Alliance opens world premiere in Rosslyn on May 7

It’s a long way from the Czech Republic to Artisphere’s black box theatre in Arlington, Virginia. Let me tell you how I got involved in such a journey.

I was originally introduced to the creative work of Václav Havel through a friend who set some of the late Czech President and playwright’s writing to music.  That was when I realized how important Havel was not only to his country, but to the many people he inspired worldwide with his courage. There are numerous stories of that courage, but the one that stands out for me is how he refused the Nobel Peace Prize, preferring that it go to Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma instead.

Not only was Havel courageous, but he spoke the truth. He also made fun of power. That combination is what inspired my new play, Vaněk Unleashed – “an absurd musical fantasy in one act” (with music by my collaborator, the wonderful Maurice Saylor). The new music-theatre piece is having its world premiere this month at Rosslyn’s Artisphere (1101 Wilson Blvd., Arlington), where it is paired with the irreverent Unveiling, one of Havel’s most popular plays. (I first got to know Unveiling last year when my friend and colleague Mirenka Cechova, who directed the play at the Mutual Inspirations Festival in Washington, D.C., asked me to perform in it. I couldn’t resist.)

Unveiling features a bourgeois couple entertaining their friend, dissident playwright Ferdinand Vaněk, who discovers in one evening that the world has grown into a slippery and chaotic place in the time since his political imprisonment. Vaněk represents the dramatic alter ego of the playwright, who observes society around him, enduring painfully funny angst in his alienation. My new play, Vaněk Unleashed is a uniquely American response to the beloved central character of Unveiling. In Vaněk Unleashed, audiences find Vaněk still struggling with issues of the slipperiness of identity as he careens imaginatively between prison and the more terrifying and absurd world outside.

Comedic and entertaining with a tuneful and quirky score, the piece takes its performance style from two popular American art forms: the American musical and silent screen comedy, especially the work of vaudeville and silent film comedian Harry Langdon.

I think Havel would love that we are performing these works in Artisphere’s intimate Black Box theatre, where the audience can have a real relationship with the actors on stage.  Havel always liked small theater venues; his works were performed in apartments and other underground venues. His audience was exposed to something powerful, but also something that made them laugh – not unlike our two plays – which make up The Václav Havel Project.

Performances will be held May 7, 8, 14 and 15 at 7 and 9:30 p.m. and May 11 and 18 at 2 p.m. Tickets, which are $30 ($20 for students and groups), are available from www.newmusictheatre.org or 202-966-3104. If you come, be sure to stay for the

post performance discussions to share your ideas and interpretations of Václav Havel and these works.

Susan Galbraith performs in Unveiling and wrote and directs Vaněk Unleashed.