Film / Theater: Events at Fort Fringe - The Shop

September 26, 2013, 12:00 PM

Fort Fringe - The Shop will present the documentary Citizen Havel Is Rolling Barrels (Občan Havel přikuluje) at 12 noon, followed later in the evening by a performance of the one-cat play Antiwords directed by and inspired by Havel's play Audience. Please scroll down for a listing of the two events.

September 26, 12 noon
Citizen Havel Is Rolling Barrels (Občan Havel přikuluje)
Jan Novák, 2009, 72 minutes, in Czech with English subtitles

In 1974, the then banned playwright Václav Havel found a job as a brewery hand so that he would not be accused of social parasitism. He ended up rolling barrels and filtering beer for nearly a year even though he drove a Mercedes to work. His new experiences, described in the film by Arnošt Šerkézy, his boxer buddy from the lager cellar, started him on a new way of writing. He dashed off his first autobiographical play Audience in a single night. The film relates stories of the genesis, the productions and the cultural reverberations of Havel’s influential one-act. (Jan Novák, 2009, 72 minutes, in Czech with English subtitles)

Event Details:
Location: Fort Fringe - The Shop
607 New York Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20001

September 26, 8 pm
Antiwords

Fort Fringe - The Shop features acclaimed Czech physical theater actress and director Miřenka Čechová in a theatrical demonstration of her original performance Antiwords inspired by Václav Havel’s Audience. During her demonstration, she will decode the theatrical language she is employing, present sequences of her work with commentary, as well as perform a major part of the theatrical work Antiwords. Enjoy an evening with the director as she shares her experience and insight into the nuances of physical theater. 

The performances will be complemented by a select showcase of photographs by Jan Kašpar, a family friend of Havel. The photographs reveal Olga Havlová’s birthday celebrated every summer through theme parties and theatrical performances at Havel’s cottage in Hrádeček. The photographs were taken from 1975–2011 and capture most likely the last photograph of Havel at his cottage.

At the theatrical demonstration, enjoy a complimentary Pilsner Urquell beer, one of the finest beers from the Czech Republic. Working in a brewery, Havel found inspiration for his play “Audience,” which served as a way to release his own insight into the tumultuous circumstances under the communist regime.

The performance is part of HAVEL’S TRILOGY, connected to the “Vaněk plays,” as part of the Mutual Inspirations Festival 2013 – Václav Havel. For more information about the project, please click here.      

Location: Fort Fringe - The Shop
607 New York Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20001

For tickets, click here. | Admission is $17

For additional information about events taking place at Fort Fringe as part of the festival, please click here.

Photo courtesy of the Czech Center in Prague