Archive for March, 2007
“Stop being anonymous. The anonymity you believed would protect you from pain and humiliation, shame and rejection doesn’t work. Admit rejection, admit pain, admit frustration, admit pettiness, even that; admit shame, admit outrage, admit anything and everything that happens to you, respond with your true, uncalculated response, your emotions. The best and most human parts of you are those that you have inhibited and hidden from the world.
Work on it…raise your voice. Embarrass yourself….Court every chance to feel.”
A Life, Elia Kazan, p. 593
March 31st, 2007
John Martlew is presenting Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor at Divadlo na pradle this weekend. We should go and support a fellow person doing theater in English! Every year John gets a group of Charles University students doing Shakespeare. Maybe he’d be interested in working with us on something?
The show plays March 30, 31 and April 1 and 2 at 19:00.
Here’s an article from 2004 about this on Czech Radio.
March 30th, 2007
FebioFest is a film, television, and music festival in Prague. There are only a few days left, so make sure that you make the most of this cultural experience. I have had the chance to view a number of the films on offer, so thought I’d give you a bit of a rundown.
ALPHA DOG (USA)
The film is based on the true story of drug dealer J. J. Hollywood, the youngest person in history to appear on the list of criminals most wanted by the FBI. The film offers a portrayal of American teenagers close to violating the law.
The film showcases some of the hottest young acting talent in America, and marks the debut performance from Justin Timberlake. The direction from Nick Cassavetes displays the contemporary world of American youth with certain innocence and somewhat ignorance to their environment, and the mixture of gangster/teen movie is particularly fresh.
TIED HANDS (ISRAEL)
This urban film depicts the story of a sensitive and complicated relationship between a mother and her ill son. The mother is desperately searching for marijuana in the streets of Tel Aviv in order to relieve her son’s pain from the deadly AIDS virus. On her wild journey through the city streets, the mother recalls long-forgotten memories that destroy the walls she has been hiding behind all her life.
HALF NELSON (USA)
Life at a typical American public high school occurs at its own depressive pace. Teaching there is just a matter of survival. Everything changes when one of the students catches a teacher using drugs at school. From that point forward, the existence of the teacher, who is often in a bad mood, takes on new meaning as he becomes close with a student and talented basketball player, trying to protect her from different pitfalls that continue to arise around her. He tries to regain his self-respect, and to settle his own life.
The performance of Ryan Gosling is nothing short of inspirational. He glides with such ease through this dark and emotionally complicated plot, with a tonne of depth, honesty, and charm. He is well deserved all the critical acclaim this performance has brought him.
March 28th, 2007
I know that this all happened a week ago, but I wanted to thank all the participants of The Prague Post Playwriting Contest. The shows, for those of you that didn’t get a chance to go and see them (shame on you!) were a big success and in the words of Dan Brown “a big step up in production value and professionalism.” For that I can only give credit to all of the people who volunteered their time and energy to make the show as good as it could be.
We received a lot of good comments and have a lot of ideas for how to make next year’s contest even better. We certainly learned a lot about the process of running a contest (this being our first) and are really looking forward to starting work on the 2nd annual!
One of the greatest parts of the project was seeing how many people came out and supported the theater, how many people wanted to be notified when something else happens, how many people were sorry they didn’t get involved in this project. We’re launching a contact database so that we can keep track of all the people and make sure that those of you who want to be involved can be, whether as an audience member or a participant. You can add your details at the contact list page.
We are also planning out other projects for next year. One of them, which should start up in a week or so, is monthly workshops with local writers. More information will come in the next week or so, but the project should be quite exciting.
March 26th, 2007
The Bear Educational Theatre (www.bearproject.cz) is a well-established English language theatre company based in Prague that plays morning shows in schools and theatres all around the Czech Republic and in the Central European region.
The Bear Educational Theatre is looking for actors and actresses (especially Czech speakers).
No experience necessary, anybody who can communicate well may apply.
- Part-time work, possibly full-time from September. Possible to combine with a slightly flexible (e.g. teaching) schedule.
- Pays the same as most Czech theatres or EFL teaching.
- a totally unique teaching experience and a totally unique acting experience. No theatre or classroom is quite like this.
- Lots of travel around the Czech Republic
We are also looking for an administrator/ producer to work in co-operation with professional advisors to help with the transition to an ‘Obcanske Zdruzeni’ and then to fundraise and expand operations in other countries.
This is an original opportunity for a capable and self motivated person to develop a theatre company which already has a great reputation and a lot of potential.
If interested write to thebeareducationaltheatre@yahoo.co.uk or sms David Fisher at 777 134272
March 20th, 2007
This week we will be screening the feature film UCHO (The Ear), from 1970 in Czech with English subtitles directed by Karel Kachyna, screenplay by Jan Prochazka & Karel Kachyna based upon a story by Jan Prochazka.
At the end of the Fifties the situation of Czechoslovak film worsened as several films were banned for political reasons. This nonsensical, publicly proclaimed ban united many filmmakers and writers in protest. That was when Karel Kachyna met Jan Prochazka.
Kachyna and Prochazk became notorious in the 1960s for making films that “strained the boundaries of government-imposed strictures and subtly criticized the Communist Party.” With UCHO, the second-to-last film they would team up on (Prochazka died in 1971), Kachyna distinguished himself from other Czech New Wave directors by making a directly political film which was critical of the rule of right-wing Party leader Gustav Husák
This political noir-drama was banned immediately upon completion and the ban was not lifted until the Velvet Revolution in 1989.
We will also have a program of eclectic and interesting shorts before the feature.
Just a short walk down from Green Line metro stop Jirího z Podìbrad on Vinohradska.
Gusto Restaurant
Vinohradska 83
Prague 2
Hope to see you all there,
MaTT&MiRO
AFC
March 20th, 2007
Dear fellow P and Pians,
We hope you all are enjoying this lovely Spring weather as much as we are and we look forward to your joining us to spring forward the clocks this Sunday, March 25, at 6:30 (and don’t forget that will be the new 6:30), as we welcome Prague-based poet Stephan Delbos. Stephan has been in Prague for nearly three years where he has worked round the clock churning out high-quality poems which have been published in numerous journals around the world, including the recently released Berlin-based publication Bordercrossings. Come and enjoy his refreshing voice, plus the roller coaster ride of our regular open mic.
2nd and 4th Sunday of every month
Cafe Slechta
Slavikova 27
6:30 pm
March 20th, 2007
Screening #5 will be Sunday March 11th from 19:30 downstairs at:
Gusto Restaurant
Vinohradska 83
Prague 2
Just a short walk down from Green Line metro stop Jirího z Podìbrad on Vinohradska.
This Sunday we have another original program for you. We are pleased to have as our featured filmmaker Milos Tomic. We will be screening 4 original shorts from Milos that are not to be missed.
In addition we have “MILENA’, a strange stop frame animated tale of an amputee protitute.
We have a little short from Jan Svankmajer for all you sport fans out there “Virile Games”
For you music fans we have a few interesting music videos and a rare little piece with John Lennon and Bob Dylan from 1966….
By special ‘member’ request we will also have a little taste of Jim Hemson’s The Muppet Show and we will be screening a few shorts that we did not have time for at the last screening, including Katerina Lillqvist’s “Tytto ja Sotamies” and Adam Elliot’s “Harvey Krumpet”.
March 7th, 2007
Disney is shooting the second Narnia movie in the Czech Republic April -
July. We need English speaking men between the age of 30-50, who are good
horse riders and who look Spanish. Acting experience is helpful. Thirty days
of work during the shoot period. Candidates should reside in or near Prague.
Please send photos and contact info to casting@nancybishopcasting.com.
March 6th, 2007
Hello, I am a playwright and producer who will be curating a new play reading series in Prague this spring (May 17-June 2). Please share my call for participants below - thank you very much!
SEEKING ACTORS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEW PLAY SERIES!
Playwrights in Prague, a joint venture of the Prague Fringe Festival and the Playwrights’ Center (USA) seeks actors, of various ages and types, to participate in our inaugural series.
Five plays in five days – all during lunch hour! Sample the plays of some of the hottest young award-winning American and Czech playwrights in this unique reading series. This is a LOW-COMMITMENT but HIGH-PROFILE way to meet the international artists coming to Prague for the Fringe.
Interested? Send your bio and headshot (if available) or an e mail to
deborahs@pwcenter.org by March 20.
March 5th, 2007