The Murder of Gonzago / Jiří Havelka, DD*

Barbara Lukešová • Klára Melíšková • Zdeňka Žádníková • Tomáš Jeřábek • Martin Myšička • Ivan Trojan

set design Dáda Němeček costumes Adriana Černá
dramaturgy Eva Suková

*Babčáková-Jeřábek-Melíšková-Myšička-Suková-Trojan-Žádníková
directed by Jiří Havelka

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PREMIERE 19.12.2017
RUNNING TIME 2 hours 20 minutes, including an interval

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What does it mean to perform when reality is more absurd than fiction? This bold and layered production from acclaimed Czech director Jiří Havelka begins as a playful meta-theatrical confession: actors reflecting on their lives, careers, and inner contradictions in a space that feels part dressing room, part limbo. But midway, the piece fractures—and transforms.

Inspired by the play-within-a-play from Hamlet, where truth is revealed through performance, the production shifts into a stark reconstruction of the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, the Russian ex-spy whose slow and public death in London became a symbol of modern political violence. With precision and restraint, the ensemble dissects the 23 days of his decline, letting silence, rhythm, and gesture speak where words fail.

The Murder of Gonzago combines the intimacy of personal testimony with the urgency of documentary theatre. Havelka masterfully blurs lines between performance and politics, play and protest, asking: Can theatre still speak truth to power?


Press highlights:

"Jiří Havelka's new work at the Dejvice Theatre pushes the boundaries of drama, astonishes with its formal and ideological originality and absorbs with the intensity of the actor's expression. The two-and-a-half-hour-long spectacle dispenses with the crutches of artistic or sound magic, yet it does not let the viewer breathe for a moment. The intention here is much deeper and more fundamental: to point out the meaning of the acting profession, the ability of the artist to awaken from lethargy and to influence social consciousness with the power of his mastery." (aktualne.cz)

"The incredibly gripping drama about Litvinenko's dying is conceived as a police investigation in which the actors switch from one role to another. I sat riveted in the seat and the suggestive action on stage didn't allow me to slacken my attention for a second." (i-divadlo.cz)