A death in the family brings everybody home, but a brief peace is broken by family squabbles, politics, and life crises. The mother’s new Iranian boyfriend and a spectacular public breakdown just increase the tensions. An examination of life, in all its complexity, in the modern Czech Republic.
Night Before the Funeral is a new Czech play, originally produced in 2017 by the Svandovo Theatre in Prague under the direction of Daniel Hrbek.
Night Before the Funeral (Pohreb az zitra). Playwright: Natalie Kocab. Translated by: Alex Zucker Director: Edward Einhorn. Presented by: Untitled Theater #61 and Svanda Theatre, Prague.
Untitled Theater Company #61 is a Theater of Ideas: scientific, political, philosophical, and above all theatrical, located in New York City. Their shows mix tragedy and comedy in a manner inspired by classic absurdism, while often incorporating music, technology, and physical theater. Early defining events include their Havel Festival and Ionesco Festival, in which the company produced the authors' full works (with the participation and attendance of President Havel and with Ionesco’s daughter, Marie-France, respectively). They now produce only original works, their responses to the absurd and terrifying moments of their history are a continuing inspiration as they try to navigate a contemporary response to our time.
Svanda Theatre is one of the oldest drama theaters in Prague. It is focused on contemporary plays and also on the bold adaptation of classics. Besides its own repertoire Svanda Theatre offers a wide range of supporting events such as concerts, talk shows, independent theatre group productions, stage readings and also the best of Czech regional theatre work. The theater also produces public workshops and productions for children, which per year comes to more than 450 events. The politician Vaclav Havel, musician Lou Reed, writer Robert Fulghum, singer Suzanne Vega, actress Annie Girardot, actor Dennis Lavant, photographer Oliviero Toscani, cameraman Miroslav Ondricek, costume designer Theodor Pistek and artist Klaus Voorman have appeared as guests of Svanda Theatre in recent years. Almost all productions of Svanda Theatre are accompanied by English subtitles. Svanda Theatre has been succesfully represented at theatrical festivals in USA, Great Britain, Russia, Belarus, Hungary, Poland or Slovakia. It was also awarded the prestigious Alfred Radok's award for its dramaturgy.