There's something exceptional about normal people. Women, men, dancers, musicians, a worker, an artist, a self-taught director, young and old, Czech or Chinese, these ordinary people lay themselves bare onstage in their own language. Through touches of nostalgia, moving and funny anecdotes, memorable historic events, and personal tragedies, they lead us into their lives. Fears, wounds, hopes for freedom, each in turn tells us of a trajectory derailed by the excesses of a totalitarian communist regime. China, Czechoslovakia... So far, and yet so close! Language drives them apart, but History brings them together. Memories help build a bond. The sincerity of the words answers the memory of the bodies. Dance movements, silly songs, images projected onto a screen, and the clinking of objects against mobile barriers fill the space, forever restructuring it. In a show halfway between documentary theatre and dance, Jana Svobodová and Wen Hui give us to see emotionally-charged fragments of those extraordinary lives.

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This performance, directed by Jana Svobodová and Chinese choreographer Wen Hui, combines elements of documentary theatre and dance. It is based on the intersections of real-life stories of people living in the Czech Republic and China, with important milestones in the history of both countries. The piece presents us with a dialogue of a sincere, sensitive nature at the crossroads between documentary theatre and dance.

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The production Ordinary People, created by Divadlo Archa, was featured in the main program of the prestigious Avignon Theatre Festival.