November 6- December 5

The Duke on 42nd Street
229 West 42nd Street, 2nd Floor (between 7th & 8th Avenues)

"Superb! A viciously funny account of the savageries of war, and you can't help feeling that there's a little bit of Švejk in all of us." - The Guardian (London), review of Švejk's world premiere

THE PLAY

What do Joesph Heller's Catch 22, Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5, and Bertolt Brecht's The Good Soldier Schweik in W.W. II have in common? They were all inspired by one of literature's great archetypes: Švejk, the ironic title character of Jaroslav Hašek's 1923 comic novel. This fall, Hašek's wartime satire of the village idiot who becomes Europe's eternal survivor will have its exciting North American premiere following its acclaimed world premiere (2000) at London's Gate Theatre. In a topsy-turvey world, Švejk goes to war and undermines the state and the army. But, is Švejk an idiot or a brilliant fool? The vibrant new adaptation, penned by the exciting young Irish playwright/translator Colin Teevan (Euripides' Bacchai for London's National Theatre directed by Sir Peter Hall) radiates with Kafkaesque surrealism and wit.

Teevan has penned a special script for the American Premiere. Innovative composer Lenny Pickett (Saturday Night Live) will create a lively, original score and American audiences will be introduced to the innovative Lithuanian director Dalia Ibelhauptaite who first staged Švejk at the Gate. Ms. Ibelhauptaite employs her inventor's eye ingeniously, whisking audiences back to the dark, disillusioned, and strangely familiar days when the First World War shadowed all. Švejk will star the brilliant Stephen Spinella.

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