Czech It!

Celebrity sightings and socialite scenes are usually confined to New York or L.A., but that’s no longer the case! Eve, Portland’s latest (and probably only) Prague-import scenester has been generating celebrity-size whispers while tooling around town doing publicity for her play, CoHo Theater’s production of Tales of Ordinary Madness. She’s been spotted at the Ace Hotel, shopping at Una, and at parties all over Portland, enchanting us with her Eastern European charm and ever-changing headgear. We bought into the craze and invited Eve for an afternoon interview/shopping spree at souchi on NW 23rd. Here’s what the stiff starlet had to say about the production, shopping, and life in A-mehr-ee-ka.

ultra: Hi, Eve.
Eve: Hello.

ultra: You are visiting from Prague to perform in Petr Zelenka’s Tales of Ordinary Madness at CoHo Productions. This is the play’s American premiere, which is very exciting. Is the reaction different to the play here than in Prague?
Eve: To say the reaction in Prague was enthusiastic is an understatement. We felt like we finally had entered the civilized world of western democracies by putting onstage our everyday neuroses, ordinary madness and an urban slacker that could be from anywhere – not only Prague. It signified the end of Czech moaning about the communists, morose contemplation about our place in the universe and brooding pseudo-intellectual heroes. Now we have just completely normal mad urban neuroses like everyone else. Here, people understand that already.

ultra: Was anything in the script changed for American audiences?
Eve: Obviously. Stepan Simek, our translator and director, changed basically every single word in the play because originally it was written in Czech, and now it is in English. The words in English are very different than the words in Czech. For example, in English you say “hello” and in Czech you say “ahoj.” There are many languages in the world and Czech is one of them. English is also a language, but it is a different language. So Stepan changed all the words form the Czech language into the English language.

ultra: Would you say there is a difference between European and American 30-somethings and their problems?
Eve: I don’t think so. Maybe the Czech 30-somethings get a bit drunker, and they certainly don’t take that many showers. That is why they tend to have greasier hair, and a bit of a, how do you call it? B.O. (Anybody who ever took the streetcar in Prague in the middle of the winter or during a really hot day in the summer will testify to this phenomenon.) Also, the Czech 30-somethings tend to pee in public places.

ultra: You have had the chance to shop in some of Portland’s best boutiques. How does the fashion here compare to that in Prague?
Eve: Women in Prague dress like whores, men dress like Germans. It is very nice. However, I have seen some fabulous items in the stores here. Not enough people outside seem to be wearing them, though.

ultra: What are your favorite places in Portland so far?
Eve: I liked Pioneer Square, with all the pigeons. Reminded me of home.

ultra: What are the top three things about Portland that you’d want to bring back to Prague?
Eve: Mount Hood, our director Stepan, some of this cashmere… the exchange rate is so good, after all. Mostly, I have enjoyed all the attention. People here are very, how do you say? Amiable. Friendly.

Q: So it’s easier to meet people here than in Prague?
A: In general, the Czechs are a rude people and usually they don’t say anything, they just frown.

Tales of Ordinary Madness runs through February 23rd at the CoHo Theater, 2257 NW Raleigh; Tickets cost $20-23 and can be purchased by calling (503) 220-2646 or by visiting www.cohoproductions.org. And see Eve’s blog http://talesofordinarymadnesspdx.blogspot.com for a more detailed journaling of her stateside adventures.

–Rebecca Goldschmidt

POSTED: January 28th, 2008 | AUTHOR: rebecca | FILED UNDER: art | TAGS: art, theater | No Comments »

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