Goose on a String Theatre Returns With English-Friendly Program For January and February

Four separate shows will be presented in English-friendly versions, including a new production by the controversial director Michal Hába based on Dostoevsky’s “The Gambler”. Photo: “The Gambler”. Credit: Ivo Dvořák / Courtesy of Divadlo Husa na Provázku.

Brno, Jan 16 (BD) – The Goose on a String Theatre, Brno’s iconic avant-garde theatre on Zelny Trh, associated with communist Czechoslovakia’s dissident theatre scene and beloved of Vaclav Havel, will continue its successful program of English-friendly productions into the New Year, with four productions coming up in January and February. All the shows listed below will begin at 7pm, and will be accompanied by English subtitles. Tickets can be booked at the special price of CZK 100 by contacting Martina Procházková at vstupenky@provazek.cz. 

Franz Kafka’s “Amerika” is first up, on Tuesday 21st January. This stage adaptation of Kafka’s unfinished manuscript tells the classic story of the American Dream turned upside down, of one young immigrant’s arrival in a strange and unknown land, a story of rootlessness and the desire to understand other people in another world, an incomprehensible, indecipherable and alien world which ridicules him. 

“Amerika”. Photo credit: David Konecny.

Read more about “Amerika” in our previous article: Goose On A String Theatre To Stage English-Friendly Performance of Franz Kafka’s “Amerika”.

The program continues with a new production, F.M. Dostoevsky’s “The Gambler”, by controversial director Michal Hába, which will be staged in an English-friendly version twice, on Friday 31st January and Friday 28th February. The production represents a radical stage reimagining of the great Russian author’s novella, in which he used his own experiences as a gambler to investigate our toxic love-hate relationship with money in a world where money rules all. It is a story of love during the era of late capitalism, which has now been “late” for two hundred years.

“The Gambler”. Photo credit: Ivo Dvořák.

On Tuesday 4th February, you will have another chance to catch Kateřina Tučková’s “Vitka”, the tragic story of Brno’s wunderkind composer Vitezslava Kapralova, and her defiant, tenacious search for professional recognition and a purpose in life, in a world largely the preserve of men. This production from director Anna Davidová and writer Kateřina Tučková received critical acclaim, with lead actress Tereza Marečková winning the Divadelní Noviny Award for her portrayal of Vitka.

“Vitka”. Photo credit: Jakub Jíra.

Read our review of “Vitka” from September 2019: Kateřina Tučková’s “Vitka” Brings The Story Of Brno’s Tragic Neglected Musical Genius To Mesmerizing Life.

Finishing the two-month program on Monday 24th February is Stefano Massini’s “Dynasty: The Lehman Brothers”. Director Michal Dočekal’s engrossing portrait of a German-Jewish family begins with the arrival of one of the Lehman brothers in America, where he opened a small shop, and ends with the bankruptcy of the world-famous Lehman Brothers bank, triggering the global economic crisis. Throughout this story, writer Massini weaves the family’s story into a fascinating parable of American capitalism, but Dočekal’s production is also full of spontaneous theatricality and playfulness, and a wild tempo in keeping with the saying “time is money!”

“Dynasty”. Photo credit: Jakub Jíra.

Read more about “Dynasty” in our previous article: “Goose on a String Theatre to Stage an English-Friendly Version of “Dynasty”.

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