Adam Šangala

Last night I had the privilege to go to the theatre to see my friend act in a play called Adam Šangala. Adam Šangala is a play for Slovaks, about Slovaks. This play is said to capture the essence of the Slovak spirit. My curiousity was definitely peaked by such an introduction, and the fact that Ludka was playing one of the main characters, that was more than enough motivation for me to go see it! So i went with my friend Edita, and Martin and Marika a couple from our church. It was a musical, and very well done! I was thoroughly impressed.

The storyline is basically about a young man from a small village who decides that he wants to see the world, motivated by the fact that he is the only one in the village who can write their name. So, off he goes and rescues the damsel in distress and they fall in love. But the man Adam rescued her from was a very powerful man, and he seeks to kill Adam, but he is saved at the last minute by divine provision.
He gets separated from his love, and then he gets mixed up with some powerful lords who force him to concieve a child with the general of the army's wife because he is impotent. Much to the general's dismay, but as he is unable to produce an heir...
Adam reunites with his love and then she discovers the awful truth about his "job", and runs away. But then someone planted a fire in the house, and as a result, the unborn child dies. So they planted everything on Adam, and he is saved by Martin Luther. (there was also some not so hidden prodestant/catholic undertones - it was also placed shortly after the Reformation...) God then flew them to Trnava, where Betka, his true love, is at home with her parents, pregnant with Adam's child. Betka is angry and feeling betrayed, but she forgives him and they get married. Not too long after that, these powerful people find him and imprison him for detroying a marriage, for the fire which killed the unborn child, for assaulting the Lord and they seek his death. Betka pleads on his behalf, her husband, the father of her child, everything that she has... But they would not listen, and he's hung. You see his spirit going to Heaven and he sings this awesome song about no one can take his freedom, even if they kill him, they won't be able to take it from him.
Betka then has the baby, and the play ends with her singing to her small son about the father he doesn't yet know.

It was awesome! The pics I have from this I took off the internet, and Ludka isn't even in them! But oh well, you can have a peek anyway!