In March 2008, two important theatres in Germany - on March 20, Deutsches Theater Berlin and on March 16, Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg - will present rehearsed readings of three Czech plays. They are
The Mother (Matka) by
J.A.Pitínský (German translation by Eva Profousová and Anji Utler: Die Mutter),
David Jařab 's
Vodičkova - Lazarská (translated by Katharina Schmitt as Die Kreuzung) and
Marta Peschek goes to Heaven (
Marta Peschek jde do nebe ) by
Karel Steigerwald (translation Georg Escher: Marta Pescheks Himmelsfahrt).
The project was initiated in 2006 by the Theatre Institute in Prague and by the translator Eva Profousová. They established an independent three-member commission (Marie Reslová, Eva Profousová a Karel Král) with a task to choose twelve of the most interesting drama texts written since 1989. A team of translators then prepared detailed synopses in German and some samples of extract translations from individual plays. Thanks to the Prague Chamber Theatre, it was possible to win over two famous theatre companies, one in Berlin, another in Hamburg for the project; these then chose three scripts from those on offer. The director, playwright and translator Katharina Schmitt then rehearsed the staged readings with the actors from both ensembles.
The readings are organized in connection with the guest appearance by the Prague Chamber Theatre at the Festival of the Czech Theatre and Art "Prague - Berlin", where the ensemble performed
The World Fixer (
Der Weltverbesserer) by
Thomas Bernhard . The series of rehearsed readings at the foremost German stages aims at generating interest for new Czech drama writing from both theatre professionals and normal audiences. The project is supported by the Czech-German Fund for the Future, by the Culture Ministry of the Czech Republic and by two Czech literary agencies, Aura-Pont and Dilia.