 The Slovak Theatre in Melbourne invites you to three performances of a delightful comedy by Jan Palarik, Zmierenie, alebo Dobrodruzstvo pri Obzinkoch (Reconciliation, or Adventure at the Harvest Festival). The author was a maverick. As a catholic priest, he was imprisoned and punished by his own church for pushing ecumenical ideas in the middle of the 19th Century. He was also disliked by his contemporaries because he dared to combine fervent nationalism and patriotism with ideas of international co-operation and the brotherhood of all mankind in which all nations should respect each other.
The text of his plays appears even today in somewhat censored form and the censorship is cleverly disguised through so called modernization of the rather antiquated language. Even more censored appear to be the existing videorecordings, our prophet is still misunderstood. In fact, I believe he foretold the European Union. Much of the serious thought in this comedy is still relevant today, not only for Slovaks in Europe, but also for us at the other end of the planet. The belief of the centrality of a national language in the preservation of culture is balanced by Palarik by exhortations to learn foreign languages to increase understanding, but in doing so, we must not have our children brainwashed by foreign language teachers in believing that our culture is inferior. Something to remember when one of the fastest growing industries in Slovakia is pre-schools run by native speakers of English and German.
The plot, although not completely original, is funny and the characters are realistically chiselled with fine dramatic penmanship. We are honoured to present to you this gem of the Slovak dramatic writing in as original a form as we could manage.
WHEN: Premiere Saturday, 6th of December, 7.30pm
2nd performance: Saturday, 13th December, 7.30pm
Matinee: Tuesday, 30th December, 12.30 pm
WHERE: At the Doncaster Playhouse 679 Doncaster Rd. Doncaster 3108
COST: $15.00 per person, children: $5.00 per child to 11 years - (seats are numbered)
BOOKINGS: BY 26 NOVEMBER, 2008.
Tickets will be mailed to you, or you may collect them at the Doncaster Playhouse from 7.00pm on the day of the performance.
The seats are limited, so please mail your order as soon as possible and AT THE LATEST BY 26 NOVEMBER, 2008.
Mailing address : c/o 10 Somerville St, Doncaster 3108.
For further information please call 98558086, 98855021 email: kralt@bigpond.com |
