FORGET ABOUT SHAKESPEAR

Janek Ledecký’s musical comedy is full of great songs, choreography, and, above all, humor. About Shakespeare, without Shakespeare.

What happens at a theater that suddenly changes owners? The actors, ready to rehearse Shakespeare’s Othello, must adapt to the new circumstances. The theater’s mysterious new owner is a shrewd businessman. Plus, he comes from America, where the term “theater vacation” simply doesn’t exist. So he needs a summer show premiere that will attract tourists. But there’s no time or money for rehearsals, so they take the best parts from existing productions and tweak them a bit to suit the expected international taste. Of course, this will also include black light theater and a Tyrolean ditty in traditional costumes, culminating in a moment where everyone realizes where Rammstein gets their inspiration. There will be tap dancing, tango, and no shortage of acrobatic acts and a "Miss Worm" pageant—which is, of course, the beauty pageant that Karel Čapek didn’t quite manage to write into his play Pictures from the Insects' Life.

And all this despite resistance, but under the direction of an ambitious, Thalia Award-winning director who was so looking forward to Shakespeare’s Othello.
In the end, at least the famous strangulation scene gets through. But even that doesn’t turn out the way he imagined.

Michal Kovalčík served as musical director, Hynek Dřízhal designed the set, Krystýna Záveská Nováková created the costumes, and Petra Parvoničová handled the choreography. In addition to composing the music, writing the lyrics, and penning the libretto, Janek also directed the production this time. The leading roles were played by Lucka Vondráčková, Ivana Korolová, Jan Révai, Petr Vondráček, Václav Kopta, Tomáš Novotný, and others.