Bořivoj Penc

The Jára Cimrman Theater staged its first premiere exactly 50 years ago, on October 4, 1967. Its members celebrated the half-century anniversary with a special program that included scenes from plays by the trio of authors Cimrman, Smoljak, and Svěrák, which have since become cult classics. Psaní do nebe (Writing to Heaven) is a letter written by Zdeněk Svěrák to his long-time friend and colleague Ladislav Smoljak in connection with the 50th anniversary of the Jára Cimrman Theater. It became the backbone of the entire gala evening at the Žižkov Theater. The performance also included excerpts from productions and a number of other items.

Three brothers leave their home to see the world. During their journey, young men as by miracle enter into famous fairy tales (Little Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Twelve Months) and face traps, unexpected moments and even love in a story full of humor and songs.

No plot available for this movie.

Cimrman's play about Czech expedition to north pole.

Jára Cimrman in the whirlwind of the past forty years, as discovered, recorded, and brought to life by the theater.

When late in life was presenting Cimrman his artistic activity, came arresting knowledge: none of the works he had signed, not recognition. And so he decided to retreat to the anonymity of the author and become folklore. Clairvoyantly recognized that the modern era marked for extinction of folk creativity in areas such as the national song, story, legend, proverb or weather lore. The only thing from the oral folklore of die and stay alive is an anecdote. And she plays a significant role in his play Lijavec.

The result of a clash between two intellectual forces: the artist's irrepressible creative instinct and the equally irrepressible instinct of the small Czech self-sufficient farmer. While on the one hand we see an admirable effort to understand and portray the world and get to the essence of human behavior, on the other hand we encounter only a mundane effort to dry a few mushrooms for the winter. In the case of this play, Josef Padevět's small, bitter world unfortunately prevails.

Poverty was one of the many unfortunate aspects of Cimrman's life. His traveling theater company, Lipany, suffered from high actor turnover. If an actor's departure was agreed upon well in advance, the situation could be managed. However, if it happened with shouting and slamming doors, often just a few hours before the performance, the troupe and its director experienced some tense moments. Such experiences form the backdrop to the play. Lovers of the work of this unrecognized Czech artist are now able to access testimony from this area of the master's life, in which his destiny was most fulfilled—the theater.

No plot available for this movie.

Two short stories in which novice detective Sergeant Zahrádka is tasked with carrying out trivial orders, which he fails to do due to his innate clumsiness.