Schweyk in the Second World War (2009)

Poster by Mark Davies

by Bertolt Brecht, translated by William Rowlinson

Directed by James Hough

Performances: Tuesday 19th to Saturday 23rd May 2009, Prompt Corner

Introduction

This play derives from Jaroslav Hašek’s satirical and unfinished novel The Good Soldier Švejk, with Brecht transporting the tale from the First to the Second World War. The play is mostly set in Prague, the then the capital of the German Third Reich’s “Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia”’; it is 1942 and the German army’s doomed drive to capture Stalingrad is underway.

Most of the scenes occur within The Chalice, a pub in Prague (Schweyk’s “regular”). However, we also have scenes in the Gestapo HQ, Hitler’s HQ, the Prague railway yards, a military prison and the frozen steppes of Russia on the approaches to Stalingrad.

Cast

• Schweyk – Alan Brown
• Mrs Kopecka – Jenny McLaughlin
• Mr Baloun – Peter Medd
• Young Prochazka – James Furlong
• Kati – Lena Feindt
• Anna – Karen Webb
  
  
• SS-Obersturmführer Bullinger / Wehrmachtdekan Bullinger: David Blatcher
• Geheime Staatspolizei Agent Brettschneider: Christopher Vian-Smith
• Drunk SS-Schütze: Sean Chapman
• SS-Schütze Müller II*: Sebastian Hulkkov
• Other soldiers and agents of the Großdeutschen Reiches - Nick Bozic and Nick Conway
• Reichsmarschall (and Reichs Minister of Aviation, Forestry etc etc) Hermann Göring: Sean Chapman
  
  
• Generalfeldmarschall Von Bock ("Der Sterber"), Commander of Heeresgruppe Süd: Christopher Vian-Smith
• Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler: Nick Bozic
• Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda / Gauleiter of Berlin, Joseph Goebbels: Nick Conway
• Der Führer des Großdeutschen Reiches, Adolf Hitler - Alan Buckman

Crew

• Stage Manager - Graham Clements
• Assistant Stage Managers - Derek Dempsey and Stuart Grimwood
• Lighting design - James Webb
• Sound design - Kevin Leech
• Lighting and sound operator - Induja Bandara
• Scenic artists - Hazel Hindle and Michael Wilson
• Costumes - Lisa Thomas
• Choreographer - Anna York
• Lighting rigger - Karen Webb
• Poster - Mark Davies
• Set and prop construction - Mark Ireson, Graham Clements and the crew
• Show photography - John Sansom

Reviews

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Reminiscences and Anecdotes

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References

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