Press: ‘Technical difficulties’ may lead Havel to withdraw new play from Divadlo na Vinohradech

Former president Vaclav Havel’s new play ‘Odchazeni’ (‘Leaving’) may not be premiered in Prague’s Divadlo na Vinohradech after all. Mr Havel told Mlada Fronta on Wednesday that the theatre was having ‘technical and operational problems’ with the staging of the play, but that negotiations with the theatre were still ongoing. A spokesperson for Divadlo na Vinohradech said that there had been no disagreement between the theatre management and Havel’s appointed director, David Radok, but that difficulties had been encountered in the staging of the play. ‘Odchazeni’ was originally to be premiered at the National Theatre in Prague, but Mr Havel withdrew the play from the theatre, when it refused to cast his wife, Dagmar Havlova, in one of the leading roles. The former president’s highly-anticipated new play is expected to be premiered next May.