a historical musical
This new musical piece written for our theatre tells the story of an old Moravian legend pertaining to a cruel deed the chronicles say happened in a small village not far from Velká Bíteš around the year 1540. On his way home from the market in Bíteš, a farmer from Hluboké finds the unconscious body of a man. He takes the body home and the young foreigner – a Hungarian horse-trader – recovers after some time. He falls in love with the farmer´s daughter Eliška, but the father is against their marriage. The foreigner promises to be faithful to Eliška and takes his leave of them, intending to sell his property in Hungary and come back with the money for his bride. However, as time goes by and Luka fails to return, Eliška gives in to the pressure from her father and others around her to get married to the miller´s son. On their wedding day, Luka finally returns from Hungary and soon learns about the prepared celebration. Crazed with anger, he swears he will have vengeance and eventually does, also sacrificing his own life in the process. At the place of his terrible crime, nine crosses were erected so the wind may never blow this story of great love and hatred away from the soil of the highlands.
Is it a real historical story? Or is it just a legend about a bloody horror from long ago? The authors make no attempt to provide an exact historical reconstruction of the event, which is one that is still veiled in mystery, and probably will forever remain that way. Their aim is rather to use this powerful tale to make the viewer think about such topics as human blindness, hatred of the unknown, the fear of things which are different. The attractive melodies by young Brno composer Robin Schenk and the strong story of love and hatred penned by Petr Štěpán and Miroslav Ondra will immerse you in a legend from a place lying not far from this city. Whether the tragic tale is true or not, a memorial is still there to remind us of it – the nine wooden crosses that stand near the D1 motorway.
The world premiere of the new musical will be produced for the stage by director Petr Gazdík.
