Prague Fringe 2012 Review: Zwets

Prague Fringe Festival 2012: Zwets

It’s tough getting a parking space in Prague.

Yesterday I wondered if the reason I couldn’t see the bright green caravan in which Nancy Wiltnik was due to give her performance was that I wasn’t looking hard enough. Wrong – the killjoy powers-that be had decided not to give Nancy permission to park on Malostranské náměstí after all. A shame, as I thought there was something appealingly anarchic about a mobile home with its own resident storyteller parking up in the middle of picture postcard Prague. Sadly the bureaucrats disagreed. 

I managed to track Nancy down in her new parking spot behind Divadlo Kampa just in time for her show, Zwets. In case you’re curious, this Dutch word loosely translates as ‘chat’ but can also mean ‘babble’, ‘chatter’ or ‘gab on’. The show’s concept is simple: you climb aboard the ecovan and are taken on a journey to the future as Nancy tells you the story of a world where a biofuel has transformed the planet – but for better or for worse?

I was concerned that seeing a show in such an intimate venue would mean forced audience participation – in other words, my ultimate fringe hell. When Nancy kicked off by asking us whether we now found ourselves doing what we had planned to with our lives back when we were eighteen, I thought the proceedings might descend into a cringeworthy group therapy session.

Thankfully it didn’t.

What Nancy offers is good old fashioned storytelling, which manages to be engaging without the aid of props, silly costumes or other daft gimmicks – if you overlook the fact that you’re sitting in a caravan lined with floral cushions and bright green turf. Her show has a message but it’s one that’s delivered without being too preachy.

I left the caravan after an hour with a smile on my face and a Moringa tree seed in my hand. My only minor whinge is that the venue was rather chilly. Any chance of using some Flower Power biofuel to warm things up a bit?