Confession of a Bachelor

A theatrical reckoning with communist history - a response to memorials of love and horror carved into the walls of prison cells.

Each character in the production "Confession of a Bachelor" is based on a real person. The play is dedicated to these hidden authors - people who lived, suffered, resisted, and died in communist labour camps during the era of staged political trials that peaked in the 1950s.

The production was created based on period documents, texts, memoirs, and personal fates. The plot is inspired especially by the story of Monsignor Jan Podveský, sentenced in connection with the Babice trials - his story was recorded by Jaroslav Sojka in the book "Friend, Back Then I Believed, Today I Have Everything Verified". The book also captures Jan Podveský's memory of Marie Rezková, who in response to the regime's tyranny offered herself as a sacrificial victim and tragically died at twenty-five at the beginning of the 1950s. A detailed insight into the practices of interrogation authorities was provided by Bohumil Doubek, a state security investigator briefly imprisoned, in an extensive statement he wrote as part of his own defence.

Following the performance, there will be a discussion with journalist Ondřej Soukup.