Featured image: Zuzana Kronerova, Hot Summer '68, GUnaGU Theatre, photograph by Ctibor Bachraty
Hot Summer of ’68 (How We Ran) is a historical tragicomedy based on a story of three Slovak women who decided to emigrate after the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops in 1968. Following the protagonists’ journeys as they emigrate to Vienna, London, Haifa, and New York before they finally reconvene in Toronto, the play recounts key historical events through the banalities of daily life. As they search for a new home, Erika, Petra, and Sonya cannot make the meals they used to cook or even find the ingredients. The memories of their homemade cuisine become analogous to meanings of home and freedom.
Hot Summer of '68 (How We Ran) (Slovakia). Playwright: Viliam Klimacek. Director: Christina Franklin. Cast: Emma Andriatch (Erica), Abigail Ludrof (Petra), Stephanie Windland (Teresa). Translated by: Katarina Cockrell. Running time: 90 min.
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.
ABOUT THE 2021 SPRING WEEKEND: CONCERNING HUMAN IDENTITY
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).