Menu Search VHL web CS

The Increased Difficulty of Concentration on Spring 1968

Illustration
  • Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
  • When: April 12, 2018, 19:00 – 21:00

Fifty years ago, on 11 April 1968, the last premiere for some time of a play by Václav Havel, The Increased Difficulty of Concentration, took place at the Divadlo Na zábradlí theatre. In this evening we will explore several seemingly different themes of that 1968 spring. Names from the “golden era” of the famous theatre are leaving Divadlo Na zábradlí. During the Prague Spring, Václav Havel becomes involved – in his own way, of course – in the process of democratisation. At the same time, however, he packs his suitcase for a trip to the US and Western Europe. What’s more, his creative plans start to focus more on filmmaking.

We will discuss his fresh findings about the history of Divadlo Na zábradlí with theatre historian Martin J. Švejda, as well as presenting lesser-known documents from that era from the archive of the Václav Havel Library. And there will be theatre.

In the second half of the evening Academy of Performing Arts acting students will perform, overseen by teacher Jaroslava Šiktancová, excerpts from The Increased Difficulty of Concentration, a comedy about a man incapable of choosing between his wife and a lover and whose mind becomes incapable of working toward anything conceptually or even orienting itself in time.

Share

Facebook | Twitter