*6. 8. 1970
Graduated in theoretical physics from the Czech Technical University in Prague. At present is working on his doctorate at the Albert Ludwig University in Freiburg. He is interested in theories of cooperative and evolving games, and experimental economy. He is a member of the Game Theory Society and a founding member of the amateur theatre group The Most Beautiful Teddies, with which his work is connected. His play I'm Still Alive with a Coat Rack, a Cap, and a Signal Disc (under the pseudonym Samuel Königgratz) has been successful on professional stages in Prague, Karlovy Vary and Zlín. His play Harila was awarded the 2007 Prize of the Czech theatrical magazine Divadelní noviny in the "alternative theatre" category. The Russian translation of the play Garila was awarded a special mention in the 3. International Competition of Free Theatre in Belarus. He writes for children under the pseudonym Šimon Olivětín.
LIST OF PLAYS (selection):
/ Perníková chaloupka, Hansel and Gretel, 1993, première 30. 12. 1993 Malé divadlo, České Budujovice (writing as Šimon Olivětín)
/ Elena Štěpánová, 1993, première 1994 The Most Beautiful Teddies, Divadlo Jesličky, Hradec Králové (writing as Simon Uli Vetin)
/ Přehrada, A Dam, 1994, première 28. 4. 1995 The Most Beautiful Teddies, Dejvické divadlo, Prague (writing as René Lewinski)
/ Kašpárek, četník koločavský, Buffoon the Gendarme of Koločava, 1997, première 1997 The Most Beautiful Teddies, Apart klub, Prague (in co-operation with David Doubek, writing as Šimon Olivětín)
/ Marbuel a Kratinoha, Marbuel and Kratinoha, 1997, première 22. 11. 2001 Naivní divadlo, Liberec (writing as Šimon Olivětín)
/ Chilliastra, 1999, première 22. 6. 2000 the Ladronka estate, Prague (writing as S. T. Gyros)
/ Václav, řečený Bajaja, Václav aka Bajaja, 1999, première 24. 6. 2000 DRAK, Hradec Králové (writing as Šimon Olivětín)
/ Ještě žiju s věšákem, čepicí a plácačkou, I'm Still Alive With A Coat Rack, A Cap, And A Signal Disc, 2000, première 17. 1. 2001 Divadlo na tahu and, Akropole, Prague (writing as Samuel Koeniggratz)
/ Kocourkov sobě, 2003, première 7. 5. 2004 Divadlo Alfa, Pilsen (writing as Šimon Olivětín)
/ Harila, 2005, première 30.9.2006 concurrently The Most Beautiful Teddies at Divadlo 29 in Pardubice and Divadlo v sedm a půl, Brno (writing as Helmut Kuhl)
TRANSLATED PLAYS:
/Ještě žiju s věšákem, čepicí a plácačkou German - Noch lebe ich, mit Kleiderhaken, Schirmmütze und Kelle, English - I'm Still Alive with a Coat Rack, a Cap, and a Signal Disc
/ Kašpárek, četník koločavský German - Kasper, der Schutzmann aus Kolotschawa, French - Kaschparek, un gendarme de Kolochava
/ Harila German - Harilla, Russian - Garila
Samuel Königgratz (René Levínský)
JEŠTĚ ŽIJU S VĚŠÁKEM, ČEPICÍ A PLÁCAČKOU / I'M STILL ALIVE WITH A COAT RACK, A CAP, AND A SIGNAL DISC /STILL-LIFE WITH BLUE ANGELS
10 men, 3 women
In his play the author connects in an original manner with the best Czech tradition of tender and absurd humour as we find it in the prose works of Bohumil Hrabal or the films of Miloš Forman. The centre of his interest is the staff of one railway station in the backwoods of East Bohemia. A railway community consisting of the stationmaster, the train dispatchers, the shunters, the inspector, the signal operator, the cleaner, the cashier and also, of course, the landlord of the local pub give something of the impression in today's global world of an exotic tribe of Indians from the depths of the Amazonian jungles. They speak their own language, they pair off only among themselves, but within their tribe they experience exciting daily mini-stories, tales to tell in the future over beer and cards. The author offers us several in his play, and at first unnoticeably, but then strikingly he links them together with the tale of the inspector who is lurking secretly in the station pub to catch some culprits - lovers of beer during working hours - in the act. He himself, however, succumbs to temptation and his secret mission ends in a grotesque tragedy. This text reflects serious matters; one might almost say existential matters, with subtle playfulness and humour. It is witty, amusing and has a peculiar bitter tone springing from the perfect description of the banalities of everyday life.
Selected reviews:
It is actually a static conversation piece, in which the action passes very slowly. Everything essential takes place at the level of the language used, exactly observed from railway-workers' slang; the entire course of events is reflected from the banality of the everyday situations.
(Vladimír Hulec: česká komedie teď žije s nádražáky, Mladá fronta Dnes, 2. 5. 2003)
On the one hand a feeling for the authenticity of the surroundings and the verbally playful poetic, on the other an ability for the exact stylisation of the actor's performance breathes a deserved comic life into a play with a relaxed structure.
(Richard Erml: René Levínský: Ještě žiju s vešákem, čepicí a plácačkou, Reflex, 24. 4. 2003)
Matěj Bukovina, Šimon Olivětín (René Levínský)
KAŠPÁREK ČETNÍK KOLOČAVSKÝ / BUFFOON THE GENDARME OF KOLOČAVA
4 men, 2 women
A puppet play
This play was written for the group The Most Beautiful Teddies (Nejhodnější medvídci).
Carpathian Ruthenia, where the comedy is set, is a legendary fairy tale place famous for the goings on of its robbers. Although Verkhovyna is full of mud and everybody's hungry, it is a magic countryside. It's not difficult to guess what's going to happen the moment Mr Buffoon appears. He is a typical Czech hero from a decisive WWI battle, who got his newsagent shop as a special thank you for his military achievement, and wants to fill it with his own gymnastic prowess. The space is ripe for a comic conflict. The entertainment is enhanced by the bizarre, pseudo-archaic rich language dominated by several inventive and very original vulgar expressions.
The comedy is full of dynamic effects; the puppets draw beer, serve it and drink it, then throw chairs at each other, cut their heads with axes and make fire out of the wooden heads.
Electricity is generated stylishly by a little bicycle; the audience is offered "gastronomic specialities" form the old Koločava, and - as is usual in the stories about robbers - there is much singing, this time of ballads by a merry accordionist.
During the tour of the original production, French critics commented on the puppeteers' skills saying: "There is something surgical in this production!" (Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace).
Helmut Kuhl (René Levínský)
HARILA
5 men, 1 women, 1 gorilla (1 men or 1 women)
A grotesque comedy
Four punks, three male (Karl-Heinz, Giovanne and Rudi) and one female (Elsa) are living together with their Alsatian dog Šaryk on the rand of society. While under influence of alcohol, they decide to do a good deed: they will liberate Kisoro the gorilla from a ZOO in order to give it the chance to live through her first menstruation as a free animal. Their action is successful, the gorilla, completely drunk, sits in a car with the stoned punks going in an unknown direction. The morning brings hangovers and a surprise: they made it all the way to Bodensee, moreover, after a night of foreplay in the car there is an outbreak of sexual passion between Kisoro and Rudi. Giovanne drives into town to find some food; he returns with a notebook computer with a video camera he stole from somebody's car. Its pornographic content inspires the protagonists to an original money-making idea: Kisoro and Rudi will make love in front of the camera and the audience will be paying for viewing this special show online. A mysterious businessman called Tichý offers a large sum of money for both the show and Kisoro, putting the four punks into a moral dilemma - they did free Kisoro in the first place, on the other hand, they could make money out of her. They decide to have financial gain and are immediately punished, almost as in a Greek tragedy. The deal is to be concluded on a raft in the middle of the Bodensee, but everything is resolved by a deus ex machina shark that appears from nowhere. In a symbolic epilogue, Kisoro the Gorilla and Šaryk the Dog are running side by side on a beach against the rising sun, ready for happy copulation.
The punks' lines are an over the top parody based on vulgar language, and, besides the plot, are the main source of the absurd dark humour of the play.
Selected reviews:
...a world without illusions, an extreme and uncompromising story about a group of punks and a gorilla. Incredibly cruel moralising send off about people and era where money is the highest value...
Blanka Kubešová: Kam (ne)jít za divadlem, www.pozitivní-noviny.cz 3.5.2007