a musical based on the tales and legends of Brno
“The bells ring midday at eleven/ and a crocodile is called a dragon / but not everything is completely upside down here / as cabbage can be bought from the Cabbage Market” – this is the gist of what is sung in the most recent work by the tried-and-tested authorial trio Stanislav Slovák – Jan Šotkovský – Petr Štěpán, the operetta Mendel, or the Mutiny of Peas. Alongside that production the team also prepared other original pieces for Brno City Theatre’s summer season at the Bishop´s Courtyard – Baron Trenck and Cyril and Methodius. All of these works had in common their relationship to local issues, respect for genius loci and the desire to make the most of the unique atmosphere and historic features of the beautiful environment offered by the Bishop´s Courtyard. The musical Brno’s Wheel (which was again created as a team effort in collaboration with the author of the music for Baron Trenck and Mendel, Karel Cón) refers once more to historic and local events, and moreover, does so twice – it presents a selected few of the best known of Brno’s tales (including the titular story about a wheelwright, Birck, who apparently managed to cut down a tree, make a wheel out of it and roll it all the way to distant Brno, all in one day) while simultaneously concerning the institution which the Bishop´s Courtyard is part of. The Moravian Museum is actually celebrating 200 years of its existence this year (2016). And it is exactly the museum building at the Cabbage Market that’s the place which hides at least one secret concerning Brno’s tales and legends after closing time in the evening in our story... We are performing this production under the direction of one of the co-authors, Stano Slovák, with a live orchestra.
