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Opera żebracza
The Czech President Vбclav Havel, a force on behalf of international human rights and his country's most celebrated dissident, first gained prominence as a playwright. During the period when Havel was blacklisted by the Czechoslovakian government for his political activism, productions of his work in and around Prague were regarded as subversive acts.
The Beggar's Opera is a free-wheeling, highly politicized adaptation of John Gay's well-known eighteenth-century work of the same name. The play, reminiscent of Havel's earlier Garden Party and The Memorandum, is up to his best satirical standard. Like the Brecht/Weill Threepenny Opera, Havel's play uses an underworld milieu to explore the intermingled themes of love, loyalty, and treachery.
Paul Wilson's new English translation of The Beggar's Opera is lively, idiomatic, and sensitive to underlying linguistic and political issues. The Cornell edition contains an Introduction by Peter Steiner that details the November 1, 1976, premiere of the play in the Prague suburb of Hornн Pocernice, the reaction of the Czech secret police, and the measures the government took to punish and discredit those involved in the production. Eleven photographs—of the playwright, the actors, the theatre, and the actual performance—enhance the texture of the book.
About the Authors:
Vбclav Havel was elected President of Czechoslovakia in 1989 and President of the Czech Republic in 1992. He is the author of many plays, essays, collections of letters, and memoirs, including Open Letters and Summer Meditations. Paul Wilson translated or cotranslated those books as well as Havel's Letters to Olga, Disturbing the Peace, and The Art of the Impossible.
Peter Steiner is Professor in the Department of Slavic Languages at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of The Deserts of Bohemia: Czech Fiction and Its Social Context and Russian Formalism: A Metapoetics, both from Cornell.
The Beggar's Opera is a free-wheeling, highly politicized adaptation of John Gay's well-known eighteenth-century work of the same name. The play, reminiscent of Havel's earlier Garden Party and The Memorandum, is up to his best satirical standard. Like the Brecht/Weill Threepenny Opera, Havel's play uses an underworld milieu to explore the intermingled themes of love, loyalty, and treachery.
Paul Wilson's new English translation of The Beggar's Opera is lively, idiomatic, and sensitive to underlying linguistic and political issues. The Cornell edition contains an Introduction by Peter Steiner that details the November 1, 1976, premiere of the play in the Prague suburb of Hornн Pocernice, the reaction of the Czech secret police, and the measures the government took to punish and discredit those involved in the production. Eleven photographs—of the playwright, the actors, the theatre, and the actual performance—enhance the texture of the book.
About the Authors:
Vбclav Havel was elected President of Czechoslovakia in 1989 and President of the Czech Republic in 1992. He is the author of many plays, essays, collections of letters, and memoirs, including Open Letters and Summer Meditations. Paul Wilson translated or cotranslated those books as well as Havel's Letters to Olga, Disturbing the Peace, and The Art of the Impossible.
Peter Steiner is Professor in the Department of Slavic Languages at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of The Deserts of Bohemia: Czech Fiction and Its Social Context and Russian Formalism: A Metapoetics, both from Cornell.
152 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1972
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About the author
Václav Havel
262 books503 followersVáclav Havel was a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia (1989–92) and the first President of the Czech Republic (1993–2003). He wrote over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally. He received the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Philadelphia Liberty Medal, the Order of Canada, the freedom medal of the Four Freedoms Award, and the Ambassador of Conscience Award. He was also voted 4th in Prospect Magazine's 2005 global poll of the world's top 100 intellectuals. He was a founding signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism.
Beginning in the 1960s, his work turned to focus on the politics of Czechoslovakia. After the Prague Spring, he became increasingly active. In 1977, his involvement with the human rights manifesto 'Charter 77' brought him international fame as the leader of the opposition in Czechoslovakia; it also led to his imprisonment. The 1989 "Velvet Revolution" launched Havel into the presidency. In this role he led Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic to multi-party democracy. His thirteen years in office saw radical change in his nation, including its split with Slovakia, which Havel opposed, its accession into NATO and start of the negotiations for membership in the European Union, which was attained in 2004.
Beginning in the 1960s, his work turned to focus on the politics of Czechoslovakia. After the Prague Spring, he became increasingly active. In 1977, his involvement with the human rights manifesto 'Charter 77' brought him international fame as the leader of the opposition in Czechoslovakia; it also led to his imprisonment. The 1989 "Velvet Revolution" launched Havel into the presidency. In this role he led Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic to multi-party democracy. His thirteen years in office saw radical change in his nation, including its split with Slovakia, which Havel opposed, its accession into NATO and start of the negotiations for membership in the European Union, which was attained in 2004.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 14, 2022
Zase něco úplně jiného. A přitom je v tom Havel dosti vidět...
Neznám originál, takže jsem se musel po přečtení podívat, co vše bylo v této verzi přidáno. A tleskám, protože Havel to vytáhl na úplně novou úroveň. Přiznávám, že zvraty posledních dějství bych na začátku vůbec neočekával a jsem tedy příjemně překvapen. Další kus, který si píšu do seznamu a uvidíme, jaké divadlo ho bude hrát. Zatím se mi do rukou dostala filmová verze od Menzela, a i když čtu o tom, že se dle lidu moc nepovedla, minimálně první polovina dodala Havlovu scénáři život a herecký um zase níže zmíněným řádně našroubovaným větám dobrý zvuk.
Je k popukání číst hru z prostředí chudiny a zločinu, kde mezi sebou hlavní postavy mluví o přízemních věcech Havlovým vypilovaným stylem plným dlouhých vět (odstavců až stránek) a pseudoodborných jazykolamů jako ze sociologických učebnic, které ale na své místo pasují jak p**el na hrnec. Fascinující, to mě moc baví. A do toho detaily, jako opilec bojující za svobodu tisku, zločinec s pracovní ctí nade vše nebo bordelmamá s proslovem o individuálním přístupu...
Neznám originál, takže jsem se musel po přečtení podívat, co vše bylo v této verzi přidáno. A tleskám, protože Havel to vytáhl na úplně novou úroveň. Přiznávám, že zvraty posledních dějství bych na začátku vůbec neočekával a jsem tedy příjemně překvapen. Další kus, který si píšu do seznamu a uvidíme, jaké divadlo ho bude hrát. Zatím se mi do rukou dostala filmová verze od Menzela, a i když čtu o tom, že se dle lidu moc nepovedla, minimálně první polovina dodala Havlovu scénáři život a herecký um zase níže zmíněným řádně našroubovaným větám dobrý zvuk.
Je k popukání číst hru z prostředí chudiny a zločinu, kde mezi sebou hlavní postavy mluví o přízemních věcech Havlovým vypilovaným stylem plným dlouhých vět (odstavců až stránek) a pseudoodborných jazykolamů jako ze sociologických učebnic, které ale na své místo pasují jak p**el na hrnec. Fascinující, to mě moc baví. A do toho detaily, jako opilec bojující za svobodu tisku, zločinec s pracovní ctí nade vše nebo bordelmamá s proslovem o individuálním přístupu...
December 27, 2024
Je to voľná adaptácia anglickej hry Johna Gaya z 18. storočia, pričom Havel v nej zobrazil kritiku morálky a spoločenských vzťahov. Hrdina balansuje medzi viacerými ženami. Tesne pred plánovanou popravou sa mu ženy dostanú do konfliktu – Polly a Lucy, ktoré obe tvrdia, že sú jeho manželky. V závere cynicky prehlási, že si vlastne želá, aby aspoň jedna z nich bola jeho milenkou aby mohla vedieť o tej druhej, čím zdôrazňuje svoju manipulátorskú povahu. Autori kritizujú podstatu morálnych kompromisov a egoizmu, ktoré prenikajú do vzťahov aj do fungovania spoločnosti.
October 3, 2019
Jsem zklamán snad jen z toho, že je to remake. Že to nenapsal Havel.
Jinak spokojenost
Aktuálně hrají v městském divadle brno - možná zajdu podívat se.
Jinak spokojenost
Aktuálně hrají v městském divadle brno - možná zajdu podívat se.
July 16, 2014
Darkly funny story of corruption...that's much deeper than you originally think!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews