Kytice, My Homeland

The Treasure, The Wedding Shirt, Lady Midday, The Golden Spinning-Wheel, Christmas Eve, Little Dove, The Water-Goblin or The Daughter’s Curse…

These are well-known texts – poems by Karel Jaromír Erben – perceived in contemporary Czech society as a kind of horror fairy tales. This perception sparked the idea of a theatrical adaptation aimed at accentuating Erben’s phenomenal use of countless metaphors woven throughout the text, transcending mere fairy-tale motifs.

Director Eliška Říhová has delicately extracted from Kytice (The Bouquet) the core of her production – a mother-daughter relationship. Its dynamics serve not only as the foundational element of most of the ballads in the collection but also propel their narratives forward. Collaborating with dramaturg Alžběta Nováková, Říhová explores the complexities of both the specific mother who kills her child and the archetype of a mother who cradles the world in her hands. The mother figure transcends gender, emerging as a universal role model, and thus is portrayed in the show by the award-winning actor Michal Kern. Lukas Blaha Bliss, Sára Vosobová and David Petrželka embody the daughter at various stages of her journey.