BEZ ZÁBRAN

(Home Truths)

by DAVID LODGE

NOW AT DIVADLO V ŘEZNICKÉ 

Řeznická 17, Praha 1

Next performances: 

Wednesday, 22nd January

Thursday, 13th February 

7.30 pm

get tickets here
 
 

For our first production I've chosen a comedy by the British writer David Lodge.

Home Truths is a thought-provoking and at times touching drama about the relationship between celebrities and the media, and the power of journalists to make or break reputations.  

It is also the story of a friendship, a marriage, and a revenge. 

Set at the end of the last century in the England of Tony Blair and Princess Diana, the play tackles subjects that are both topical and timeless: celebrity culture, privacy versus publicity, and the limits of friendship and love. 

Adrian Ludlow.................. Pavel Novotný

Eleanor Ludlow ...... Zuzana Geislerová

Sam Sharp.................................. Josef Vrána

Fanny Tarrant.................Martina Balážová

directed by ..........................Robert Russell

translated by ...............Zuzana Geislerová

designed by................Markéta Šafaríková

poster by .................................Josef Blecha

Pavel Novotný

I was born on 13 May 1961, which is quite a while ago, and in Brno of all places. That's where I did my drama and music training, at JAMU. 

After a year's military service and a year at Šumperk Theatre, I joined the Pardubice Theatre, where I stayed for thirty years and had the good fortune to play many wonderful parts. 

Nowadays I work freelance so I can pick and choose what I do. Sometimes it's a TV serial, sometimes it's what they call a 'musical project'. You can also hear me on the radio (I'm the voice of Radio Blaník) or in dubbed foreign movies. And I've done the odd commercial.

Occasionally I even spend a day at home. 

Zuzana Geislerová

I was born in Prague into an acting family. In fact only my mother, Růžena Lysenková, was an actress but that was quite enough.

I studied at DAMU, then got my first acting engagement in Olomouc. After that came several years in Liberec, followed by a series of Prague theatres – E. F. Burian, Na Zábradlí, Labyrint, Komedie – as well as work in film, television, and dubbing.

My main roles: Shakespeare (Juliet, Viola, Titania), Shaw (Eliza in Pygmalion), Bolt (Vivat! Vivat Regina! - Mary Stuart), Moliére (Tartuffe - Elmire), Strindberg (Creditors -Tekla), Albee (Ballad of the Sad Cafe - Amelia), Havel (Temptation - Vilma), Euripides (The Trojan Women - Andromache), Stoppard (Arcadia - Lady Croom), Jane Bowles (In the Summerhouse - Gertrude).

I was awarded the prize of the Czech Literary Fund In 1976 for the role of Petra (in Walking on Stones) and Viola (Twelfth Night), and in 1988 for Amelia.

I've obviously always loved acting, despite the nerves and stage fright. Like most people, I've had good times in my life, but also moments of crisis. 

Martina Balážová

I was born in Poprad in Slovakia and spent my childhood at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. After leaving school I studied literature and drama at Prešov, then moved to Prague where I completed an acting course at DAMU. I now work freelance in various Prague theatres and for several touring companies. 

My acting roles include Lady Macbeth/Witch (W. Shakespeare: Macbeth), Emilia Marty (K. Čapek: The Makropulos Affair), Kate (W. Shakespeare: The Taming of the Shrew), Perla Sch. (A. Lustig: Nemilovaná – Unloved Lady), Sarah Bernhardt (M. Balážová/M. Magdová: Ženská epopej – EpicWomen), Runa / Nyola (J. Zeyer: Radúz a Mahulena).

I am also a playwright and theatre producer. 

Josef Vrána

I was born in 1962 in the Prague suburb of Horní Počernice. I got my first taste of the theatre at the Jan Neruda Secondary School (or "Hellichovka"), which I chose for that very reason. After that I went to DAMU, graduating in 1984, then finally, aged nearly forty, I went the rounds of Czech provincial theatres. Mostly I was based in Pardubice but I also worked in Kladno, Olomouc, Ostrava and Šumperk, as well as in Prague (Fidlovačka, Činoherní klub, and now Dívadlo bez zabradlí). 

I've been lucky enough to play some great roles: Romeo, Yossarian, Othello, Cyrano, Claudius, Count Skule (Ibsen, The Pretenders), Major Steve Arnold (Harwood, Taking Sides), Quasimodo and Salieri. 

These days I work freelance on various projects around Prague, including this one which I'm very excited about. Apart from that I do film work, teach, and enjoy spending time at my cottage near Kutná Hora – most of all with my young daughters and granddaughter.

OUR NEXT PRODUCTION...

Pravda o Pygmalionu (original: "The First Night of 'Pygmalion' ") by the British actor/playwright Richard Huggett. A comedy about how G B Shaw's most famous play (best known today as the musical My Fair Lady) came into being, and the stormy relationship between the Irish dramatist and his leading lady, the impossible Mrs Patrick (aka Stella) Campbell.