UK International
Radio Drama Festival 2018:
Czech
CZECH
1. Shakespeare's Skull, by Werner Fritsch (40m)
2. A Short Essay (7m)
3. Tango, by Dmitri Plax (17m)
4. The Cunning Little Vixen (3m)
5. The Blessed Age (2m)
6. Who is the greatest? (3m)
SHAKESPEARE'S SKULL
By Werner Fritsch, first broadcast Dec 2016. The setting is a strange theatrical world populated by Faust, Prospero, Shakespeare’s skull and the ghosts of several of Shakespeare’s characters. The author makes an appearance in the play as Faust. To Fritsch, Faust is an important character, recurring in a number of his works including a sound poem of the same name. The script of the play Shakespeare’s Skull was adapted for radio by producer Katerina Rathouská. Its first broadcast marked the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death.
Production details: Director:Aleš Vrzák, Producer: Katerina Rathouská, Sound: Jan Trojan, Martin Klusák. Music: Jan Trojan, David Gilmour, Zdenek Fibich, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Richard Strauss, Dr. Alban Haddaway.
The producer, Katerina, was born in 1977. She studied Czech Language & Literature and Theatre Studies at the Charles University in Prague. She has worked for Czech Radio since 1995, first as an editor, then as a presenter and a spoken word producer.
260 DAYS
By Ljubo Pauzin. Originally a stage play, adapted and broadcast by Croatian National Radio. Entered for the Priz Europa in 2016.
At the begin of the Croatian War for Independence in 1991, Marijan Gubina was a ten year old boy living with his parents and three sisters in the small village of Novi Dalj. The outbreak of war meant the beginning of captivity that would last 260 days for him and his family. It was marked by multiple cases of torture, violence, rapes and all types of torment.
Many years later, Marijan wrote a novel about it called ‘260 Days’, which was also adapted for the theatre. Today he is a humanitarian and activist who talks to people about forgiveness and tolerance. (summarised from the Prix Europa Festival catalogue)
TANGO
The author of 'Tango' is Dmitri Plax, a Swedish director, playwright, writer and translator from Belarus. The text was commissioned by Czech Radio and in Feb 2017 it was recorded in Prague with actors Tereza Dockalová and Jan Meduna. The drama is set on a ship sailing between Finland and Sweden where Finnish passengers dance the tango. A man and a woman meet by chance; the play is about their meeting. Broadcast 30 Mar 2017.
"The story of the Tango game began last year at the Grand Prix Nova International Festival in Bucharest. That's where I met a Swedish radio colleague, Dmitrim Plax. We talked about different nations, and on that occasion I remembered my journey on a ship between Sweden and Finland. I was fascinated by the fact that the Finns were dancing tango with a live band. The interview with Dmitri was the basis for this play. It tells of a brief encounter, and it also touches on the issue of immigration". (summarised from article about the play on the Czech Radio website) Cast and crew: Jan Meduna (On), Tereza Dockalová (Ona), Katerina Rathouská (Voice). Producer: Dmitri Plax.
3 Mar 18
