The story of a brave boy with a great desire.
Australian author Alan Marshall's novel I'm Jumping Over Puddles Again, first published in 1955, soon became a worldwide bestseller and continues to appeal to readers today. The author has captured his childhood experiences. At the age of six, he contracted polio and in the book he describes the experience of paralysis through the eyes of a child unaffected by the prejudices and fears of adults. Alan accepts his lot as it is and has no doubt that he will be able to do everything again just like the other boys. Although some objective facts cannot be easily changed, it is the approach to them that matters. One can succumb to one's misfortune, or one can courageously seek ways to expand one's possibilities. Thanks to his ability not to give up and his spontaneous optimistic attitude, Alan manages to overcome his physical handicap. He climbs trees with his friends, discovers his surroundings, and even starts riding a horse. He knew from a young age what he was going to do in life: taming wild horses, just like his dad.
Based on this story full of hope and pure childhood strength, Karel Kachyňa made a film of the same name in 1970, set in the Moravian town of Tlumačov by screenwriter Jan Procházka. The radio creators left the early 20th century Australian rural setting in their conception. Even if they do not move the story to the present day, its message does not lose its relevance because the essence of the story is timeless.
Lenka Veverková, the author of the dramatization, has chosen the basic principle of narration. Without pity or sentimentality, the actor Viktor Kuznik brings us closer to the feelings and thought processes of little Alan. The narrative is transformed into memories and echoes of important experiences, only to return to pure narrative again. Little Alan is portrayed by Mikuláš Převrátil, Tereza Vilišová and Jan Grundman play his parents, and Vasil Fridrich plays the charismatic hospital patient who manages to inspire Alan. Zuzana Vojtíšková, dramaturg
