Theater

Vaclav—dissident, activist, essayist, philosopher, politician, founder and president of the Czech Republic—is known throughout the world as a hero of the human rights movement and a martyr for the ‘right to write.’ . . . But few in the West know that he is also his country’s most famous playwright. . . . His plays constitute a significant body of work spanning the period from 1959 to 2007, a crucial dramatization of human existence in a crucial era.

Carol Rocamora, Acts of Courage: Vaclav Havel’s Life in the Theater

To honor Vaclav Havel’s theatrical legacy, VHLF collects information about productions of his plays in America, awards scholarships to Czech and U.S. students of drama and performance studies, and presents an annual festival of contemporary European theater, Rehearsal for Truth.

TheaterThe Travesty of Truth, In the 2019 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival August 4, 2019 Experience engaging contemporary performances from Central Europe at Manhattan’s Bohemian National Hall. Free tickets are available online.  The 2019 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival explores the disappearance of borders between truth and lies. The festival consists of five international performances—three full plays, one dance performance and a behind-the-scene presentation—along with …
TheaterReview: A Vaclav Havel Trilogy Drives Evening of Political Theater July 22, 2019 Source: The New York Time / www.nytimes.com / By Elisabeth Vincentelli / The suspense is a nail-biter: Will she sign the petition or not? This is not like clicking a button to offhandedly add your name to a Change.org list: We are in 1970s communist Czechoslovakia and publicly supporting a …
TheaterReview: A Václav havel trilogy drives evening of political theater July 22, 2019 Source: Pulse / www.pulse.ng / By Elisabeth Vincentelli Source: New York Times / NEW YORK — The suspense is a nail-biter: Will she sign the petition or not? This is not like clicking a button to offhandedly add your name to a Change.org list: We are in 1970s communist Czechoslovakia …
TheaterBWW Review: Truth As the Immoral Fibre of Being in HAVEL: THE PASSION OF THOUGHT at Atlantic Stage 2 July 22, 2019 Source: Broadway World / www.broadwayworld.com / By Kristen Morale / It’s really fascinating to witness a person’s experience of strife on stage: to take a something that is so inexplicable and unreasonable, it borders on the absurd. When the absurd then comes to be expected, leave it to a playwright’s …
TheaterWhat Do You Get When You Cross Mark Morris With Samuel Beckett? July 6, 2019 Source: The New York Times / www.nytimes.com / By Roslyn Sulcas / The choreographer, whose playfulness is serious, will stage three pieces by Beckett, who wears his seriousness lightly, at a festival in Northern Ireland. DUBLIN — A large portrait of Samuel Beckett — peaked hair, deeply furrowed brow, piercing …
Theater10 Plays and Musicals to Go to in N.Y.C. This Weekend July 6, 2019 Source: The New York Times / www.nytimes.com / By Alexis Soloski / Previews & Openings ‘THE BACCHAE’ at Marcus Garvey Park (previews start on July 6; opens on July 11). The god of wine, theater and ecstasy arrives uptown. This summer, the Classical Theater of Harlem offers a new version …
TheaterVáclav Havel’s “Vanek” to go on stage in Tehran June 25, 2019 Source: Tehran Times / wwww.tehrantimes.com / ABU/MMS/YAW / The play is derived from Havel’s best-known works, and the character Vanek, who first appeared in the play “Audience” in 1975, soon became a symbol for Czechoslovak dissidents during the Communist era. Vanek is an opposition playwright who is forced to work …
TheaterPotomac Theatre Project in Association with Middlebury College Presents its 33rd Repertory Season June 15, 2019 Source: Broadway World / www.broadwayworld.com / By Sarah Hookey / PTP/NYC (Potomac Theatre Project), in association with Middlebury College, presents its 33rd repertory season, its 13th consecutive in New York City, running July 9 – August 4, 2019 in a limited Off-Broadway engagement at The Atlantic Stage 2, located at …
TheaterReview: Vaclav Havel’s The Memo at Organic Theater Portrays Government as Farce With Fedoras May 31, 2019 Source: Third Coast Review / https://thirdcoastreview.com / By Nancy Bishop / The overture begins: It’s the March of the File Folders, which might be titled the Office Supply Hustle. The cast of 11, smartly dressed in varieties of business garb, march briskly on to and around the stage, placing office …
TheaterSpring Weekend: Interview with Romanian actor, director and playwright Simona Maicanescu May 8, 2019 The Rehearsal for Truth theater festival introduces the SPRING WEEKEND – a series of contemporary European stage readings. This full length production of Herta Muller’s I Hope I Wouldn’t Meet Myself Today takes place on May 11th at 8pm. As an actress, Simona Maicanescu has performed in diverse rolls, including …
TheaterSpring Weekend: Interview with Slovak playwright Martin Cicvak May 7, 2019 The Rehearsal for Truth theater festival introduces SPRING WEEKEND –a series of contemporary European stage readings. Martin Cicvak is the featured Slovak playwright whose work Urn on an Empty Stage will be performed on Sunday May 12 at 3pm. In Urn on an Empty Stage, Martin Cicvak brilliantly explores the dynamics between authoritative …
TheaterSpring Weekend: Interview with Hungarian playwright Andrea Pass and Attila Szabó May 3, 2019 The Rehearsal for Truth theater festival introduces the SPRING WEEKEND – a series of contemporary European stage readings. Andrea Pass is the chosen Hungarian playwright whose work SUNFLOWER will be performed on Saturday May 11 at 4pm. She will be present for the stage reading and talkback after the event. …
TheaterRehearsal for Truth, Spring Weekend: I Hope I Wouldn’t Meet Myself Today April 24, 2019 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival Presents: Spring Weekend A selection of European stage readings in NYC Bohemian National Hall, May 10 – 12, 2019 Saturday, May 11th at 8pm I Hope I Wouldn’t Meet Myself Today by Herta Müller, Nobel Prize recipient, translated and directed by Simona Maicanescu Full Production, …
TheaterRehearsal for Truth, Spring Weekend: Sunflower April 24, 2019 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival Presents: Spring Weekend A selection of European stage readings in NYC Bohemian National Hall, May 10 – 12, 2019 Saturday, May 11th at 4pm Sunflower by Andrea Pass, translated by Patrick Mullowney, directed by Adrian Alea Cast: Alberto Bonilla, Kimberlee Walker, Cindy De La Cruz, …
TheaterRehearsal for Truth, Spring Weekend: Puppenhuas.Treatment April 24, 2019 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival Presents: Spring Weekend A selection of European stage readings in NYC Bohemian National Hall, May 9 – 12, 2019 Sunday, May 12 at 7pm Puppenhaus.Treatment  by Magda Fertacz, translated by Artur Zapalowski directed by Zishan Ugurlu Cast: Wednesday Sue Derrico, Chris Murphy, Tony Naumovksi and …
The Vaclav Havel Center