About the play
Written as a teleplay for Czech Television in 1968, A Butterfly on the Antenna, like much else in Czechoslovakia, fell victim to Soviet repression following the “Prague Spring.” It was not performed until 1975, when broadcast as a radio-play in, what was then, West Germany.
Synopsis
A playwright named Jenik and his family are celebrating his 30th birthday. Mr. Bashta, a plumber who is also a recently-arrived lodger in Jenik’s home, has fallen asleep after dinner. Amused, Jenik decides to write a play about it. In his own words:
“What happens next? What about this? Somewhere in the apartment water starts dripping. And it’s getting worse, but nobody knows how to stop it. There is a threat of a flood. Then suddenly they realize that their boarder is a plumber, so they want to wake him up to stop the water. But they are afraid to wake him up because they don’t exactly know who he is.”
Unfortunately for Jenik and his family, his fictitious story starts to come true.
Cast
Jenik, a writer: Philip Emeott
Marie, his wife: Liz Wisan
Mother-in-law, her mother: Dawn Jamieson
Mr. Bashta, a plumber: Richard Renner
Production
Director / composer: Henry Akona
Lighting designer: DJ Potter
Costume designer / stage manager: Julia Funk
Graphic designer: Margaret Baker Salmon
