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Drama

Our Uppish and Defiant Fellows

Ladislav Stroupežnický

Premiere performances: 2 and 3 March 2023 at the National Theatre.

The National Theatre
English surtitles

Choose date

  • October
  • November
  • December
  • February 2024
  • March 2024
    October 2023

    Sunday 29. 10.
    17:00

    Tickets available

    English surtitles
    November 2023

    Thursday 2. 11.
    19:00

    Tickets available

    English surtitles

    Saturday 4. 11.
    14:00

    Tickets available

    English surtitles

    Saturday 4. 11.
    19:00

    Tickets available

    English surtitles
    December 2023

    Monday 25. 12.
    17:00

    Tickets available

    English surtitles

    Sunday 31. 12.
    15:00

    Tickets available

    English surtitles
    February 2024

    Tuesday 6. 2.
    19:00

    Tickets available

    English surtitles

    Thursday 8. 2.
    19:00

    Tickets available

    English surtitles

    Sunday 11. 2.
    14:00

    Tickets available

    English surtitles

    Sunday 11. 2.
    19:00

    Tickets available

    English surtitles
    March 2024

    Monday 25. 3.
    19:00

    Tickets available

    English surtitles

    Thursday 28. 3.
    19:00

    Tickets available

    English surtitles

    Basic information

    Venue

    The National Theatre

    Approximate running time

    2 hours 40 minutes, 1 intermission (20 minutes) minutes

    Language

    In Czech, surtitles in English

    Premiere

    March 2, 2023

    A gem of Czech drama celebrates its return to the National Theatre.

    Cast

    • 2023-2024

    Creatives

    Stage director
    Martin Františák
    Dramaturgy
    Jana Slouková
    Sets and costumes
    Eva Jiřikovská
    Light design
    Martin Špetlík
    Motion cooperation
    Tomáš Rychetský

    About

    The councillors of Honice are to elect a bellman, the person responsible for security in the village. The task is formidable, with two strong candidates running for office – the veteran soldier Valentin Bláha and the tailor František Fiala. What is more, the mayor, Filip Dubský, and the first councillor, Jakub Bušek, obstinately sit tight, neither of them willing to compromise. The fraught situation is further aggravated by the municipal council receiving an anonymous letter threatening arson. A plethora of human types is presented on the stage – the “important persons” and their wives, old-timers, young lovers, lowlifes, pig-headed dimwits, tenacious truth-seekers and enthusiastic dupes. All of them live their little lives and great dreams, all of them desire, fight and argue, while the Red Rooster hovers above their roofs … Some 135 years after it was written, Our Uppish and Defiant Fellows is still a fascinating Czech play, a play about ourselves across generations and eras, a play in which the contest for the post of bellman becomes a gigantic struggle for truth and honesty.

    In 1887, Ladislav Stroupežnický (1850–1892), an ambitious unyielding dramatist with a restless poetic spirit, a brilliant observer of life in the Czech countryside, referred to his new play as a “contemporary comedy”. The premiere of Our Uppish and Defiant Fellows gave rise to uproar and disputes, provoking outrage due to the author’s uncompromising view, yet also admiration for its forcible and non-idealised depiction of life in a Czech village. Stroupežnický’s text would become immortal, and self-conceit and defiance would become symbols of the Czech national identity. The National Theatre has presented a number of adaptations of the play, including highly popular productions by Miroslav Macháček (1979) and, most recently, J. A. Pitínský (2004). Our new staging has been undertaken by Martin Františák, whose continuous work with rural subjects has earned him the reputation of a creator of impressive poetic folk images, as well as a satirist exposing the true reality of life in a Czech village.

    Official photos: Martin Špelda

    Suitable for audience from 12 years.

    Photo and video gallery

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    Goods detail

    Programme Our Uppish and Defiant Fellows

    A booklet for the production of Our Uppish and Defiant Fellows

    70 Kč

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    Practical information

    Where to buy tickets

    The National Theatre sells tickets up to 6 months in advance. On 1 October at 9am we selling tickets for performances of Drama, Ballet, Opera and Laterna magika until the end of March 2024.


    When purchasing online, you can get an e-ticket. You can pick up printed tickets in person at the box offices of the National Theatre.

    Parking at the National Theater

    While visiting The National Theatre and the New Stage you can use again the underground car park of the National Theatre. Information and a parking fee.

     

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    By their appearance, attire and behaviour, the audience is obliged to adhere to the accustomed practice expected from them when attending a theatre performance.

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