Who’s the most famous Czech of all time ? Dvořák, Smetana, Navratilova, Kafka, Havel? But the greatest – it surely must be Jára Cimrman. You’ve never heard of the polymath? He invented the lightbulb, yoghurt and when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, he found he had three missed calls from Cimrman…
A comedy riot at Prague Fringe
He was also a renowned actor and sought to pass his wisdom along, developing his ten acting commandments, including such gems as “on stage you generally have a different name than in real life” and “after a cue do not repeat everything; some lines are for other actors”.
Jára Cimrman’s The Stand-In is brought to us by the ensemble from Cimrman English Theatre, based in the Prague suburb of Žižkov. A theatrical troupe has had some cast members pull out and they are fortunate enough to find a stand-in at the last minute, the renowned Karel Prácheňský (Ben Bradshaw). Such is his fame that he receives a round of applause simply taking the stage. His notoriety and huge talent come at a price, however: his fee and travel expenses hoover up the box office take. But, what actor wouldn’t want to work with this prolific legend ?
Prácheňský comes to rehearsal and his demands are not limited to those of a fiscal nature; he assumes the role of diva and claims a particular spot on the stage where the other actors may not tread. He directs the prompt and even suggests changing the play entirely. The company are still spellbound by his presence and his demands are mostly accommodated.
The play begins and now the comedic set-up of the ten commandments begins to weave with the play itself. Bárta (Adam Stewart) contravenes the ninth commandment by trying to exit via a painted door. Prácheňský clearly does not know the script and mistakes cast names, speaks other members’ lines and fails to execute key plot devices. The scales slowly fall from the cast’s eyes and they realise that Prácheňský is in reality talentless and self-serving.
The lovely Malostranská Beseda theatre at the 23rd Prague Fringe was completely full. We were served a masterclass in comedy writing, performance and timing. The remainder of the cast are Peter Hosking, Curt Matthew, Michael Pitthan and Jake Zaharadnik - collectively it is all pitch-perfect, huge credit to director Brian Stewart.
This is a comedy riot: the placement of the “morons” in the audience stage-left, the off-stage broom prompt, numerous slow-burn jokes. While often achingly funny, the quality of acting is evident also – to do nothing on stage requires skill and the cast’s conveyed awkwardness at small-talk when Prácheňský has, unscripted, left the stage due to not knowing his lines, was subtly and beautifully played.
This is a superb, occasionally absurdist, production; an unreserved joy. It brings to mind The Goon Show, The Goodies, The Marx Brothers, Monty Python, with Prácheňský of course labouring under The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent.
Catch this gem if you can (tickets are scarce). And, spoiler alert: Jára Cimrman is, of course, fictional - although the God-fearing atheist did correspond with George Bernard Shaw for many years, without response...
