Josef Holcman

The Breaking of the Bread (Lámání chleba)

An original Czech play about courage and friendship in eras of dictatorship.

Švandovo Theatre Ensemble

Show Length:	2 hrs 50 min including intermission
Director:	Dodo Gombár
Premiere Date:	21. 10. 2017
Derniere Date:	16. 11. 2019

An original Czech play by Josef Holcman based on real events that happened in South Moravian village Skoronice.

A story of friendship throughout history. Three friends' life stories, several changes of Moravian countryside and sixty years of our history. Small human dramas in big dictatorship eras. The dramas begin with Romanian and German occupation in 1944 and ends in new millenium's time of freedom.

Main protagonists are farmer Vojta (Jacob Erftemeijer), his neighbour and friend Alois (Petr Buchta) and Franz Löwy (Tomáš Červinek), deserter whom Vojta and Alois hide in a barn and save his life. An effort to keep besides their friendship a clean slate and clear conscience will cost them a lot. In following years of dictatorship, fear and spying on each other one has to pay for being brave and moral - and the price is very high. How will the neighbours react? Who joins the winners and who joins the losers? And what happens when the wheel of history turns another way again?

Kindly note that actors smoke on stage during the show.

CHARACTERS AND CAST
VOJTA, FARMER AND WRITER: Jacob Erftemeijer
OLD MAN JOSEF, HIS FATHER: Miroslav Hruška
LIBA, VOJTA'S WIFE: Martina Krátká
ALOIS, A NEIGHBOUR FROM ACROSS THE ROAD, FUTURE PRIEST: Petr Buchta
FRANZ LÖWY, SOLDIER FROM VIENNA: Tomáš Červinek
ROSA, HIS WIFE: Andrea Buršová
StB AGENT BAUER, VOJTA'S CLASSMATE: Jan Řezníček
FRANTA, VOJTA'S SON, BORN SEVEN YEARS AFTER WAR: David Punčochář
PUBLICAN (NARRATOR): Marek Pospíchal
POSTWOMAN: Réka Derzsi
OLDER StB AGENT, GERMAN SOLDIER, COMMUNIST: Luboš Veselý
ROMANIAN SOLDIER, TRACTOR DRIVER: Jiří Weiner

PRODUCTION TEAM
DIRECTOR: Dodo Gombár
DRAMATURGY: Iva Mikulová
STAGE DESIGN: Lucie Labajová
COSTUMES: Lenka Odvárková
MUSIC: Jiří Hájek
PRODUCTION: Jitka Dvořáková, Eva Šojdelová
STAGE MANAGER: Blanka Popková