Ostravské Divadlo Mír is coming up with another unique project these days. The online comedy series called Crematorium has been gradually available since January 25 on the MirPlay.cz video library and the Mír Theater YouTube channel. The main role will be played by Jiří Lábus, who plays himself.
The six-part series also features familiar faces such as Albert Čuba, Robin Ferro and Vladimír Polák. These were supplemented by a female cast in the form of Lady Bělašková, Maria Anna Kupcová or Kamila Janovičová. Under the direction of Tomáš Svoboda, the legend of television entertainment is literally buried by the Ostrava gang, so that the day following the cremation, he will settle in a special form in the home of the owners of the local crematorium. Black and white, hungry and without the slightest idea of his own death, Jiří Lábus spins a story full of bizarre incidents, funny events, but also love and “family cremation warmth”.
“The next morning I’m already making eggs in the kitchen of the owners of the crematorium in which I had a funeral the day before, it’s beautifully absurd and funny” commented on the new project Jiří Lábus, which revived memories of the Arabela and Rumburak series following forty years. The series Crematorium is full of references to his admirable acting career, including the famous incantation “Hubero kororo”.
The crematorium does not take any napkins, it is full of black humor, irony and nothing is sacred to it, not even death… The series tells the story of the Záhorský family and their family crematorium, in which strange, mysterious and at the same time very funny events begin to happen that cross the border of life , death, and especially dark humor.
“It’s a very good comedy script that I really enjoyed following a long time. Reading it reminded me of the films of the Václav Vorlíček-Miloš Macourek tandem. It reminded me of their world of absurd comedies. And because I knew both creators well, this filming was very close to me,” he confided Jiří Lábus with his enthusiasm for a unique project in which he plays himself, the actor Jiří Lábus and at the same time the great-uncle of the owner of the crematorium.
In the series, the real world intersects with the fictional one, in which this acting and comedy legend “dies”. However, the funeral itself is so funny that Jiří Lábus didn’t mind filming by the furnaces in the crematorium or lying in a coffin for several hours. “I’ve already been in a coffin and in the film Hastrman, but it was the first time I shot directly in the crematorium. It was filmed at Easter and I was supposed to go in for surgery in June. So I wondered if I was blaspheming somehow… Fortunately, everything turned out well.” Jiří Lábus recalled.
The family of the crematorium owners will appear in prominent roles Albert Chuba as father Viktor Záhorský, Lada Belašková as mother Hana and Marie Anna Kupcová v roli dcery Nikoly. “I like black humor and the story itself is a Czech way to fantasy. Mysterious subject in Czech settings. So you can look forward to specific bizarre humor.” the principal of the Mír Theater described the series Albert Chuba. “And filming with Jiří Lábus? It was great! He is an excellent person and a professional, it was a great meeting with a legend for me, which I think we all enjoyed a lot.” added the actor and producer of the project.
And how does Jiří Lábus remember filming with the crew from Divadlo Mír? “It was very good with them. Before that, I already had some knowledge of the Mír Theater, I knew that it was a group of young and very ambitious actors and comedians, but I had not seen their performances until then. But I watched Three Tigers during the pandemic and it was excellent. After filming, I then went to Mír for their Tik Tik theater performance and I was thrilled. I realized how great they are and what an impeccable team they are. They are actors with amazing comedic potential,” Jiří Lábus praised the time spent with the actors from Ostrava.
The crematorium can gradually be seen from January 25 on the MirPlay.cz video library as well as on the Mír Theater YouTube channel. For 90 CZK per month, subscribers to the MírPlay service will always see each episode a week in advance, and in addition, in the best image quality and without ads. Already on January 25, they received two parts at once. The biggest fans might watch Crematorium in its entirety at three special pre-premiere screenings in Ostrava’s Luna cinema. These were hopelessly sold out and there were also live discussions with the actors and creators following the screening. The first audience response to the series was very positive.
The Crematorium was directed by a theater and film director Tomas Svobodawhich together with Ondřej Formánek he also wrote the screenplay. This is the largest and most expensive series project of the Mír Theatre, which was completely produced by this well-known Ostrava theater and no sponsors participated in it. You can find more information regarding the series on the Mír Theater website.
Annotation
In the Záhorský family, death is the order of the day, because the deceased are literally the source of their livelihood. One would think that it would be quite dead in such an enterprise, but strange, mysterious events begin to happen to the Záhorskys, which cross the line of life, death, and above all black humor. The six-part comedy series of the Mír Theater, full of bizarre events, but also of love and family cremation warmth, starts with the death and cremation of Jiří Lábus, an acting legend who, coincidentally, is the great-uncle of the owner of the crematorium.
But as they say “legends never die”, so the next morning Lábus suddenly reappears at the family breakfast. “Alive”, black and white and without the slightest idea of his own burial. The head of the family Viktor, mother Hana, daughter Nikola and uncle Jiří Lábus are thus in for an adventure, during which they may discover that their cremation oven hosts something much darker than just ashes and memories. Especially when other “clients” start showing up for breakfast…
Source: Mír Theater, Crematorium
