The author of the best comedy, contemporary Spanish playwright Alfredo Sanzol, was inspired by William Shakespeare and his several comedies.
“Tenderness is not a very Shakespearean word. Shakespeare is unsentimental, ironic, full of cruel paradoxes. I think that is precisely why Alfredo Sanzol decided to name his Shakespearean mash-up so tenderly. From slaps, blows, kicks and screams, he wants to lead to a caress, to a tender kiss, to reconciliation,” said director Martin Čičvák.
Klára Oltová as the representative of the main role of Queen Esmeralda gave a famous performance. And that in front of your loved ones. This year’s jubilant actress comes from Pardubice and started acting on the boards of the Pardubice theater.
“Tenderness is a physical manifestation of love. I want to tenderly thank my beloved parents, Nina Martínková, who is here with me and successfully prepared me for school,” said Oltová, who also singled out the director and actors with whom she is performing in the play.
The Pardubice Theater annually awards the Genius of Laughter award, which this year was won by actress Iva Janžurová.
“She received the award for her comedic mastery, in which the lightness of laughter is combined with a deep sense of acting,” said the festival organizers.
Photo: Martin Špelda
Three women meet three men on an island. They have to pose as soldiers.
“I had two older brothers, and together we organized a show for my parents. I don’t remember my first role as a dog, but I remember the role of the neighbor across the street well. I had a broken radio, a charcoal-painted mustache and a belly stuffed with a pillow. My mother laughed so hard that she cried. That surprised me, I took her as a very serious, even strict person. I guess we took the performances very seriously, and that seriousness resonated with “Humor is a lot of work, but I have to take it seriously. It usually doesn’t turn out well. But when you find out what’s in it, it makes me laugh,” said Janžurová.
Photo: Michal Klíma
Iva Janžurová received the Genius of Laughter award.
Martin Glaser, who staged the play Mosque with the actors of the National Theater in Brno, took home the award for best director from Pardubice on Monday evening. The prize of the expert jury was won by the musical Young Frankenstein, which was presented by the home ensemble of the East Bohemian Theater under the direction of Petr Gazdík. The student jury and people in the theater also liked Young Frankenstein the most.
The festival committee included the adaptation of the cult family series Arabela among the most successful comedies of 2025 performed by the troupe of the Klicper Theater in Hradec Králové, the crazy comedy The Keyhole about a futile attempt to keep one’s sanity performed by the Slovakian Theater in Uhersko-Hradisht, the legendary western parody Lemonade Joe by the Horáck Theater in Jihlava, the comedy Tenderness about the eternal strife of the female and male world from the production of Prague’s Divadlo v Dlouhá, the incorrect comedy Mosque about culture wars, presented by the National Theater Brno, and the crazy comedy musical Young Frankenstein by the home ensemble of the East Bohemian Theater Pardubice.
