http://www.radio.cz/en information about cultural events in the Czech Republic en Tue, 05 Oct 2010 17:17:52 +0200 Tue, 05 Oct 2010 19:24:33 +0200 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Radio Prague CMS http://img.radio.cz/logo_100.gif http://www.radio.cz/en 100 55 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Radio Broadcasting cr@radio.cz webmaster@radio.cz http://www.radio.cz/en/article/132317 A new festival that has just got underway in Prague focuses on social outreach or community theatre, in which professionals engage in a hands-on way with the world around them. The organisers of the Akcent festival have brought together leading directors in this field from around Europe, with the aim of kick-starting a similar movement in the Czech Republic. Tue, 05 Oct 2010 17:17:52 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/132317 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/132303 In this edition of Music Express we meet a veteran of the Czech pop and country scenes, Pavel Bobek. He was a member of the renowned Semafor theatre group for two and a half decades, had numerous hits with Czech versions of US country hits, and even got to perform with his life-long idol Johnny Cash. Tue, 05 Oct 2010 14:30:54 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/132303 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/132211 Julek Neumann is a man of many talents: theatrical director, actor, journalist, playwright and poet. He is currently writing, directing and acting with a number of Czech theatres after over 25 years abroad, first in Vienna, where he moved from communist Czechoslovakia in 1984, and then in London, where for many years he worked for the Czech section of the BBC. David Vaughan spoke to Julek about a rather neglected, but fascinating aspect of Czech theatre – the central role it has played in the life of Czech communities abroad. Sun, 03 Oct 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/132211 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/132161 A recently opened exhibition in Prague turns the spotlight on science fiction in Czechoslovakia between the late 1940s and the late 1970s, when countless magazines, books and films promised a bright, socialist future. Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:58:57 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/132161 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/132153 Prague’s Galerie Rudolfinum has officially opened one of its most ambitious projects to date: the exhibition Decadence Now! Visions of Excess, looking at the use of decadence in contemporary art. The show – featuring work by such artists as Cindy Sherman, Joel-Peter Witkin and the late Robert Mapplethorpe – will shock some but enthuse others, and in all cases draw a strong response. Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:01:37 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/132153 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/132121 Tuesday was a state holiday in the Czech Republic, the Day of Czech Statehood, which marks the feast day of the patron Saint Václav, or Wenceslas. While it has always been a red-letter day for Czech Roman Catholics, who commemorate the martyr’s murder in the year 935, it is only in recent years that the date has gained in political significance. This year the office of the government marked the occasion with a special ceremony to return an 80 year old film epic about the holy monarch to the screen. Wed, 29 Sep 2010 16:04:01 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/132121 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/132085 The Czech Film and Television Academy has made its choice for which film to send to the 2011 Academy Awards, putting its trust once again in director Jan Hřebejk for his drama Kawasaki’s Rose. That Mr Hřebejk has Oscar potential we already know – his WWII drama Divided We Fall was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar in 2000 – but was Kawasaki’s Rose indeed the best candidate for an Oscar on offer; that’s a question I put to film critic Ilona Francková. Mon, 27 Sep 2010 17:03:23 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/132085 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131986 Described as a musical morality tale, the Tiger Lillies bi-lingual show Zde jsem Člověkem! or Here I Am Human! has just enjoyed a short but successful first run at Prague’s leading avant-garde theatre, Divadlo Archa. Fri, 24 Sep 2010 13:46:51 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131986 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131903 The CCTV Allstars have not been on the scene for too long, but we’re hearing about them more and more over the last year as they become a staple of the Czech music scene. They are based out of Prague and play a tireless schedule here month after month, so they’re certainly listed as a “Czech group”. But each member of the five-man ensemble is from a different country and they bring variety of musical backgrounds to a foreground of ska. Today we sat down with two of their number, their British frontman and guitarist Eddy Allen, and Swedish bassist Fredrik Janacek. Wed, 22 Sep 2010 09:28:45 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131903 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131863 Steen Agro made a big impact with his first full length feature film, the British-Czech black comedy ‘Shut up and shoot me’ (Sklapni a zastřel mě) in which Czech actors Karel Roden and Anna Geislerová had star roles. Five years on, he has moved to Prague and is seeking to build on his debut success. …..I asked him how tight were the purse strings for that first feature film. Mon, 20 Sep 2010 18:06:12 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131863 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131710 If you want to find out more about the long history of Czechs and Slovaks in the United States, the place to start is The National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The museum was devastated by floods in 2008 and some 6,000 flood-damaged volumes from the library are still being painstakingly restored. But the pace of recovery has been remarkably fast, and within the next couple of years, an ambitious project to rebuild and expand the museum should be complete. With it the library will also be up and running once again. In Czech Books this week, David Vaughan finds out more about the library’s rich collections. Sun, 19 Sep 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131710 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131728 In this week's Mailbox: Music videos filmed in Prague, music in Radio Prague's broadcasts. Listeners quoted: Evelyn Coviello, Maren Brown, Stephen Hrebenach, Chun-Quan Meng. Sun, 19 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131728 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131782 Just a few days ago the Czech Republic’s Cirk Putyka performed for the 65th time its acclaimed La Putyka, a show which combines the setting of a Czech pub with dance, music, acrobatics and puppetry. In short, elements typical of New Circus. Authored by performer Rosťa Novák, La Putyka (which is slang for pub or run-down dive), was featured in a slimmed-down version this year at the Czech Expo in Shanghai, and this weekend will premiere for the first time in English in the Czech capital. Fri, 17 Sep 2010 14:21:35 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131782 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131772 Czech fans of the queen of crime writing have been marking the 120th anniversary of her birth. English novelist Agatha Christie has an enthusiastic following in the Czech Republic and a club dedicated to her has been leading the tributes. Fri, 17 Sep 2010 13:03:09 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131772 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131735 The first German speakers settled in the Czech lands in the 13th century, and in the interwar period there were around three million ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia. That changed completely after World War II, when almost all of them were forcibly expelled from the country. Now, however, their history is being reclaimed – with plans to open the first museum in the Czech Republic dedicated to the country’s former German minority. Thu, 16 Sep 2010 15:56:09 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131735 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131723 The charming and historic West Bohemian town of Bečov nad Teplou has just hosted its third international symposium showcasing the blacksmith’s craft. The two-day event gave the public the chance to get up close and feel the heat of the braziers as a series of top smiths showed that this is very much a craft making a comeback. Thu, 16 Sep 2010 11:17:49 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131723 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131676 The long-awaited video game Mafia II, produced by the Brno-based 2K Czech studio, came out last month and has since become a huge success with gamers around the world, acclaimed for its mature and realistic story line and top-notch graphics. In this week’s Talking Point, we explore the world of Vitto Scaletta and his adventures in the American underworld of the 1950s. Tue, 14 Sep 2010 17:02:56 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131676 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131680 Once the shining stars of the 1960s Czechoslovak pop scene, singers Helena Vondráčková and Marta Kubišová have turned into bitter foes over thwarted plans for a comeback of their former band, the Golden Kids. Ms Vondráčková accused her colleague of breaking a contract, and demanded more than a million crowns in compensation. A Prague court has dismissed the claim, but the war may not be over. Tue, 14 Sep 2010 17:36:45 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131680 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131593 The hugely successful American musician Kanye West was in Prague recently making what is being described as a movie to accompany his as yet untitled new album. The rapper kept fans informed about his time in the Czech capital via Twitter, saying he had been doing 16-hour shoots and describing filming here as “like a child’s delusions become reality!” Sun, 12 Sep 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131593 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131592 It is not often that school plays get to be performed at international theatre festivals, still less so when it involves taking performers, props and scenery hundreds of miles half way across a continent. But this is just what happened when a group of teenagers from Britain brought a brand new play to Prague’s Fringe Festival in 2008. And it was not by chance that this play was brought to Prague. In this week’s Czech Books, David Vaughan finds out more from the play’s author. Sun, 12 Sep 2010 02:01:00 +0200 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131592