In the Lion's Den

Drama of relations/Czech premiere

Like prophet Daniel, Berlin actor Arthur Kirsch falls into a den full of lions in the 1930’s when he is expelled from a theatre by his fanatic fellow actors, obsessed with nazism, just because he is a Jew. But Kirsch – disguised as a “genuine” German – comes back and celebrates a magnificent artistic and human victory over the witlessness and brutality of the totalitarian regime. The successful play, which was put on many European stages with an extraordinary acceptance and whose hero resembles Schveik playing his plays against human stupidity with an innocent face, brings to the audience, besides the exceptionally depicted theme of humanity and solidarity, also a pleasure of unusually gripping story and its culmination. It uses artfully various possibilities of dramatic rules, moments of surprise and various turning points. But in the first place it reflects the age-long human desire for understanding and harmony, which can unfortunately be seldom achieved.