HOROSCAK MAREK (1976 - )
| Nationality: | Czech |
| Literary Agent: *: | |
| Email: | n/a |
| Website: | n/a |
* If shown, click on the literary agent's name for full contact details and links to all the Playwrights they represent.
Plays by Horoscak Marek
Boiled Heads (Vareny Hlavy) |
| 1st Produced: | Husa na provazku theatre, Brno | 2001 | ||
| Company: | - | |||
| 1st Published: | - | |||
| To Buy This Play: | If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies | |||
| Genre: | - | Play/Drama | Parts: | Male | 4 | Female | 2 |
| Parts Other: | - | |||
Notes: Boiled Heads was awarded second prize in the competition for the best original Czech or Slovak play awarded by the Alfred Radok Foundation in 1999 | ||||
Synopsis: A middle-aged married couple, Miriam and Karel, live in isolation in the middle of a forest. However, in the course of one night several intruders force their way into their house. The first is a girl at the age of puberty, Linda, who insists she is looking for her runaway cat in the forest. Karel, who is suspicious, nevertheless allows her to sleep in one of their rooms, which for security he locks. Immediately afterwards a car crashes not far from the house and two injured young men try to gain access to the house. The multiple coincidences have fateful results for the characters. Linda pretends that she is Karel's stepdaughter; she swears at him and complains to Miriam. It is not clear whether she is only being provocative or whether she is ventilating a real trauma. Karel goes along with her game. Both the new arrivals find it strange that a father should lock his daughter in her room, and try somehow to intervene in the row. Linda brings the whole argument to an end when accompanied by one of the youths she runs away into the forest. The other youth has to stay in the cottage because of a broken leg. Early the next day Karel takes him to hospital, in advance cutting off part of his ear as a warning. The young threesome decide not to leave the situation just like that. They succeed in persuading the pub lady-killer J.T. to set out for the cottage with a pistol and scare the couple a little bit. However, Linda and J.T.'s retaliatory measures end quite unexpectedly - Karel and Miriam eventually overcome the attackers and literally boil their heads. The text balances on the edge between a cool thriller and an ironic black grotesque. | ||||
