Performance “The Visit from Prehistory” at the Činoherní klub.

Theatrical performance
The Visit from Prehistory

Petr Ginz, 1942
František Tichý, 2019

Theatrical performance based on the book and life story of Petr Ginz, a young artist, writer, and editor-in-chief of the Terezín magazine VEDEM. The play intertwines a fantastical adventure story inspired by Jules Verne with the chilling reality of the life fate of a teenage boy during the time of the Protectorate.

Since February 2022, we have been presenting the performance in a renewed premiere.

Recording of the theatrical performance from the Prague-Bubny train station

After the COVID-19 break, we rehearsed “Návštěva z pravěku” (The Visit from the Prehistoric Era) with a modified cast of 13-16-year-old actors and actresses. We also expanded the live musical accompaniment.

In the spring, we performed four shows in Prague and one at the Technical University in Liberec. On October 21st and 22nd, 2022, we commemorated the 80th anniversary of Petr’s deportation from Prague to Terezín with three performances at the Prague-Bubny train station.

To mark the 80th anniversary of the first issue of the Vedem magazine, in December 2022, we performed the play directly in Terezín at the L417 building (now the Ghetto Museum), where the magazine was published during the time of the Second World War in the Terezín ghetto.

• Czech Television Report – News from the Performance at Bubny Train Station / October 2022
• Reflection on the renewed premiere of the performance in Divadelní noviny (Theatre News) / October 2022

• Screenplay: František Tichý based on the book “Návštěva z pravěku” by Petr Ginz.
• Directors: František Tichý, Jakub Fojtík, Michal Květák, Rozálie Kopecká.
• Music: Enriko Štec, Vít Novotný, Josefína Nedbalová, Adam Tichý, Adam Pochman, Mikoláš Pešek.
• Artists and set design: Magdalena Schmidtová, Prokop Císler, Viktor Komárek, Ondřej Kučera.

Petr Ginz

Petr Ginz (February 1, 1928 – September 28, 1944) was born in Prague into a mixed Jewish-Christian family. From an early age, he displayed many talents. He drew and painted, had an interest in history and natural sciences, loved experiments and new technological discoveries, but above all, he read and wrote. At the Jewish school on Jáchymová Street, he published a magazine called Rozhled and became the class representative.

In October 1942, he was deported to the Terezín ghetto, where he was placed in Boys’ Home 1 under the leadership of Prof. Valtr Eisinger (whom the boys called “Prcek” and addressed informally). It was there that he began publishing the now internationally renowned magazine Vedem with the help of Kurt Kotouč. In Vedem, the boys documented not only the daily reality of the ghetto but also life in the home, writing their thoughts, poems, and stories. In Terezín, Petr also created dozens of drawings and paintings and actively participated in the work of the boys’ self-government in the home.

In September 1944, Petr, along with most of his friends, was included in a transport to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where he was shortly thereafter murdered in a gas chamber.

His younger sister Eva and both parents survived the war and eventually immigrated to Israel, where Eva (now known as the Israeli artist Chava Presburger) still lives today.

Petr’s story and legacy gained worldwide attention when his artwork “Moon Landscape” was taken on board the Space Shuttle Columbia by the first Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon.

The Visit from the Prehistoric Era

That’s how Petr named his first completed novel. He wrote it while still in Prague at the age of 13. With his story, he wanted to pay tribute to his favorite author, Jules Verne. The book begins with the tale of discovering a forgotten manuscript by this French author, and Petr maintains Verne’s style and archaic language throughout the writing.

However, Petr was writing during the time of the Protectorate, amidst the escalating anti-Jewish measures and the looming threat of transports into the unknown. He weaves universal questions of good and evil, discrimination, and solidarity among good people into the story set in 19th-century Belgian Congo. Ultimately, these themes triumph over all the darkness.

Petr intended to revisit the book in Terezín, but fate was unforgiving and moved faster. According to his notes, the manuscript was completed by Eva, who also prepared it for publication 15 years ago.

Gymnázium Přírodní škola (Natural School Grammar School) and Petr Ginz

The magazine Vedem and the life and work of Petr Ginz played a crucial role in the inception of the Terezín Lagacy project. It has long surpassed the framework of the Natural School and has engaged hundreds of young people across the Czech Republic. This engagement has been achieved not only through two editions of the Terezín Relay competition, the CD of musical adaptations of Terezín texts titled “Words Echoing from Beyond the Walls,” the theatrical play “Terezín Bells,” and a series of workshops for schools in collaboration with the Jewish Museum in Prague. It has also been accomplished through the publication of books such as “The Prince with the Yellow Star,” “Right Next to White Clouds,” and “Transport for Eternity.”

The play “Journey to the Prehistoric Era” aims to bring Petr’s eponymous book and his unique life story to the stage in a way that does not merely frighten but pays tribute to the strength of spirit and the determination to remain true to oneself even in difficult times.

The roles in the play were undertaken by students from the Natural School across all grades, who dedicated their free time to its preparation since the autumn of 2018. The music and artistic design were created under the guidance of experienced educators during an artistic retreat at Vesmír in January 2019.

The premiere of the performance took place with the financial support of the U.S. Embassy in Prague, in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Salesian Theatre.