Team.

This is Ufftenživot. Or just „UF“ if its easier for you…

Cooperates with us… / Marta Ljubková, Tomáš Morávek, Lucia Kašiarová, Lukaš Benda, David Prokopič, Johanka Schmidtmajerová, Marie Gourdain, Marek Zelinka, Andrea Švandová, Klára Mišunová, Marek Bartoš, Dominik Žižka, Ivo Sedláček, Tomáš Vtípil, Lukáš Homola, Lukáš Bouzek, Natálka Rajnišová, Sára Jan Märcová…

The Ufftenživot group (Sára Arnstein, Jiří Šimek, and production manager Tatatiana Kravčenko) has been active on the independent theatre scene since 2013. They create unique projects on the borders of theatre, performance, slam poetry, and puppetry. Their productions are regularly presented at important stages in Prague, the Czech Republic, and abroad, as well as at international festivals. The ensemble’s last project, KEEP CALM (2017), was nominated for Best Alternative Production of the Year in an i-divadlo poll. Sára Arnstein won Best Female Actress in the same poll.

Since 2013, the team has created five devised shows: Králíček (The Rabbit, 2013, DAMU), GoG (2014, Studio ALTA), Loneliness & stuff (2016, Studio ALTA), KEEP CALM (2017, Alfred ve dvoře) Neboj_aneb show tanečníka Jiříka (Don’t be afraid_Or the Dancer Georgies (Jiřík`s) show, 2018, Cross Attic). They also lead workshops (Švestkový dvůr Malovice, Dětské studio Altík, Improtřesk, Art-Gate.cz) and act as hosts for cultural events (Día de los muertos 2016, Alfred ve dvoře; Dance Day 2017, Studio ALTA; Czech Theatre DNA Awards 2018).

Ufftenživot’s style of work combines disciplines, searching for new paths of scenic expression and pushing the boundaries of theatre as such. The process always begins with a topic. Through research, improvisation, and experimentation, the form of the resultant production gradually crystallises. In addition to a combination of expressive means (movement, speech, puppetry, projections), their work is characterised by an emphasis on the presence of the audience member and the performer; on their relationship here and now; on a certain nakedness and simplicity of message.

Currently on their repertoire are KEEP CALM and Jiří Šimek’s solo improvisation „Don’t be scared_or Jiřík the Dancer’s Show„. You can see the group’s productions in Prague, around the Czech Republic, and abroad.

You can look forward to two new premieres in 2019, namely WORDS OF APOLOGY, which addresses online hate speech targeted at women, and WHAT’S HAPPENING, an associative study into the lives of two girls attempting to navigate today’s world, searching for connections between seemingly unrelated disciplines.

“We understand theatre as an experience and a space of sharing in which we can return to something we have long forgotten: our natural spirituality, beat down by today’s consumerist, capitalist, and accelerated way of life. We try to create experiences that inspire the audience to find their own critical position, to broaden their horizons and find new names for what surrounds us. The absurdity and inconsistency of the world is our inspiration.”– Sára Arnstein