Marathon Fifty on the Neck: Pre-premiere of the documentary series about HaDivadlo

Lost and Found of the Eternal Outsiders of the Czech Theatre. The ones that were five and a half. Human tragicomedies and lucky stars on their willow. Humanism in the disorder of the world.

A ten-part documentary series by screenwriter Břetislav Rychlík and director Monika Rychlíková charts the 50-year history of the legendary HaDivadlo. Rychlík, who was a member from 1982—1996, takes on the role of guide and, together with witnesses and contemporary creators, reflects on the development of the theatre, its poetics, creative peaks and the search period.

The cycle commemorates prominent personalities who have passed through HaDivadlo — from the founders of Svatopluk Vála, Josef Kovalčuk or Arnošt Goldflam, music composer Jiří Bulis through directors and authors such as Jan Borna, J. A. Pitínský, David Jařab, Jiří Pokorný, Marián Amsler, Ján Sedal and Ivan Buraj to the connected generations of actors from Prostějov and Brno. There is no shortage of memories of important creators who are no longer among us, as well as the return of actors for whom HaDivadlo was an essential school.

The series offers not only a portrait of an exceptional theatrical scene, but also a testimony to the social and political contexts of its time. HaDivadlo has always been critical, provocative and free — a theatre that stood aside for a while, at the centre of the action, but never gave up passionate and engaged work.