Czechmate

Events in the first half of 1968 had led the Czechoslovak people to feel that their country was really progressing towards a more democratic way of life under the leadership of Alexander Dubcek. But on 22 August the people of Prague woke up to find their streets over-run by Russian tanks . It was the end of the Prague spring and, overnight, all the leading Czechoslovak cities were under the control of invading troops.

No group felt more betrayed than the university students, whose protests had helped to bring down the hard-line ruling bureaucrats and give Czechoslovakia a glimpse of freedom. But what could they do to voice their outrage and defend their freedom? Czechmate is a play about how the young people of Prague reacted.

The play follows the experience of a group of student activists who lived through the protests, celebration and despair of those heady days, Their desperation culminates in one of them – Jan Palach – setting fire to himself in the centre of Prague.

It may be history but there is nothing dry about this play. By engaging its audience in the loves, ambitions and weaknesses of this group of ordinary young people, Czechmate puts life into events that remain all too topical. Dramatic actions may be shaping their futures, but the students still find much to joke about and plenty to worry and atgue over.

(Docherty, G., & Kinross, B. (1982). Czechmate. Cambridge)