Judgment Day
This radio performance of one of the last plays by Austrian playwright Ödön von Horváth addresses the eternal human longing for higher justice. It takes place in a small village located on a busy railway line, where passing trains stop only rarely.
Stationmaster Hudetz lives here under the village’s stifling scrutiny; his marriage with an older woman is a favorite topic of local gossip. When Hudetz causes a train crash killing more than ten people, public opinion in the debate on his guilt leans first to one side, then to the other. Never ready with evidence, but always ready to lynch or laud as needed.
In his “folk plays,” Ödön von Horváth forcefully captured the oppressive atmosphere before World War II, in which society saw growing intolerance and aggressiveness capable of igniting an explosion of violence. This period’s feeling of a boundary moment, an upcoming “judgment day,” became the starting point for the approach to this performance’s sound and music – a collaboration among director Vít Vencl, sound designer Ladislav Železný, and music composer Miro Thóth.
Listen the Drama at the Prix Bohemia Radio festival!
When: Wednesday 20th October 2021 | 09:30 – 11:00
Where: Film hall, Arts Centre UP
Entrance: Free admission with accreditation
Look at the detailed program of the listening session.
Cast: Tomáš Hudetz (Honza Hájek), Mrs. Hudetzová (Dana Černá), Alfons (Martin Myšička), Hostinský (Václav Vydra), Anna (Klára Suchá), Ferdinand (Ladislav Hampl), Lena (Klára Sedláčková-Oltová), Mrs. Leimgruberová (Jana Boušková), Forest Worker (Martin Zahálka), Policeman (Petr Lněnička), Business Travelers (Jiří Suchý z Tábora), Topič Kohut (Jan Krafka), Public Prosecutor (Aleš Procházka), Criminalist (Tomáš Karger), Policeman (Hanuš Bor), Pokorný (Jiří Vyorálek), Guest (Jiří Maryško) and others
Dramaturgy: Renata Venclová
Translation: Jarmila Hrubešová
Director: Vít Vencl
Premiere: April 11, 2020
