The title Comedy of the Year was awarded by the professional and student jury to the production of Pirandello’s play Everyone Has His Right in the production of the Dejvický Theater from Prague. The production directed by Michal Vajdička also received the Student Jury Award, and Klára Melíšková in the role of Mrs. Amália won the award for Best Female Performance.
The expert jury awarded the production of The Magic Flute at the Dlouhá Theater in Prague, the directors Martin Kukučka and Lukáš Trpišovský (SKUTR) won the Best Director Award and the actor Jan Sklenář the Best Male Performance in the role of the Queen of the Night. The audience praised with their votes the production The Game that went wrong at the FX Šalda Theater in Liberec, directed by Kateřina Dušková.
Photo: Michal Klíma
Actors Martin Matejka and Klára Sedláčková-Oltová accepted the award for Divadlo v Dlouhé.
Every year, at the Laughter Gala, the Genius of Laughter Award is awarded to a personality who has significantly enriched the comedy genre. This year, Zdeněk Svěrák became the Genius of Laughter for his distinctive dramatic work for the Jára Cimrman Theatre.
“Laughter is something like medicine for me. When I don’t laugh for a long time, I stop being healthy. Laughter is a few seconds of absolute happiness that we experience as a dog when its master returns,” said Zdeněk Svěrák in the pre-recorded documentary. On stage, he thanked for the award and reminded that if a person laughs for a minute, he will extend his life by a year.
“When God created Adam and looked at what he had created, he laughed all day long. Maybe that’s why he’s eternal,” said the new Genius with laughter. He thus joined the holders of the proud title and the statue of Bohumil Kafka, among whom are actors Ivan Trojan, Boleslav Polívka and Jiřina Bohdalová. During the festive evening, songs with lyrics by Zdenek Svěrak were performed by the actors of the festival productions.
For Pardubice viewers, the Grand Festival of Laughter also has its epilogue, which will definitively end on May 2 with the comedy My Wife’s Husband, performed by the Prague Theater Na Fidlovačce.
