Overview

Havel's first play in twenty years had its public premiere anonymously in 1988 as part of a Brno theatre project in pre revolution Czechoslovakia. While it recalls the non traditional way in which events leading to the birth of Czechoslovakia in 1918 took place, it also became an unwitting prophecy. Its hero is a young politician: the spirit of the 1918 revolution. On its eve, he and his wife are considering both the best tactics for a peaceful revolution and the future of the newly emerging state. His view is complemented by actors reconstructing later events as comedy and documentary and recalling the nightmare of future developments in Central Europe.