Actor Ivan Trojan will try out a role in a theater monodrama, or a play with a single character, for the first time. Playwright and director Petr Zelenka writes the story about the props maker for this well-known member of the ensemble of the Dejvicky Theater in Prague.
In these weeks, Trojan is working on the sequel to the crime series Docent, directed by Jiří Strach. The 59-year-old actor said this on Monday on Summer film school in Uherské Hradiště. A day earlier, he received the annual award organized by the Association of Czech Film Clubs here.
According to Trojan, the crime series Docent and the monodrama will fundamentally affect his next season. He hasn’t tried being alone on stage yet. Because of his role in Petr Zelenka’s upcoming novel, he will need to learn 35 pages of text. “I have to challenge myself a bit to keep myself focused and to have some goals,” he says.
The plot of the planned game revolves around the movie. “It should be a story about a prop maker who discovers that he has a stronger relationship with things than with people,” adds Ivan Trojan.
He generally considers the theme and the script to be crucial to accepting a role in a film. “Of course, I’m happy when I can then do it with people with whom I’m aligned. It’s even better when there’s some kind of conflict that the work inevitably reminds me of. But trust is essential for me. When I have that trust and I can give it to someone myself . And then, in that trust, I can argue or speculate about how we’re going to do it so that it’s good. But I already know that this is the point and that there’s nothing else in it,” he describes.
He regrets that nowadays people rarely communicate with each other in person and prefer computers or telephones. “We need to get back together, talk together, be with each other, hold hands, hug each other, talk about movies, about life. This is one of the fundamental topics for me, what worries me,” he emphasizes.
Ivan Trojan also took part in a football match at the Summer Film School, the so-called film football. | Photo: CTK
He visited the summer film school for the first time in 2000 with the film Samotáři. After that screening, he was walking in front of the Hvězda cinema, waiting to see if anyone would recognize him and approach him. “Nobody recognized me, nothing happened and I was a little sad. Now, looking at 2023, I realize how happy I would be to go back to 2000 and be anonymous and have more time to watch movies, meet people, to have fun with them, establish new relationships and not be burdened by the fact that you just have to say Ivan Trojan and everything is clear,” says the winner of the Czech Lion, Thalia and the Alfréd Radok Prize.
According to him, the Summer Film School is not as hectic as other festivals. Trojan is one of the main guests of the show this year, and he appreciates, for example, the opportunity to meet filmmakers with whom he has not worked in the past. The festival offers actors the opportunity to chat with them and establish friendships.
Trojan also highlights the stimulating discussions that the event offers.
This year’s 49th year of the Summer Film School included several films in which Ivan Trojan acted in the program. Visitors already had the opportunity to watch the films Tales of Ordinary Madness, Wenceslaus and Karamazov. On Monday afternoon, Trojan will also present Charlatán from 2020, which earned him the seventh Czech Lion statuette for his portrayal of the main male role.
The summer film school will last until Thursday, August 3. In addition to screenings, it also attracts concerts, theater performances, creative workshops, exhibitions or events for children.
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