland, called “Gulliver” an “intelligent and highly stimulating performance that is so smoothly professional it should be held up as an example of what can be done … despite venues, despite lack of funding and despite all other excuses of amateurism.”

More than anything, said Marek, that solid professionalism defines the group, founded in the 1980s by Marek’s father, Pavel. In those days, Pavel was working with another partner in a company he also founded. But after the Fringe and the success of “Gulliver,” which Pavel wrote, the father-and-son team decided to go it alone. Their theater currently has three touring productions on the road – in Spain, Greece and, next week, the U.S.

Indeed, Black Light performs primarily outside of its national headquarters. Marek said that many artists in the Czech Republic, which joined the European Union last year, are drawn to leaving the country to seek better paying work than is available at home.

“We’re a private company, and we don’t get money from the government,” said Marek, who was educated in London. “But there is a problem with funding and the government. Some ballet dancers, for instance, go through many years of school and then get a job that pays them around $200 a month. Many of the good artists are leaving.”

In addition to the financial benefits, Black Light is also traveling worldwide to share a form of theater that has become part of the national identity of the Czech Republic even though the approach has roots in China, Japan and France.

The principle of the black light technique is an optical ruse, a black box trick that capitalizes on the eye’s inability to distinguish black on black. Actors dressed in black move against a black background and are invisible to the audience, while props and puppets become the focus. In the same way, devices are hidden from spectators, allowing illuminated objects to “come to life.”

In recent years, the Black Light creative team has added widescreen projections, oversized puppets, animation and computer-generated effects to the show. The most frequent question Marek gets about the theater, he said, is technical: How do you make actors fly?

He laughed in answering.

“Like James Bond would say: If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” said Marek.

The Black Light Theatre of Prague will present “Fantasy Travellers” 7 p.m. Thursday March 7 at the Maine Center for the Arts. For information, call 581-1755. Alicia Anstead can be reached at 990-8266 and aanstead@bangordailynews.net.

“Fantasy Travellers”

When: 7 p.m., Thursday, March 3

Where: Maine Center for

the Arts, Orono

Tickets: $12-$22 for adults, $5-$10 for children

Contact: 581-1755