The topic of breakups is dealt with by the London theater comedy 50 Ways to Break Up, the Czech premiere of which will be presented by the Klicper Theater in Hradec Králové this Friday, October 18 and Saturday, October 19. Directed by Petr Štindl, the audience will see it in Studio Beseda, i.e. on a smaller stage. The theater set two dates in order to accommodate everyone who wants to see the novelty.
Part of the production, in which Lucie Andělová, Maria Leherová, Daniel Krečmar, Martina Eliášová and William Valerián perform, will be live music. It was composed by the latter, in a wide range from techno to country. Actors are expected to play banjo, piano, keyboards, guitar or drums.
The title refers to the song by the American singer Paul Simon, which is called 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover in English. The script was created in London’s Bush Theater in 2008. “Six budding authors wrote several situations on the given topic of breakup and as a result combined their situations into one dramatic text, or rather a free band,” explains Martin Sedláček, the spokesman for the Králové Hradec scene.
Below the text are signed Ben Ellis, Morgan Lloyd Malcom and Ben Schiffer plus three women: Leah Chillery, Stacey Gregg and Lucy Kirkwood. The latter is one of the most successful contemporary British dramatists, productions of her works appear all over Europe. “The play shows that even such a serious and painful thing as a breakup can be looked at in a comedic way. The theater allows perspective and distance,” adds dramaturg Lenka Smrčková.
The creative team is completed by Pavel Kodeda, who designed the set, and Lucie Halgašová, who took care of the costumes. The novel is played in Klára Vajnerová’s translation.
The Klicper Theater in Hradec Králové has six premieres on its schedule in the 2024/2025 season, and at the beginning of October it already presented King Lear directed by Michal Hába. In mid-December, the third premiere will be the world premiere of the play A pak uśnu a prudhu by Pavel Khek, in which the music group Razam and ten members of the Hradec Králové Philharmonic will perform live. This project will pay tribute to singer Zuzana Navarová.