Nosferatu - A Diary of the Plague

The main inspiration for the show “Nosferatu - A Diary of the Plague” was the film “Nosferatu - A Symphony of Horror”, directed by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, for which Henrik Galeen wrote the screenplay. It was the first film adaptation inspired by Bram Stoker's novel “Dracula”.

In our interpretation and staging of this theme, we would like to emphasise the phenomenon of the plague. A mysterious disease from which the inhabitants of Wisborg fall en masse. Since the appearance of Nosferatu in the city, many of its inhabitants have been afflicted by an ailment in which they levitate between life and death. During the day, they are devoid of energy and apathetic, unable to act. At night they come to life for a while, only to fall back into lethargy. The production does not deal with the essence of vampirism, but with contemporary societies living like zombies.

The performance is realised using the author's manual cinema technique. The film reel is set in motion by the actor's hands, while shadow puppets appear on the screen. Another very interesting procedure is the creation of the playing field - the place where the performance is realised. The performance is shown in a specially prepared theatrical trailer - our cinema-theatre on wheels, with which we travel to the subsequent performance locations. The audience is invited inside the trailer. Enclosing the audience in a small space helps to create the impression of the audience being in a parlour of fears and heightens emotions.... And the fear of the plague that is outside.