Lost Illusions | Perform Czech

Theatre on the Balustrade director Jan Mikulášek takes on Balzac’s classic novel. The chief protagonist is Lucien Chardon, a talented poet from a small town who longs to make it big in Paris. He experiences his first disappointment when he comes to realise that contacts and money are more important than talent when it comes to a writer’s career… The novel’s critical perspective on society is still very relevant today and the director offers a treatment that is new, surprising and thoroughly up to date. Pared down and delivered in contemporary language, the story involves almost the entire company of Theatre on the Balustrade, headed by Vojtěch Vondráček. Marek Cpin, the set and costume designer, uses neon to create a space teeming with parties and intellectual salons and evoke the world of journalists.

Audience: adult, children 16+

About the company

Theatre on the Balustrade is a leader in current theatrical trends and has been recognised with the most prestigious Czech theatre prizes, such as Theatre of the Year 2014 and Best Performance of 2013 (The Golden Sixties), 2014 (Velvet Havel) and 2017 (Macbeth – Too Much Blood). In past seasons, the theatre has been invited to many prestigious festivals abroad and has performed in Austria, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Germany, Columbia, France, the United Kingdom and the United States.