Helena Gricova is the winner of the annual contest for the best mini-drama from Janacek Academy in Brno

Helena Gricova is the winner of the annual contest for the best mini-drama from Janacek Academy in Brno

The theme for the third year of the contest at the Janacek Academy of Music and Performing Arts was a quote from the play Audience:

“It’s all up to you now, Ferdinand. If only you do your bit, everything’s going to turn up trumps. You help me, I help him, he’ll do me a good turn and I’ll do you one – we’ll all benefit. Hang it all, we’re not going to make life difficult for one another, are we now?”

The jury awards first place in the competition to the text entitled We Don’t Have Tanks, written by Helena Gricova, a second-year student of the BA in Theatre Dramaturgy.

This cleverly thought-out and witty text about the cooperation of two soldiers from opposing armies is exceptional not only for its excellent knowledge of the principles of absurd drama and its very contemporary socio-political theme but also for how precisely it is prepared for the stage.

The winning text will be presented at the Salon of Original Works 2023, or on other occasions. The Theatre Faculty will also seek to publish the texts recommended by the jury. The author of the winning text will receive a 14-day study stay in New York City, provided by The Vaclav Havel Library Foundation. Dramatic texts submitted to the competition will be published in April 2023.

You can read Helena Gricova’s winning play We Don’t Have Tanks here.