Featured image: Zuzana Kronerova, Hot Summer '68, GUnaGU Theatre, photograph by Ctibor Bachraty
Two mini dramas written by young, aspiring playwrights propose a closer look at personal identity.
Change, written by Czech graduate of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Tomas Louzny, explores the phenomenon of “liquid” identity—an identity without meaning in a society with exaggeratedly good intentions. The play provides commentary on a world dominated by hate and misunderstanding towards anyone different in any way. Although inevitably political, Change attempts to offer an absurd view of the stupidity of powerful people and the helplessness of others.
People’s Toast by Ellis Stump, a graduate of the Penn State Honors College, follows Fran Vaneka, a female character based on the title character, Ferdinand Vanek, from Vaclav Havel’s Vanek Trilogy. A young American writer and political activist, Vaneka wanders through Prague in 2019, balancing her aspirations and everyday life practicalities. The play penetrates into the world of Vaclav Havel and his canons of didactic theater, sociology, and political activism.
Change (Czech Republic). Playwright: Tomas Louzny.
People’s Toast (United States). Playwright: Ellis Stump. Director: Ellis Stump. Co-Director, Dramaturg: Patrice Miller. Cast: John Amir (Michael), Yael Haskal (Vaneka), Bob Laine (Alek), Ann Marie Yoo (Vera).
Running time: 90 min.
Both presented plays are the winners of the Best Mini-Drama Student Contest, organized annually by the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation in partnership with Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and Janacek Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno.
For more information, visit www.rehearsalfortruth.org.
The reading is followed by Q&A. It is free and open to the public. Suggested donation $10. Donations benefit the Best Mini-Drama Student Contest program.
The event will be broadcasted online, live on Zoom. RSVP is required to receive the Zoom link. RSVP online through Eventbrite.
The 2021 Spring Weekend: Concerning Human Identity is organized by the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation (VHLF) and Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association (BBLA) in partnership with the Polish Cultural Institute New York and Consulate General of Slovakia in New York. Spring Weekend is part of the annual Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival honoring the playwright and human rights activist Vaclav Havel. It showcases contemporary European plays through stage readings performed and directed by New York City–based actors and directors.
The 2021 program has been conceived in consultation with Attila Szabo, Deputy Director, Hungarian Theatre Museum and Institute; Vladislava Fekete, Director, Theatre Institute in Bratislava; Zuzana Ulicianska, Chair of the Slovak Center – International Association of Theatre Critics; Tomek Smolarski, Performing Arts Programming, Polish Cultural Institute New York; and Martina Peckova-Cerna, Head of International Cooperation Department, Arts and Theatre Institute in Prague.
The program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and Council Member Ben Kallos. Promotion partners include the Czech Center New York, GOH Productions/Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre, and PACE.V4 (Performing Arts Central Europe).