Natálie Rivolová as Corrie. Photo credit: Tom Karola.
Could you shortly introduce yourself?
My name is Natálie Rivolová, I am 23 years old and come from a small village near Brno and I moved here for my studies.
What do you study?
I study theatre studies at the Faculty of Arts, at Masaryk University this is my last year of bachelor studies.
Will you go on with your master studies?
I am not sure about that, the only thing I am sure about is that I would love to do something with theatre, maybe teaching drama with a focus on improvisation and different exercises – or something like that. I am a drama teacher already, I teach little kids theatre in English, so would like to go keep going in this direction but take it even further.
How did you get to theatre and BEST divadlo?
It was by accident, I think four or five years ago when I got drunk at one of our semester welcome parties – at that time I studied history actually – during which I met a few people that were engaged in theatre and I said yes to joining their theatre group. After that I started acting and I really liked it, so I joined another group and with time I became more and more involved in theatre and it eventually lead to studying theatre and to BEST divadlo as well.
What theatre groups are you a member of? How did you get to know about BEST?
The first theatre group is called Zelí, it is a Czech-speaking theatre group and it is something different than BEST as we are focusing on different techniques – improvisation, and movement on stage – more than on the performances themselves. Even our performances are somewhat different as they are based on topics, for example relationships. It is really challenging as you do not have the play written out word for word, but that is what actually attracts me to it.
I have been a member of BEST for about a year, I acted in our last play, Largo Desolato and am in our ongoing play, “Barefoot In The Park”.
What do you like about your character in Barefoot In The Park?
I like that Corrie is crazy, I think I am crazy too, but she is different crazy from me and it is very challenging for me to play a character that is very energetic and spontaneous; I would never be able to do what she did, you know, to marry a guy after a few months. We do have a little bit in common though, which is something I found out when we were doing a scene when she was fighting with her husband and that is, that she wants to fight and that she lives in the moment, that gives her the biggest power; she also does not think things through.
When you say she is spontaneous – is there some part of the play that would show how spontaneous she is?
Well, yes, it was very hard for me to take off my shirt! (she laughs)
Were there more moments like this that you really had to challenge yourself to do?
For sure kissing on stage, it was my first time – it was… you know (gives me a look) not that bad. (laughs) The very first time you do it is really weird, but when you get to know the person you build the relationship and it is also much easier as I know my co-actor from a previous play already, so he was not a complete stranger.
And tell me now – who is your favourite character?
Well, except for Corrie, it is obviously the mother. She is the mother that we all have, always critical, you are afraid to do something on your own without her help… a bit like my mother as well. And that is why I like the character, it is so authentic. In the end, Corrie will for sure become like her mother in the future. We all are like our mothers. Apart from that, I love the way Anita (note: actress playing the mother) plays her and I love our scenes together; it is so hard for me not to laugh.
What is the main reason people should come and see the play?
The play is from everyday life and people just love to see everyday moments put on stage or TV, their problems or relationships… well for this play the fun is that they are opposites – Paul and Corrie – and that is what makes it worth seeing; you can see how they still attract each other and can make it work – with slight problems of course. I think everyone will find something in the play or will find something similar to themselves in one of the characters.
Is there something else you would like to mention?
Actually yes, you are also very welcome to our theatre workshops – I will be leading one of them in the future!
Author: Jitka Müllerová
Editor: Ivana Němčoková
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