Loops and Hoops

LOOPS AND HOOPS is a puppet and multimedia show about the life in communist Czechoslovakia after the Soviet invasion in 1968. It explores the atmosphere of that period through symbols and visual elements with no language barrier, making the production accessible to a wide audience. Focusing on details, the show reflects the mundane reality and ideology of the ‘normalised’ society.

 It’s pretty cute, actually, especially for those who have lived through those times. Dominik Migač & Co. present a diorama of the socialist 1980s, featuring all kinds of artefacts typical of the era: a prefabricated housing estate, a Karosa bus, a metro station with a weird name, or an endless queue for bananas in front of a shop. The show allows us to reminisce, perhaps even with a speck of nostalgia, about times that will (thankfully!) never return. (…) Fortunately, about half an hour later, the cute trap snaps shut. The last ten minutes take us to the ‘Spartakiad’ – the hideous mass gymnastics event with even more disgusting ideological overcoat whereby the communist regime vaingloriously celebrated itself – and here, the message gets quite clear. While the poetics remain unchanged, the crowds of miniature gymnasts seem scary, rather than cute, which is accentuated by the accompanying commentary brimming with period-accurate newspeak (until that moment, the production is without words). All that remains is the main character’s tired journey home, to the grey prefabs, mundane and bleak, just like the world in which this real-socialist genre show is set.
VLADIMÍR MIKULKA, Nadivadlo

The creators play with perspective, using several sizes of backdrops and puppets, which gradually multiply. The communist era of ‘normalisation’ produces an army of identical women-comrades. Cinematic-like editing brings dynamism into the production, where scene follows scene in rapid succession only to be interspersed with a funny moment.
KRISTÝNA VINAŘOVÁ, Spora

The production (…) is played in a set the size of an old TV set with flat puppets, or rather mini puppets. On stage (on a moving belt), the day of a socialist woman passes literally as well as figuratively, starting with her morning bus ride, then waiting in the queue for groceries, flipping through period fashion magazines, shopping at the department store, all meticulously rendered. Yet, any slight hint of retro nostalgia that the spectacle might evoke in the audience is torn into pieces by the stifling atmosphere of forced jubilant optimism seeping through the authentic television commentary, celebrating the ‘moving symphony of thousands of bodies’ – the mass gymnastic routine for women, perfectly rendered on stage by rows of miniature female gymnasts. The production shows the uniformity, the rigidly organised life, the supressed genuine and authentic womanhood, all virtually without words, yet poignantly.
KAMILA ČERNÁ, Divadelní noviny

DOMINIK MIGAČ (1991) is an actor and experimental creator focusing on object, material and multimedia theatre. He graduated from the DAMU Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre. His speciality is creating theatrical micro-worlds and animating miniature puppets, often using multimedia and technologies as an essential part of his work. As a creator and performer, he has already drawn attention with the production μSputnik. He explores experimental methods and combines various forms of theatrical expression in his work. In his performances and productions, he reflects on social issues, which he portrays through innovative means. His productions include the aforementioned μSputnik (2016) for one viewer or Prefabs (2019) about the phenomenon of prefabricated housing, for which he won the Divadelní noviny award in the Puppet Theatre category. Both productions were presented at the Divadlo International Theatre Festival.

MARTA HERMANNOVÁ (1997) studied directing and dramaturgy at DAMU Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre; during her studies, she also took a considerable number of acting courses. After her studies, she spent two seasons as an actor at the Lampion puppet theatre in Kladno. She is an actress and singer in the Veselé chvíle choir.

JAN PICHLER (1993) is an actor and puppeteer. Having completed secondary pedagogical school in Prachatice, he started studying drama at DAMU in Prague and then changed schools to the Higher Vocational School of Acting in Prague-Michle, where he successfully graduated. Afterwards, he worked as an actor at the Lampion puppet theatre.