Our Uppish and Defiant Fellows
Premiere performances: 2 and 3 March 2023 at the National Theatre.
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- December
- January 2025
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- May 2025
Friday 13. 12.
19:00
Tickets availableWednesday 8. 1.
19:00
Tickets availableThursday 9. 1.
19:00
Tickets availableThursday 16. 1.
19:00
Tickets availableWednesday 26. 2.
19:00
Tickets availableThursday 27. 2.
19:00
Tickets availableTuesday 1. 4.
19:00
Tickets availableWednesday 2. 4.
19:00
Tickets availableThursday 3. 4.
19:00
Tickets availableSaturday 31. 5.
19:00
Tickets availableBasic information
The National Theatre
Approximate running time2 hours 40 minutes, 1 intermission (20 minutes) minutes
LanguageIn Czech, surtitles in English, German
PremiereMarch 2, 2023
A gem of Czech drama celebrates its return to the National Theatre.
Cast
- 2024-2025
Creatives
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.
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Where to buy tickets
The National Theatre sells tickets up to 6 months in advance. We are currently selling tickets for performances of Drama, Ballet, Opera and Laterna magika taking place in December 2024 – May 2025.
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.
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