The Wonderfully Witty Drama Queens Bring Agatha Christie to Prague ****************************************************************************************** * The Wonderfully Witty Drama Queens Bring Agatha Christie to Prague ****************************************************************************************** On June 25th, I visited the charming Žižkovské divadlo Járy Cimrmana in Žižkov (Žižkov The Cimrman), a hotspot for student nightlife, quirky bars, strong cocktails and chunky burger tucked away theatre was hosting an amateur adaption of Agatha Christie's play The Mousetra independent student based company The Drama Queens [ URL "http://www.dramaqueens.cz/"] , w showcasing productions of fresh, upcoming talent in the English language since 2007 and fe known Slovak director and Charles University graduate Martin Murín, who puts his theatrica down to a second year module he studied, Drama in Teaching English. After his involvement production Hard Candy, he developed a mentoring partnership and friendship with co-directo and the rest was history. Since then, The Drama Queens has churned out seven productions, Havel's plays, and are as ambitious as ever, featuring a tight-knit, talented company and and actresses from Charles University, mainly from the Department of English Language and Faculty of Education [ URL "http://www.pedf.cuni.cz/?lang=en"] , who have held a close bon Queens since its beginnings, and still do today, thanks to head of department Dr Petr Chal Christie's fun and suspenseful murder mystery has been performed far and wide, starting in and known to be one of the longest running plays in history. Set in a London bed and break a newlywed couple, the plot sheds light on a strange group of guests who appear one by one to shelter from a snow storm. Soon, they're all trapped inside from the harsh weather, cut civilisation – and a killer is on the loose after news of a local murder. As tension and p the thrilling tale leaves you guessing who the culprit is. This English classic found its niche in Prague in the Žižkov Theatre of Jára Cimrman, a pe for its budding performers – elegant, dim and cosy with a bold and minimalist stage, deep swishy curtains. Like most places in Žižkov, it was full of character, relaxed, buzzing wi positioned oddly (down a side street on a hill). The auditorium was softly lit, confined, students, locals and friends and the bar was serving all of things it should in Žižkov. Th began with some welcoming words from the director thanking the audience and those behind t who as we saw throughout, put in a tremendous amount of effort and time to bring this gem incredibly funny version of it. This adaption was encompassing and unique, condensing all the best bits of Christie's styl two hour cliffhanger and skit. The company was small, charismatic and promising, and their were punchy and imaginative, amplified by the intimate auditorium and low stage, the chara few feet away from their audience, which is something I think is very special about amateu venues like the Žižkovské divadlo. There was something very raw and honest about it, parti it comes to direct address and monologues, which there was a few of, as the acoustics were projective, and the stage action so close. It was truly a “less is more” performance, with clever and dimensional stage layout and few props, courtesy of stage designer Klára Svobod elaboration, and our attention, to this feel-good ensemble. The script and scene transitions were rehearsed and smooth – which is not always the case and amateur performances (!) – and the dialogue was fluent and unforced, something that I a long time to master as performers. I was astonished also by the precision and English ac cast, who were comprised all but one of non-native English speakers, yet maintained the hi observed at a Charles University adaption of Shakespeare's The Tempest (staged by the comp Production, based in the Faculty of Arts [ URL "http://www.ff.cuni.cz/home/"] ). All of th mirrored the effort and sacrifice of the team to put the performance together and practice It was evident that the actors and actresses had gone that extra length to make the charac own. Individually, they mastered their roles and belonged to them, and as a cast, they con complimented each other, the jokes and dialogue bouncing off one another. The characters w and all of the suspense that an enactment of Christie should have, and the freshness that cast always has. I also love to see performers with an air of effortlessness and carelessn all carried. Those who stood out particularly to me were Monika Hagenhoferová, who played Wren and was simply hilarious, bursting with stage presence and flair, and secondly Jan St Mr Paravicini, who got the audience so excited that he entered without opening his mouth a was in fits of laughter, which may have had something to do with his fantastically cheesy flirty facial expressions and an insanely white suit. Their talents don't stop at acting however – this small crew utilised everybody's strength several roles in making The Mousetrap a success. It's very rare for such a young company t and take on multiple roles, and I was pleasantly surprised in this extra involvement and k the curtains, of which I'm sure, took a great deal of well-invested time, skill and patien goes to the multi-tasking and talented Ryan Keating, otherwise known as Major Metcalf, who English from an accent that could rival Richard Dawkins, and who is currently the full-tim The Drama Queens. Also, to Tereza Váchová, who pulled off a very dominating and cut-throat whilst creating and managing the distinct costume design for the play, which was very accu period and cleverly reflected the personalities on stage, adding to their hilarity. Tereza successfully scheduled herself in as PR manager for Drama Queens whilst being a very prist who was illustrated exactly how we'd all imagine her and brought back all our memories of teachers. Likewise, Jakub Turčan, who pulled this all together as assistant director and s at the end with a twist to the murder mystery... no spoilers! All in all, the stage loved them and so did we – thanks also goes to Egli Prifti for some clever sound design and Marek Náprstek for the funky poster, tickets and advertisement. Wh Poppy Gerrard-Abbott is an Erasmus student studying BA write for the iForum to build on her journalism skills Czech culture and life in Prague through attending loc Poppy saw the iForum as an exciting opportunity to pur fun experience that has brought some exciting opportun offer such placements to future students.