Persons and cast:
Tomáš Töpfer (Joseph Halpern) and Viktor Preiss (Dennis Johnson), in other roles Dana Reichová and Lukáš Hlavica
He wrote:
Lionel Goldstein
Dramaturgy:
Martin Velíšek
Translation:
Pavel Dominik
Music:
Jakub Rataj
Directed by:
Lukáš Hlavica
Premiere:
13. 3. 2022
Notice: There are vulgarities in the game!
We are in some Jewish cemetery in New York. An old man, whose name we soon learn is Joseph Halpern, has just buried the wife he spent his entire life with. He lets his family go, he wants to be alone for a while. And just then a man, about the same age, walks up to him and introduces himself as Dennis Johnson. He urgently demands an interview. It will actually happen a few weeks later.
From the beginning, things really spark between the men. Not to. It’s hard to imagine two more different guys. They are divided not only by faith (the shadow of the Second World War still hangs over their destinies), but also by nature, temperament, manners, and interests. But one thing unites them. Certainly more than they would like. They both loved the same woman.
Thus begins the game of Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson. The story becomes a kind of love triangle revealed in retrospect. Due to the age of both heroes, it often has a comical edge. But for both heroes, this fight is very hurtful. In addition, and this is perhaps even more important for them, they simultaneously fight for the overall interpretation of their lives both in the eyes of their son and in their own.
Originally scripted for HBO
Lionel Goldstein wrote Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson originally as a television script for HBO in 1982. The company cast Laurence Olivier as Mr. Halpern. The production won numerous awards. But Goldstein was very dissatisfied with the conception of the famous actor.
This was perhaps the reason why he returned to the material many years later and wrote a play. The production at the Cameri Theater in Tel Aviv launched a series of productions around the world. In Australia, USA, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Canada, France or Austria.
About the author
Lionel Goldstein was born in London on August 22, 1935. Due to the wartime evacuation, he had large gaps in his schooling, which he did not try to make up for. He grew up in Stamford Hill, which was a neighborhood with a large concentration of residents of the Orthodox Jewish faith.
Goldstein ran away from home at an early age to join the merchant marine. He settled in Toronto for a while. He made a living as a hairdresser, slot machine repairman, handyman, builder or storekeeper. He also wrote short stories and novels from his youth.
One of them (The Man Before Yesterday, published only in 1991) was shown to producers at the BBC at the instigation of a friend. He liked the subject, and so the game The Executioner (Kat) was created. The BBC featured it as part of the famous 1970-1984 TV drama series Play for Today.
Goldstein became an imaginary colleague of famous authors such as John Osborn, David Hare and David Storey. Although he has a respectable body of work to his credit, he has never considered himself a professional author and refers to himself as a renaissance worker.
Mr. Halpern in Bohemia
In the Czech Republic, the play Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson was staged for the first time by Ladislav Smoček in Prague’s Ungelt Theater in 2014. He cast Petr Kostka and František Němec in the main roles. For the radio adaptation, director Lukáš Hlavica chose Tomáš Töpfer (Mr. Halpern) and Viktor Preiss (Mr. Johnson).
Listen to more games and readings live on Dvojka and after the broadcast for another four weeks online – on the website dvojka.rozhlas.cz or in the application mujRozhlas. Radio plays and audiobooks are free to listen to, they cannot be downloaded. Some titles are available for sale on CD or for mp3 download on the website Radioteka.cz.
2024-01-01 19:11:30
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