A
dark and biting comedy from the one of the most controversial cultural and political
figures of Czech history Pavel Kohout.
CYANIDE
AT FIVE
A play by Pavel Kohout
Directed by Eva Sitta
BONDI
PAVILION THEATRE QUEEN ELIZABETH DRIVE, BONDI BEACH
21 April - 2 May, Tue-Sat
8pm, Matinees Sat 2.30pm
Tix: $30/$35
BOOKINGS MCA-TIX: 1300 306
776 + www.mca-tix.com.au
'Cyanide
at Five' is above all a story of obsessive revenge. When Irena Golembiowska, a
holocaust survivor reads an acclaimed novel written by Zofia Lass, the story and
characters feel alarmingly familiar to her.
Irena decides
to confront the famous writer to find if there is any truth in her supposed work
of fiction, but what begins as an innocent exchange between two women turns into
an intense psychological thriller in which cyanide becomes a factor in deciding
where the moral balance lies…
Performed for the very
first time in Australia, productions of 'Cyanide at Five' have enjoyed critical
acclaim throughout Europe and the play enjoyed a five-year stint at the Prague
National Theatre. It has also been adapted for the BBC.
Playright
Pavel Kohout is one of the most controversial cultural and political figures of
Czech history. An ardent Stalinist in his youth in the 1950s, a reformist communist
in the 1960s, a dissident in the 1970s, and an emigré in the 1980s Kohout
has long been a highly visible character on the Czech cultural-political scene.
When he and other dissident theatre workers had been banned from working in the
official theatre, he formed the company Living-Room Theatre with the actors Pavel
Landovský, Vlasta Chramostová, Vlastimil T?eš?ák, and
his daughter, Tereza Bou?ková to covertly perform an adaptation of William
Shakespeare's Macbeth in living rooms in Prague. Czech-born playwright, Tom Stoppard's
Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth is inspired by these events.
Eva
Sitta, actress/director: Eva has performed many roles in film, TV and theatre
in Australia and the Czech Republic. Her film and TV credits include leading roles
in the feature film "Island", directed by the internationally renowned
Paul Cox, the mini-series "The Petrov Affair", "Closing Stages",
"The Shadow of the Flying Bird", "Reflection", "The Wall
of Death", "Eva, Eva" etc. Stage credits include main roles in
Jean Cocteau's "The Human Voice", "The Usherette", Queen in
"Hamlet", "Tinsel and Ashes" by Anna Maria Dell'oso etc. She
received Best Actress Awards for her film roles in the Czech Republic and Poland.
Zuzi
Fort, actress: Zuzi has performed extensively with theatrical productions
all over Sydney including with Belvoir St Theatre, the Pilgrim Theatre, the Capitol
Theatre, the Independent Theatre and Parramatta Riverside. She is also a licensed
stunt performer
