”The political situation in the Visegrad countries, especially in Poland, favors the thematically focused theatre today,” says Jitka Sloupová, the festival programmer. There are three theatre companies coming from Poland, which share focus on the present and topicality: TR Theatre from Warsaw, Teatr Polonia and Chór Kobiet. One of the best contemporary Russian directors Dmitry Krymov will open the festival with one of his famous provocative adaptations of classical Russian works. His original and rather surrealist interpretation of Ostrovsky’s Without a Dowry is a joint project of the Moscow theatre company of the School of Dramatic Arts and producer Leonid Roberman. One of the most interesting and most controversial European directors Kornél Mundruczó and his Proton Theatre from Budapest return to the festival in Pilsen with their production Hard to Be a God. As far as Czech productions are concerned, the viewers will see the most interesting pieces from the past season. Pilsen will welcome the Theatre on the Balustrade and Personas inspired by Ingmar Bergman (directed by Jan Mikulášek), Prague City Theatres with a piece about Newyorkers’ lives in the mid-1980s Angels in America (directed by Michal Dočekal), National Theatre Opera with the opera adaptation of Klíma’s grotesque romanetto The Sufferings of Prince Sternenhoch (directed by Michal Dočekal), Body Voice Band with an amusingly melancholic production Musical of the Third Age (directed by Jaroslava Šiktancová), and the Native Theatre Liberec with the playful, funny and poetic performance for children Choo. Choo. Whistle. Woof! (directed by Michaela Homolová). The local theatres from Plzeň are represented by two productions of the J. K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň – Bluebeard (Sir Halewyn) (directed by Natália Deáková) and the Kafkaesque ballet The Metamorphosis (libretto, choreography and directed by DekkaDancers), the Alfa Theatre will perform Where My Home Is (directed by Jakub Vašíček). The section Johan Presents in the Moving Station venue offers an interesting programme as well. The author and director Zuzana Burianová is preparing the premiere of her production And Where Do You Live?, dealing with living, co-living and non-living. Theatre Feste from Brno brings the production The Pride of Loneliness, inspired by Petr Pithart’s book Sixty-Eight, directed by Jiří Honzírek, dealing with perspectives of the year 1968 and history of Czechs and Slovaks through the lens of contemporary pop stars.

More information about the festival: www.festivaldivadlo.cz.