Private View and Protest

Monday, 10 November 2008 - Saturday, 6 December 2008

Orange Tree Theatre, 1 Clarence Street, Richmond, TW9 2SA

How Much: £19.00 (Highest Price) , £9.00 (Lowest Price)

Orange Tree's Vaclav Havel revival continues with this double bill based on the character Vanek. This semi-autobiographical dissident writer was created by Havel in the dark days of the late 1970s when his writing had been outlawed by the Czechoslovakian government. The character, an absurd, brooding caricature of an activist, was a huge underground hit, borrowed (with permission) by other playwrights who were still acceptable.

This double bill pitches Vanek into two embarrassing situations: visiting friends who have just been abroad in their opulent flat, and popping round to the house of a popular, non-dissident writer following the arrest of a pop singer.

Vanek is an apt satirical vehicle, with a gentle, confused personality that sets him up as the accidental figurehead of dissident protest. A sort of radical Marco Valdo, stumbling between personal and political disasters.