Robert Wilson combined Jaroslav Hašek's The Good Soldier Šveijk and Karl Kraus’ The Last Days of Mankind in his 1914 production which premiered at the Prague National Theater. The production features the legendary Czech opera singer and actress Soňa Červená, who has collaborated with Robert Wilson on many projects, notably The Black Rider (1990) and others.
“The Good Soldier Švejk, the key novel of Czech literature and an ironic insight into war and its attendant absurdity, is creatively juxtaposed in this production with Karl Kraus’s satirical anti-war play The Last Days of Mankind. The modern-theatre wizard Robert Wilson transforms all this into a cabaret replete with scenic images, music and surprising humour in a parable not only of 1914 but also, and primarily, our life today, one hundred years after the outbreak of a terrible war that marked the real start of the 20th century. The powerful production about Europe, its optimists and pessimists (beneath the gaze of eternal Time), is a unique project in which–for the second time–the elite of Czech drama will join forces with an artist setting the direction of global theatre.”
More information and tickets here.