In collaboration with Teatro di Roma, Silvia Rampelli will lead a workshop with elderly people, based on the text Akvabely by Czech author David Drabek.

AKVABELY / AQUABELLES Alfréd Radok Award for the best original play of 2003. A view of the contemporary generation of thirty-somethings. Three university friends conceive a secret hobby: they meet at a hidden reservoir and ”dance“ in the water. Their furry legs are vibrating in the rhythm of music above the surface, and they experience the moment of harmony and coordination that these thirty-something adults do not experience on the ground. With party picnics after training, they just mask the cracks in their relationships.

After school their paths had diverged. Kajetán had taken the post of TV moderator and became a true celebrity. He oscillate between the models’ arms and the arms of his English teacher. Petr stayed at the university as a lecturer and continued his stubborn struggle against consumerism. He pedantically watches his wife and son in front of the traps of civilization and exposes Kajetán to betrayal of ideals.

However, the two friends are caught off guard by Filip. He decides to stay in the reservoir forever, returning to an existence as a prehistoric water element. He feels like a beast, webs grow between his fingers. Gradually, he closes himself to the world until all is quiet. Things take off – Petr leaves his wife, Kajetán, influenced by the loss of his friend, causes a brawl in the TV studio. Over a few seconds their certainty has crumbled to dust. In the final scene on the shore of the lake, Peter and Kajetán carry a wooden chest on their shoulders. The dark suits are open, stones fly away from their heels. They slip Philip into the waters of the lake. Peter saves insects from the surface, and Kajetán opens a “shop” with sticks, mud and leaves. At the end, two orphaned “aqua-belles” dance for their lost friend.

In spite of all its gags and humorous situations, the play is permeated with the nostalgia of a generation and in places even a frosty surreal quality. In the 2004/2005 season, the leading Czech stage director, Vladimir Morávek, staged the Aquabelles. The play won the 2003 Alfred Radok Award and later the Best Czech Play of the Year (2005).