Thunder Over Silence. Can You Hear It? | Premiere of Mates Petrák’s Physical Comedy Rumble

How can we continue the tradition of mime, grotesque, and physical comedy today without turning it into a museum artifact? How can one leave their teachers behind without denying their influence? And where lies the boundary between homage and the need for a radical departure? These are precisely the questions that Mates Petrák explores in his new solo performance Rumble, which will premiere at MOVE Ostrava on 5 and 6 March at Studio G in Ostrava.

Mates Petrák is a distinctive figure of the emerging generation of Czech nonverbal and physical theatre, and he conceived Rumble as a personal artistic statement about the inner pressure experienced by a young creator moving between respect for tradition and the need to disrupt it. Between ambition, ferocity, and doubt. Between the effort not to “sell out” and the necessity of surviving within the realities of today’s cultural landscape.

“Rumble is my attempt to come to terms with the moment when you realise that everything you admire has already been done - and yet you still have to move forward. It’s about the need to leave behind your role models and safe methods and risk your own fall. About deliberate recklessness. About the moment when a student must step off the teacher’s path in order to find their own,” says Petrák.

The performance moves on the border between mime, grotesque, physical comedy, and new circus, but it does not treat any of these disciplines as a closed style. Quite the opposite. Petrák uses them as raw material - dirty, torn, and at times almost aggressive. The language of the production is the body under pressure, in fall, in rebellion. Rumble is not a nostalgic return to the “golden age of mime,” but an attempt at its radical reimagining.

As the author, director, choreographer, and performer all in one, Petrák encountered a number of unexpected moments during the creation process. One of the more pleasant ones - yet adding a touch of surrealism to the entire project - came when the symbolic layer of the production intersected with reality. Some time ago, Vanda Hybnerová invited him to perform in Prague at Hybernia Theatre immediately after the Ostrava premiere, as part of the legendary Slava’s SNOWSHOW - the show by mime Slava Polunin, in which his artistic colleague Boris Hybner performed for many years. This very duo is one of the inspirations behind Rumble, and Petrák has even borrowed Hybner’s coat as a costume. In this way, role models, heritage, and the need to move forward - one of the central themes of the production - symbolically meet.

Rumble is currently being developed during one of several creative residencies - this time at the Cirko – Centre for New Circus in Finland ⤵️

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The significance of premiering the production in Ostrava is further strengthened by the continuity of the relationship between the author, the audience, the space, and Mates Petrák’s personal connection to the city he comes from. In recent years, he has sold out Studio G four times with his solo project Memento Mori.

“We have long focused on supporting young artists at the moment when their work shifts from interpretation toward authorship, and Mates Petrák has for many years been one of the creators whose work interests us not only for the final result, but also for the entire process of searching. We see Rumble as an important step in his artistic development and as a production that has something to say to contemporary audiences - without compromise and without simplification,” explains Jana Ryšlavá, the leading figure of MOVE Ostrava, on why she decided to support the creation of Rumble and include its premiere in this year’s programme. “At the same time, we are systematically trying to create conditions for artists originally from Ostrava to return to the region. For us, culture is a tool for counteracting the outflow of talent - not through declarations, but through concrete actions.”

The quality of this dramaturgical choice is also confirmed by Mimosa Lindahl, director of the Finnish company MimoArt Company, with whom Mates performs and whose spaces were among the residency centres where Rumble was developed. “His acrobatic skills challenge gravity and the limits of human physics, leaving audiences breathless and astonished. Yet behind his strong, athletic presence lies a sensitive and poetic performer capable of deep emotional nuance. This rare combination makes his shows layered, intimate, and powerfully affecting. Only a few performers in the world can simultaneously surprise, seduce, disarm, and make an audience laugh the way Petrák does. He is a master of timing, fearless in addressing complex and demanding themes, and effortlessly captivating in his stage art.”

Would you like to experience it for yourself? The premieres of Rumble will take place on 5 and 6 March 2026 at Studio G in Ostrava. Tickets are available on GoOut in our traditional Pay What You Can format, allowing each audience member to choose the ticket price they wish to pay - and how much they would like to support Czech culture.