Valja Stýblová: Fast train from Nuremberg

The radio play Rychlík z Nürnberg was recorded in 1975, However, it waited until 1990 for its premiere. In it, a kind-hearted taxi driver tells the story of his foreign "ass", old ladies, who came from West Germany to visit her Prague relatives, but as it turns out, is a nuisance to everyone. Similar to her own children, from whom she comes from Germany. The script (based on a short story) deals with the rather taboo topic of emigration, which was rather tabooed by the regime of the time, and does not bring a message that would be surprising given the time of the play's creation. Mrs. Hahn's Odyssey is meant to convince listeners that life in socialism may be poorer but more honest than in the capitalist West, where the pursuit of money destroys interpersonal relationships. That is also why most emigrants end up regretting their departure to the West. This black-and-white thesis about honest socialism and rotten capitalism is, however, rather undermined by the behaviour of the Czech relatives the old lady seeks out in Prague. When it comes down to it, are, it seems, equally prone to dishonesty, selfishness and opportunism, like those in the NSR. And they will readily take any opportunity to get their hands on Western currencies or goods that were scarce under socialism. Perhaps it was this threatened relativisation that left the play by the popular author lying in the archives until November 89. People and cast: Taxi driver (Ferdinand Kruta), Mrs Hahn (Ludmila Bures), Truda (Ludmila Vostrčilová), Kment (Josef Chvalina), Kmentová (Drahomíra Fialková), Liduška (Alena Daňková), Koulová (Pavla Maršálková), The First Disciple (Jan Faltýnek), The Second Disciple (Ladislav Potměšil) and Iren (Alexandra Hájková)Directed by: Josef Melč