Last year, some 50 playwrights living in the Czech Republic submitted their 30-minute plays in English to compete in the 2009 Prague Post Playwriting Contest. The judges have narrowed down the choices to three finalists: Early Retirement by David Fisher, The King Size by Ted Weesner Jr. and Forced Entry by Dale Bruton. You can see them at Prague’s Divadlo Minor on Wednesday, Monday and Thursday, 4 May when the absolute winner will be announced. Follow the Prague Playwriting Contest website for more information about the plays and the shows.
More small theatre productions will be playing in Prague as part of the festival of new theatre called Malá inventura. The works of a young generation of artists and new progressive forms of theatre will be presented on numerous Prague stages, including Alfred ve dvoře, Archa Theatre, Ponec Theatre and Roxy/NoD between 24 February and 1 March. For example tonight, you can see the result of a collaboration between professional artists, asylum seekers and foreigners who have found a new home in the Czech Republic in Dance Through the Fence at Archa, 6:30pm.
Prague’s cultural programme this coming week is generous if you are a Spanish speaker. The festival of Spanish film La Película is on the programme of Světozor until Sunday and another event is opening Prague’s Cervantes Institute on Tuesday presenting literature and film of today’s Andalusia. But if you can’t attend for language reasons, you can still go to a flamenco show scheduled for next Thursday at Laterna magika. Or you can visit Prague’s La Bodega Flamenca bar on 3 March, watch flamenco, drink wine and eat tapas.
A variety of music styles are awaiting you at Prague’s clubs this week. The African drummer
Tony Allen is coming to Palác Akropolis today to play Afrobeat, the style he created with Fela Kuti and the Africa 70 band.
Another show on Wednesday is the concert of Norwegian electronic artist Sindre Bjerga, his compatriot, guitarist Nils Rostad, and a Dutch experimental musician known as Staplerfahrer. If you are looking for something avant-garde, head to Chapeau Rouge.
The Native American punk band Blackfire will return to Rock Café on Saturday. Their most recent album Silence is a Weapon promises to take listeners on a journey to the past, present and future of Native American music. Prague-based “Halloween” band Blaq Mummy will open the show at 7:30pm.
A possible sellout is tonight’s concert at Rudolfinum. Moravian Gems is a project created by two acclaimed jazz musicians, bassist George Mraz and pianist Emil Viklický. Together with drummer Laco Tropp and violin player and singer Iva Bittová, Moravian Gems merge Moravian folk music with modern jazz and classical orchestration creating a very distinctive style. The show at Rudolfinum starts at 7:30pm
A collection of decorative art from the baroque era is displayed at the Schwarzenberg palace at Hradčanské náměstí. It is a continuation of a large-scale baroque art exhibition already covering three floors of the palace. If you want to know more about the history, don’t miss the exhibition dedicated to St Wenceslas, the patron of the Czech lands. The exhibition, which marks 1,100 years since St Wenceslas’ birth, displays items related to the early ruler, including his sward, helmet and a relief of Madonna and child from the 14th century known as the Palladium of the Czech Land. The gothic St Agnes’ Convent where the exhibition takes place until 8 March is another good reason to go.
Pass the Popcorn
The 81st Academy Awards rolled over, and we know who the winners are. One of them is Slumdog Millionaire, a film about the 18-year old Jamal, who despite coming from the slums of Mumbai, answers all questions on the television show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and shocks everybody. Danny Boyle’s film has won eight Academy Awards, including Best Director, Best Original Song, Best Screenplay and Best Sound. The “best movie of the year” is now coming to the local theatres. Don’t miss it!
It is forbidden to import mobile phones, video cameras or GPS technologies when traveling to North Korea. But the Czech director Linda Jablonská managed to smuggle her video equipment across the boarder and to make a documentary about the communist country. Her film Vítejte v KLDR! (Welcome to DPRK!) is now showing at Prague’s theatres Aero, Mat and Světozor.
Kateřina Heilmannis a staff writer and translator at the Monitor. She
likes writing about cycling and culture.
You can reach her at [email protected]
