British Czech and Slovak Association

The Painter and the Thief
2020-11-01 12:30 - 2020-12-19 18:30 (Europe/London)
Desperate for answers about the theft of two of her most precious paintings, Czech artist Barbora Kysilkova seeks out and befriends the career criminal who stole them. After inviting her thief to sit for a portrait, the two form an improbable relationship and Barbora becomes Karl Bertil-Nordland‘s closest ally. Although the paintings are nowhere to be seen, their friendship deepens when he is severely hurt in a car crash and needs full-time care. Over time, the pair form an inextricable bond that will forever link their lonely souls.
Screening in select UK cinemas and on demand see website link below for full details
Winner of the Best Documentary Award at this year’s London Film Festival.

i Mucha famous collection in motion
2020-11-01 10:00 - 2020-11-04 19:00 | Obecní dům, Naměstí republiky, Prague 1, Czech Republic
To celebrate the 160th anniversary of Alphonse Mucha’s birth, Ivan Lendl’s collection of posters returns to Prague with a modern twist.
The use of digital technology enables some poster figures to move, provides an animated story from the Slav Epic and the voice of Mucha speaks from his self-portrait (the English version is spoken by Pierce Brosnan),
10.00 – 19.00 daily
A film ‘Mucha: the story of an artist who created a style’ (Svět podle Muchy) will premiere on 1 October 2020.

image by Kachan Mahon on Pixabay

Library of exile
2020-11-01 10:00 - 2020-11-04 17:00 | British Museum, Great Russell Street, London, WC1E 7JW, United Kingdom
An installation by Edmund de Waal houses more than 2,000 books in translation written by exiled authors. These include 24 volumes by authors from “Czechia” in English or German translation that might offer inspiration for reading during the winter months. Details can be found by searching the online catalogue by the author’s country of origin.
Free entry but booking a timed slot in advance is essential.

Havel
2020-11-01 10:00 - 2020-11-04 10:00
Contrasting Havel’s moral stand as a human rights activist with his flawed private life, a portrayal of a man who has become an icon.

Havel, up close and personal, a new biopic by director Slávek Horák. Focusing on the period 1968 – 1989 and Havel´s personal life, Horák explores Havel´s metamorphosis from an internationally celebrated but persecuted playwright to a banned and jailed human rights defender and finally to becoming president of Czechoslovakia. But it is his relationship with his first wife Olga, suffering from her husband’s infidelities, that is at the heart of the story. Situations from his life such as the secret police witnessing his failed attempt to resolve a love triangle in a restaurant mirror to his absurdist plays, provide humour and emotion. Horák’s imaginative use of actual theatre settings to stage key moments from Havel’s confrontations with the communist regime, document his public persona. An excellent cast including Viktor Dvořák, capturing Havel’s moments of uncertainty and weakness, and Anna Geislerová as a direct and decisive Olga, complement a portrayal depicting not an icon but a flawed man who steps out of his comfort zone to become politically engaged. Watch out for news footage from Havel’s life under the end credits including the Rolling Stones in Prague castle.
The film will be available to rent (UK only) for £6.99 see Vimeo on Demand link below
with English subtitles

Covid-19 conditions and Brexit
2020-07-29 16:00 - 17:00
Zoom online webinar

Nick Archer, British Ambassador to the Czech Republic, shared his perspective on living through and adapting to Covid-19 conditions. The event concluded with a Q&A session.

He felt that Prague was a very good place to be, especially as the Embassy and residence has a large garden. Its location in Malá Strana has the advantage of few inhabitants and at present benefits from the absence of the usual blight of tourists. The Czech Republic’s proximity to Italy had led to an early lockdown, which resulted in a consistently low number of cases, he pointed out, and Slovakia had done even better.
Until early March, diplomatic priorities were to strengthen the UK relationship with the Czech government by taking full advantage of its presidency of the Visegrad Four with frequent visits by UK ministers. Preparations were also under way for a UN climate-change conference in Glasgow, now rescheduled from this November to 2021.
But lockdown had changed the agenda completely, he acknowledged. Repatriation of British citizens who were not part of the well integrated expatriate community became a priority. Embassy staff welfare became more complicated since they live between two countries and two rule books. The approach to handling the crisis in the Czech Republic differed from that in the UK emphasising different expectations between Czechs and Britons.
Wearing face masks was compulsory in the Czech Republic and like many Czechs, the ambassador said sported a home-made one, fashioned from his son’s pyjamas, when taking his dog for its twice daily walks. A leading Czech epidemiologist, Roman Prymula, until recently the deputy minister for health, had provided him with useful insights into the Czech management of the crisis in a manner that benefited from his connections with Birmingham and Oxford universities.
The early stages of relaxing lockdown in the Czech Republic were straightforward but latterly they have been more complicated. Embassy staff have returned with 20 per cent back in the office but London is not yet ready to return. In the Czech Republic there is less enthusiasm to adopt the ‘new normal’ approach to working from home and reduce commuting. This gives the impression that everything will return to how it was before. In conclusion, the ambassador felt that his being in post for over two years before the crisis struck made his adaptation easier.
The BCSA is most grateful to committee members of the Czech British Chamber of Commerce who facilitated the webinar on Zoom.

Zuzana: Music is Life
2020-03-18 17:30 - 19:00 | Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP, United Kingdom
Wigmore Hall will screen the film Zuzana: Music is Life, about the legendary harpsichordist and humanitarian figure Zuzana Růžičková, who performed for many seasons at the Hall between the 1960s and 1990s.
Music is Life is the dark and triumphant story told by Růžičková, who died in 2017 aged 90, about how she became the world-famous harpsichordist and interpreter of Bach under the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, after surviving three concentration camps during her teenage years. Despite constant surveillance, marginal employment and confiscation of foreign currency wages by the Czech Communist Party, Zuzana became the only person worldwide to record all the keyboard works of Bach.
Directed/produced by Getzels Gordon Productions
Tickets £10 plus booking fee

Škampa Quartet
2020-03-16 19:30 - 21:30 | Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP, United Kingdom
The Czech quartet play three key works from their native repertoire.
Josef Suk (1874-1935) Meditation on an old Bohemian Chorale (St Wenceslas) Op. 35a
Leoš Janáček (1854-1928) String Quartet No. 1 ‘Kreutzer Sonata’
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) String Quartet No. 13 in G Op. 106
Helena Jiříkovská, violin
Adéla Štajnochrová, violin
Martin Stupka, viola
Lukáš Polák, Violoncello

Chodník cez Dunaj ( A path across the Danube)
2020-03-14 18:30 - 20:30 | Czech Embassy cinema, 26 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QY
A tragic story depicting two young friends (one Slovak, the other Czech) in the period after the wartime Slovak State and Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia came into existence. An employee of the Slovak railway company, Viktor Lesa, a Slovak, regularly delivers post to the railway station in the border town of Ludendorf [Břeclav]. With the impulsiveness of youth, he intentionally misdirects an important mail delivery. After the Gestapo shows up in the town, he is forced to flee across the border together with his Czech colleague and Jewish postal clerk František Ticháček.
The film won the Prix de la Croix Rouge Monegasque award in Monte Carlo in 1990.
TV movie 1989
production company: Československá Televíze Bratislava
director: Miloslav Luther
Viktor Lesa: Roman Luknár,
František Ticháček: Vladimír Hajdu,
The BCSA is most grateful to the Slovak Embassy for arranging this public screening.
Free admission but registration is essential via Eventbrite link below or to bcsa@bcsa.co.uk

BCSA “Get to Know You” Social Evening
2020-03-11 19:00 - 22:30 | Czech and Slovak National House, 74 West End Lane, London, NW6 2LX, United Kingdom
This is an opportunity for anyone interested in the British Czech and Slovak Association (members, supporters and friends) to meet, eat, drink, chat (maybe practise your Czech or Slovak) and get to know each other in a relaxed and informal setting. Anybody with Czech or Slovak connections or interests is welcome
Join us and have a fun evening meeting friendly people. Food and drinks are available from the newly opened Bohemia House.
We will be in one of the rooms at the Czech and Slovak National House; there will be a BCSA sign on the door.

The story of Czech beer as told by Zdeněk Kudr
2020-03-03 19:30 - 20:30 | Czech Embassy, 26-30 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QY
It is an understatement to say that the Czech Republic has a strong beer culture. Famous for being the birthplace of pilsner, the Czechs drink more beer than anywhere else in the world.
Brewing methods remained traditional until the fall of communism after which most of the larger breweries were bought by overseas companies who modernised production methods.
In recent years a new breed of microbreweries has sprung up offering a variety of traditional styles.
Zdeněk Kudr is a co-founder of Bohem Brewery which brews traditional Bohemian lagers in north London and won the 2019 New Brewery of the Year category of the Brewers Choice Awards. He now manages Bohemia House at the Czech and Slovak National House in West Hampstead.
Free admission but registration is essential via Eventbrite link below or to bcsa@bcsa.co.uk

BCSA Annual General Meeting
2020-03-03 18:30 - 19:30 | Czech Embassy, 26-30 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QY
The AGM is open to current subscription BCSA members only.
The agenda will include the chairman and treasurer’s reports for 2019 and the election of officers and members of the executive committee.
Refreshments and entertainment will follow.
Please register your attendance (or apologies for absence) by email to secretary@bcsa.co.uk by 26 February.

Was a Slovak ever the king of Madagascar?
2020-02-26 18:30 - 21:00 | Slovak Embassy, 25 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QY, United Kingdom
Moric Benovsky was an 18th century adventurer born in Vrbové in what is now Slovakia where he is considered a national hero, as well as in Hungary and Poland.
In his Memoirs (published posthumously in 1790 in London) he claims to have been elected king of Madagascar. A street in the capital is still named after him.
A Slovak society (Zdruzenie Morica Benovskeho) is dedicated to his memory. It has produced a film (with English subtitles) about this enigmatic figure which will be screened as the first part of the evening. We are grateful for their contribution.
This will be followed by a discussion led by Andrew Drummond who became so intrigued by this mysterious character that he has written a biography about Benovsky. The Intriguing Life and Ignominious Death of Maurice Benyovszky was published by Routledge in 2017. He has kindly agreed to travel from Edinburgh to be with us.
Free admission but registration is essential via Eventbrite link below or to bcsa@bcsa.co.uk

Mobility with Michal Čáp
2020-02-25 19:00 - 21:00 | Czech Embassy, 26-30 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QY
Is autonomous driving an answer to reducing traffic congestion in our cities?
Cities are overly congested with traffic and pollution. At present the most widely discussed solution is urban on-demand mobility based self-driving technology. The envisioned automated mobility-on-demand (AMoD) systems employ a centrally-controlled fleet of self-driving vehicles to provide on-demand point-to-point transportation to the users of the system. Such systems promise to revolutionise user behaviour and significantly improve the efficiency of urban transportation. As a case study, we will discuss and quantify the potential for car-sharing and ride-sharing to reduce the number of vehicles in the city of Prague, its application to other cities around the world and the implications for policy making.
Michal Čáp is a Technical Lead in isee AI, an MIT spin-off company developing self-driving technology, and a research associate in the Artificial Intelligence Centre at the Czech Technical University in Prague (Study at CTU in Prague). He has studied information technology, agent technology and artificial intelligence and worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA and the Department of Cognitive Robotics, TU Delft (TU Delft), Netherlands. Motivated by the arrival of self-driving taxi companies, he recently became interested in the analysis of transportation systems that employ large fleets of self-driving cars.
Tickets: £5 + booking fee via Eventbrite link below
Part of SCIENCE CAFÉ, a series of popular science presentations and talks by the best Czech scientists and innovators of today presented by the Czech Centre London.

BCSA "Get to Know You" Social Evening
2020-02-12 19:00 - 22:30 | Czech and Slovak National House, 74 West End Lane, London, NW6 2LX, United Kingdom

Rendezvous in Bratislava UK tour 2020
2020-02-07 19:30
Rendezvous in Bratislava combines new music, a four-piece British Slovak band, comedy, cabaret and original 1940s photographs and recordings to share the life story of writer Miriam Sherwood’s grandfather – Jan ‘Laco’ Kalina.
Laco Kalina was a dramaturg, satirist, collector of jokes and writer of cabarets, born in Czechoslovakia in 1913. A Slovak Jew, he survived the fascists only to be imprisoned by the communists, who believed him a threat to the regime.
Using his autobiographies and cabaret material, we present this generationally challenged duo: a contemporary cabaret featuring original music and real-life Slovaks.
February 7 Oxford The North Wall Arts Centre
March 11 Reading South Street Arts Centre
March 14 Manchester The Lowry
April 23 & 24 London Stratford Circus Arts Centre
May 17 Leeds Slung Low at The Holbeck

Developed at Battersea Arts Centre and JW3 and supported by Arts Council England.

From the village to the city: urbanisation in Slovakia, 1896-1972
2020-02-04 18:30 - 20:30 | Czech Embassy, 26-30 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QY
In his talk, Dr Lorman will explore how Slovak culture was initially characterised by its rural quality and alienation from the beginnings of mass industrialisation and urbanisation in Hungary (exemplified by the 1896 millennial celebrations in Budapest). He will examine how Slovak national identity was then substantially (but not entirely) transformed by similar processes of induustrialisation and urbanisation in Czechoslovakia, symbolised by the post-war rebuilding of Bratislava and the opening of the new SNP Bridge in 1972.
Dr Thomas Lorman is a teaching fellow in Central European History at UCL’s School of Slavonic and East European Studies. He has published widely on various aspects of nineteenth and twentieth century Central European history. His most recent book is The Making of the Slovak People’s Party: Religion, Nationalism and the Culture War in Early 20th-Century European History, Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2019
Price £15 including a glass of wine. Online booking see link below.
To pay at the door please notify: events@czechfriends.net

Personal security in the age of AI
2020-01-29 19:00 - 20:30 | The Royal Institution of Great Britain, 21 Albemarle Street, London, W1S 4BS, United Kingdom
Michal Pěchouček, professor in computer science at the Czech Technical University (CTU) discusses the role of AI enabled cybersecurity problems and how we can increase our privacy and security online.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the way we live. We spend more time online, with more devices connected than ever before. How do we keep our personal data online private and secure from AI algorithms, both online and in the physical world?
Pěchouček has run several research contracts funded by the FAA and has collaborated on two additional research grants funded by NASA. He is the co-founder and investor of several successful start-ups in the field of artificial intelligence. In 2015 he was listed in ‘New Europe 100’ of outstanding challengers who are leading world-class innovation in Central and Eastern Europe. In September 2019 Pěchouček was apppointed chief technology officer of Avast Software.
Tickets £7- £16 via Eventbrite link below

A discussion about the life and aspirations of Slovak students in Britain
2020-01-23 18:30 - 21:00 | Slovak Embassy, 25 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QY, United Kingdom
Martin Hochel won second prize in the 2019 BCSA competition with his rather original essay on a little-covered aspect of 1989.
He will be interviewed about his life and aspirations as a Slovak student studying in London. Brexit or no Brexit, he is aiming high. Martin is a student of contemporary Central European history and politics, Slovak politics being his special interest.
Martin’s tutor, Dr Thomas Lorman, a teaching fellow in Modern Central European History at UCL SSEES, will conclude with his thoughts.
Martin was born in Bratislava in 1997 and as a child spent seven years in Brussels, where his father worked. After returning to Bratislava he attended a bilingual secondary school. Then he came to London to study at Birbeck College, University of London, and hopes to take his Masters in Cambridge.
Dr Thomas Lorman obtained his PhD from SSEES in 2001. After a nine-year spell at the University of Cincinnati he returned in 2010 to teach at the SSEES where he pays particular attention to Slovakia, Hungary and Poland.
Registration is essential via Eventbrite link below or by email to bcsa@bcsa.co.uk. BCSA subscription members free, non-members £7.50, full-time students £3.00.

Free Lunchtime Concert by Slovak musicians
2020-01-21 13:00 - 13:45 | St Martins in the Fields, Trafalgar Square, London, WC2N 4JH, United Kingdom
Representing the Embassy of Slovakia
Performers
Eva Bodorová Soprano
Matthew Tomko Bass
Jozef Janík Piano
Programme
Traditional Slovak Christmas Carols:
Canite Jesu Infanti – Poďme spolu do Betlema (Let’s go to Bethlehem, brothers)
Dnešný deň sa radujme (Let´s be jolly today)
Povedzte nám pastuškovia (Tell us, shepherds)
Do hory , do lesa, valasi (To the mountains, to the forest)
Dobrá novina, šťastná hodina (Good news)
Narodil sa Kristus Pan (Jesus Christ is born)
O chýr preeblahý (Rejoice at the news)
Kyrie Pana Krista (Kyrie)
Pastieri, pastieri (Shepherds, shepherds)
Pascha – Aria from Christmas Mass in F
Franck – Panis Angelicus
Gounod – Ave Maria
Schubert – Ave Maria
Caccini – Ave Maria
Habera – Svet lasku Ma
Gruber – Silent Night
The young soprano Eva Bodorová comes from Slovakia and is a graduate of the State Conservatory in Bratislava. She has won 1st prize in many competitions, including the Slovak Conservatory Competition.
Matthew Tomko began his singing career as a student at the Church Conservatoire in Bratislava. In 2014 he completed his vocal studies at the Royal College of Music in London.
Jozef Janík moved to London in 2000 with a BA in Music from Žilina Conservatoire in Slovakia. He then studied for a post graduate diploma and a masters, as a pianist, at the Royal Academy of Music.

Part of the Embassy and Cultural Institute Series

A remembrance of Jan Palach and concert by Smetana Trio
2020-01-20 18:30 - 21:30 | Velehrad London, 39 Lonsdale Road, London, SW13 9JP, United Kingdom
Jitka Čechová – piano, Jan Talich – violin, Jan Páleníček – cello.
Programme:
Sergej Rachmaninov – Trio elegico No. 1 in G minor
Bohuslav Martinů – Piano Trio in D minor č. 2, H 327
Ludwig van Beethoven – Piano Trio in D major, Op. 70 No. 1

Tickets for the concert £10 paid at the door (include a glass of wine and light refreshments).

Please register your attendance by 17 January
by email to ludmilastane@gmail.com or text to 07468 570551

BCSA "Get to Know You" Social Evening
2019-12-11 19:00 - 22:30 | Czech and Slovak National House, 74 West End Lane, London, NW6 2LX, United Kingdom
Join us and have a fun evening chatting to friendly people. Czech and Slovak food and drinks are available from the restaurant and bar.
Anybody with Czech or Slovak connections or interests is welcome to our monthly socials to meet, chat and get to know each other a little better in a relaxed and informal gathering.
We usually have about a dozen people there at various times during the evening but, whatever the number, there will be good conversations for you to have.
We will be in one of the rooms at the Czech and Slovak National House, normally the first room on the left. There will be a BCSA sign on the door.

Thomas Messer - my life with Guggenheim
2019-12-10 18:30 - 21:00 | Czech Embassy, 26-30 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QY
A celebration of the 5th anniversary of the launch of the Czech National Trust (CNT) with a screening of the film “Thomas Messer – My life with Guggenheim” and an introduction of the project “Ticket to the New World”.
Thomas Messer, a Czechoslovak emigré, was director and curator of the Guggenheim Museum in New York for almost 30 years and built it up to and built it up to the famous institution it is today. The film forms part of the CNT successful project “Ticket to the New World”, which documents extraordinary lives of 16 Czechoslovaks who left their country before WWII for the USA where they had a significant impact on the American cultural scene.
Programme:
> Welcome and CNT update – Dr Irena Edwards, Chairman
> Introduction to the project ‘Ticket to the New World” – Eva Heyd, curator and head of projects
> Screening of the film “Thomas Messer – My life with Guggenheim” (2007, 52 min, English subtitles) by the famous Czech film maker Jana Chytilova
> Wine and mince pies
Tickets: £15 (includes wine and mince pies) book in advance via Eventbrite link below or register in advance to ebonfield@cnta.co.uk to pay cash on door
Book to purchase: “Ticket to the New World” £15
All proceeds will go towards Czech National Trust projects.

Concert of Czech music performed by the Richmond Duo
2019-11-30 17:00 - 19:00 | Velehrad London, 39 Lonsdale Road, London, SW13 9JP, United Kingdom
Moshe Friedman, cello
Margaret Bruce, piano
with David Lewis, baritone
PROGRAMME:
TUCAPSKY: Cello Sonata (written for Moshe Friedman and Margaret Bruce)
JANACEK: “In the Mist” for solo piano
JANACEK: “Fairy Tale” for cello and piano
INTERVAL
TUCAPSKY: Meditation on an old folksong (written for Moshe Friedman)
TUCAPSKY: Piano prelude no 19 (from the 24 Preludes written for Margaret Bruce)
MARTINU: Sonata no 1 for cello and piano
DVORAK: Gypsy Songs
MARGARET BRUCE is Canadian. She grew up in Vancouver and was educated in Toronto at the Bishop Strachan School and the Toronto Conservatory of Music before leaving Canada for London when she was 18. After studying at the Royal College of Music she won a scholarship for further study in Vienna. There are any number of pianists who have had the occasional work composed for them but Margaret Bruce, on the other hand, has had what amounts to an entire repertoire of new music written especially for her by composers as famous as Herbert Howells and Lennox Berkeley. Of all the composers who have written works for her the distinguished Czech composer Antonin Tucapsky has pride of place. In the early 1980’s Margaret premiered his Fantasia quasi una Sonata at the Purcell Room and more recently he dedicated 24 Piano Preludes to her. He has also written for her a Concertino for piano and orchestra, a Piano Trio and a miniature Trio for her triplet sons when they were five years old.
MOSHE FRIEDMAN is Hungarian. He grew up in Romania and was educated in Jerusalem and Paris where he was awarded the Diploma d’Excellence at the Ecole Normale de Musique. From 1971-1984 he played in the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. He now lives in England where he pursues a busy career as performer and teacher. He has given recitals throughout the UK, France and Sweden.
DAVID LEWIS is Welsh. For 30 years, until his retirement recently, he worked as a professional opera singer with Opera North in Leeds. He has taken part in many Czech operas including The Bartered Bride, Rusalka, Jenufa and The Cunning Little Vixen. He has learnt Czech specially to sing The Gypsy songs today.
Tickets £10 paid at the door.
Please reserve tickets at ludmilastane@gmail.com or text +44 7468 570 551

BCSA 28th annual dinner
2019-11-29 18:30 - 22:30 | Radisson Blu Edwardian Bloomsbury Street Hotel, 9-13 Bloomsbury Street, London, WC1B 3QD, United Kingdom
Our twenty eighth annual dinner will be held on Friday 29 November in the heart of Bloomsbury. This highlight in the BCSA calendar is a wonderful opportunity for Slovaks, Czechs and Britons to mingle in a convivial atmosphere, to meet old friends and make new ones. Members and non-members alike will be made welcome at a drinks reception, enjoy a three-course dinner with wine and hear the results of our annual writing competition.
Nick Archer, British Ambassador to the Czech Republic, will be the guest speaker; he took up his position in Prague in January 2018, just in time for Brexit. Nick has been a diplomat nearly all his working life; he was Private Secretary to Douglas Hogg, now Lord Hailsham, at the Foreign Office, visiting with him both Prague and Bratislava in late 1992 as Czechoslovakia split. In 1997 Nick was seconded to St James’ Palace as Private Secretary to The Prince of Wales responsible for both overseas and cultural matters, the former including Royal tours. More recently he served on the Executive Board of UK Trade and Investment before leaving London for Prague. Nick has a Czech mongrel; his particular interests are classical music and architecture, both of which Prague offers in profusion. See also an interview published in the BCS Review
The raffle features a number of desirable prizes including a minirelax weekend for two at the Nove Lazne in Marianske Lazne (donated by Ensana Health Spa Hotels) or a stay in AquaCity Poprad close to the Tatra mountains in Slovakia (donated by Jan Telensky). Closer to home take advantage of a one-hour consultation and exercise session to improve your posture using a method developed by a Czech doctor (donated by Jana Mitackova) or cook with a Remoska, which originated in 1950s Czechoslovakia (donated by Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines). There will also be an opportunity to bid in an auction of Banksy street art donated by John Brandler.
If you are a newcomer to the BCSA or to London, we would like to extend a special invitation and welcome you into our friendly community. Kindly note that you may request seating at a table with your friends or book a table for ten at a substantial discount.
18.30-19.30 drinks reception, dinner 19.30-22.30, dress code lounge suit
Radisson Blu Edwardian Bloomsbury Street Hotel, 9-13 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3QD
Tickets: BCSA members £50, non-members £60, full-time students £20, tables for 10 £500.
Please book via Eventbrite link below or contact dinner@bcsa.co.uk for a booking form

The Cunning Little Vixen
2019-11-28 19:30
Inspired by a newspaper comic strip, the Welsh National Opera’s colourful production is charming, funny and profound in equal measure. It reunites director, David Pountney with WNO music director, Tomas Hanus who conducts Janacek’s blend of folk-like music and sophisticated orchestrations, gloriously evoking the vibrancy of nature.
One afternoon deep in the forest, the forester stumbles across a young vixen, and takes her home as a pet for his family. But this playful creature has bigger plans and escapes to take on the world on her own terms. As her adventure unfolds, all the creatures of the forest come to life, in a tale that celebrates the circle of life.
Sung in Czech, with English surtitles (and Welsh in Llandudno)
All performances includes a free pre-performance talk.Book in advance alongside your tickets.
Plymouth Theatre Royal, Thursday 17 Oct 7.30pm book
Llandudno Venue Cymru, Thursday 31 Oct 7.30pm book
Birmingham Hippodrome, Thursday 7 Nov 7.30pm book
Oxford New Theatre, Thursday 21 Nov 7.30pm book
Southampton Mayflower Theatre, Thursday 28 Nov 7.30pm book

Everywhen - Sona Feriencikova
2019-11-28 19:00 - 21:30 | Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Rd, London, E1 6LA
Everywhen orbits around two sides of life – the personal and the political.
An often caring, gentle and well-meaning personal life is contrasted here with the reality of the social individual, who can often be sinister, vengeful and hateful. But how can we be critical to our own worldviews when they are created by those closest to us? This international collective whirls together new music, movement and imagery in an intermedial performance on history’s endless rotation.
Performer, concept: Sona Feriencikova
Visuals, concept: Maria Judova
Music, concept: Alexandra Timpau
Tickets £12, concessions £10 plus booking fee £1.50 (see link below)
In partnership with the Slovak Arts Council and the Embassy of the Republic of Slovakia in London

Europe and the Velvet Revolution - 30 Years On
2019-11-27 19:00 - 22:00 | Dash Cafe, Unit 22, Toynbee Studios, 28 Commercial Street, London, E1 6AB, United Kingdom
In November the Dash Café will explore the impact of the 1989 revolution that caused the collapse of the Soviet Union, 30 years on.
Through the prism of artists, filmmakers and writers from across Czech Republic and Slovakia, we explore whether that extraordinary spirit of activism still exists today.
Speakers including actress and director Tereza Nvotova and writers Zuzana Kepplova and Marek Sindelka will discuss the impact of this legacy on their work and whether it continues to have an impact today.
Expect live music, short films and performance alongside insightful conversation.
Tickets £5.00 plus booking fee £1.50 (see link below)
In partnership with the Czech Centre and the Slovak Embassy, London

The Last Train to Tomorrow
2019-11-26 17:00 - 18:30 | Sir William Perkins’s School, Guildford Road, Chertsey, Surrey, KT16 9BN, United Kingdom
a talk by Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines MBE
Lady Milena was born in Czechoslovakia in 1929. Her father was recommended to leave Czechoslovakia the day before the Nazis invaded because he was both Jewish and a supporter of an anti-Nazi author. He was able to escape but left his wife and children behind. When she was nine years old, Lady Milena and her younger sister Eva were able to leave Prague on a special train, arranged by Nicholas Winton who saved 669 children in this way. Lady Milena and her sister were cared for by a local family until their mother was able to arrive one year later, having escaped via Norway. The family were thus all reunited.
Tickets £5 available from organiser website link below

Generation ’89. Witness Testimony from Czechoslovakia’s 1989 Revolution
2019-11-22 09:30 - 17:30 | Temple of Peace, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3AP, United Kingdom
Bringing together those who made the 1989 revolution in Czechoslovakia. Expert testimony, analysis and discussion in front of a live audience.
Held in the historic Temple of Peace, Cardiff
Marking 30 years, one generation, since the end of Communist Party rule in Czechoslovakia. Leading figures from Czechoslovakia’s 1989 revolution reunite and remember how it was. Recording of the witness testimony to be deposited afterwards in the Czechoslovak Special Collection held at Cardiff University.
Free registration to this unique event via Eventbrite (see link below)

Theatre on the Balustrade: Velvet Havel
2019-11-21 20:00 - 21:15 | Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Rd, London, E1 6LA
Václav Havel – the dramatic genius, the persecuted dissident, the man of truth and ideals but also a lover of good beer and pretty women. A portrait of the first post-1989 Czech president presented as a modern-day musical, Velvet Havel is a multi-award-winning production from the cult Prague Theatre on the Balustrade.
The title refers to the memorable Velvet Revolution that took place in Autumn 1989 in then Czechoslovakia, and this unique cabaret-style musical, in repertoire since 2014, presents the life, work, and multifaceted personality of Václav Havel – and is as much a light-hearted comedy as a serious 90-minute drama. Philosophical contemplations are balanced by playful songs from the acclaimed Czech composer Milos Orson Stedron, performed by a live band. It is through these tunes that the play´s characters are given a voice, a chance to have their say concerning the thoughts and actions of Václav Havel, already a legend during his lifetime.
The play´s storyline follows his public, as well as his private life, focusing on political activities and their outcomes – such as imprisonment following his decision to become a spokesman for the famed Charter 77. From the beginning to the very height of his political career as president, the storyline features Havel´s life-long friends, family relations and love interests. The inspiration behind his writings is personified by the occasional ´femmes fatales´; his first wife Olga, an extraordinary motherly figure who played a vital role in his life and his uncle Miloš Havel, a charming showman and a skilful entrepreneur, who owned and ran the famous Lucernafilm Production Company.
As the characters´ glittering musical performances intermingle with quotes from Havel´s timeless literary legacy, the play reveals the deeply humane nature behind the celebrated facade of one of the greatest men in modern Czech history.
Duration: 75 minutes without interval
In Czech with English surtitles
Tickets: £20, sold via Rich Mix (see link below) from 5 September
Part of Czech Velvet 1989 – 2019; Festival of Arts, Film, Theatre and Music.
