Happy Hour

150 polystyrene panels, three performers and an infinite number of generated structures.Happy Hour is a performative minecraft that takes inspiration from the current buzz around artificial intelligence and attempts to translate its principles into theatrical form.

From simple to complex, from construction to deconstruction. In the course of one hour, many structures are built and demolished on stage, always resembling something specific: a swamp, a lake, a cemetery, a glacier, a tower, a temple, a fortress... but as soon as you can identify them, they are already being dismantled and new ones are being built.

The frenetic activity of the performers thus resembles the process of machine learning, where neural networks try to mimic the world of humans, our characteristics and behavior by processing huge amounts of data. Inevitably, a situation arises where the copy approaches the original, where it crosses boundaries that until now seemed unsurpassable…

And in the same way that computer scientists working with algorithms based on deep learning are unable to understand the path that led to the result, so too can the events on stage resemble a glimpse into a black box. Something emerges that is beyond our capabilities, that we do not understand and that no longer needs us. 

Happy Hour offers, through a powerful visual experience, a glimpse into an uncanny world that we created but cannot master - a meditation on the possibilities of man in an era of ending human exclusivity.

"Happy Hour offers a refined blend of humour and depression" - Lucie Kocourková (Divadelní Noviny)

"Without any pomp, Happy Hour offers such a massive parallel to human civilization that it fogged up my glasses - without ever taking them out of my pocket."- Martin Špetlík (Lighting Designer)

Concept, direction, set design by Jan Mocek
Created with and performed by:
Tinka Avramova, Irina Andreeva, Arseniy Mikhaylov
Music: Matouš Hekela
Sound, lighting: Ondřej Růžička
Consultations: Sodja Lotker
Photo: Martin Špelda
Teaser: Radim Labuda
Production: Táňa Švehlová, SixHouses z.s.

With support from / acknowledgments: Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the City of Prague, Prague 7 Municipal District, State Fund for Culture, Život Umělce Foundation, Czech-German Future Fund, SixHouses z.s.