Anna Saavedra
OLGA (Václav Havel is not at home – Solo for the First Lady)
Divadlo LETÍ

SAT 13 May — 10.30 am S-klub
SAT 13 May — 4.15 pm S-klub

Without sentiment, yet a very sensitively narrated story of the former first lady who has proudly and humbly stood up against her complex destiny. The production is not particular about the documentary accuracy but it tries to reflect, through the personality of Olga Havlová, the message of her life’s attitude. It speaks openly about a woman who has always stood to the side, in the shadow of her husband. The subtitle of the production recalls her interest in trashy literature, which she developed in her lighthearted book club Hrobka and at the same time symbolises the difficulties of life in dark totalitarian times. The playwright Anna Saavedra, awarded the Theatre Critics' Award for the text, uses the principles of Havel's absurd poetics, which highlights the contrast between the real personality of Olga and the outside world functioning on illogical principles. The extraordinariness of the project is enhanced by the amazing acting skills of Pavlína Štorková which let to her winning the Theatre Critics' Award in 2016 for the Best Female Performance and title of Production of the Year 2016 to the theatre at the Theatre Newspaper survey.

directed by Martina Schlegelová
dramaturgy Marie Špalová
stage design Pavla Kamanová

premiere 23 March 2016

cast
Pavlína Štorková, Jiří Böhm, Tomáš Kobr, Pavol Smolárik

We could say that regarding Olga Havlová, this production has everything in its right place: the main character is presented as an unpretentious but strong woman living in the shadow of her husband yet in a sense creates the core of his life. (…) For such interpretation of Olga, Pavlína Štorková is the best fit; her ability to perform in an understated, unostentatious, selfironic but absolutely remarkable way is fully employed.
Vladimír Mikulka, Nadivadlo 2 April 2016

Martina Schlegelová (1981) studied directing and dramaturgy of drama theatre at DAMU academy in Prague. Her debut was the production Originální kabaret Orten–Kafka (2001). Since 2006 she has been the artistic director of Theatre LETÍ where she created more than 30 stage projects and productions. The most striking ones were Ravenhill's Pool (no water), Immured by Vaculová (both 2009), O'Rowe's Terminus (2010), Sikora's Zpověď masochisty (2011), Crimps's In the Republic of Happiness (2014) or the award winning Olga (2016) by Anna Saavedra. She cooperated with many Czech theatres. For ten years she has been working at the Department of Theory and Criticism at DAMU; she has engaged in radio play directing for even longer. Schlegelová translates from English, mainly the contemporary British playwrights. For the upcoming season, she will be the head of drama section at the South Bohemian Theatre in České Budějovice where she staged McDonagh's Kati earlier this year.

Theatre LETÍ originated in 2005 from the graduation class of Miroslav Krobot at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre at DAMU academy. Among the founding members we can mention actors Pavlína Štorková, Richard Fiala, Václav Jiráček and Pavol Smolárik, director Marián Amsler and dramaturge Dan Přibyl. Since 2006 Martina Schlegelová has been the artistic director of the theatre. The main dramaturgical line has from the very beginning focused on contemporary drama (British, German, Czech, Slovak and Russian) – all texts are staged in Czech or world premiere. The ensemble produced more than 60 productions (or stage projects) at several Prague-based scenes when in 2009, the Švandovo Theatre took them under their wing. Since the 2015/2016 season they have been situated in the new space of Vila Štvanice. In 2010 the theatre initiated the creation of the Centre for Contemporary Drama which annually gives the Mark Ravenhill Award for the best production of a new play.