Dramaturgy student Kate Foster '22 Assistant Directs ‘Pankrác '45’

Dramaturgy student Kate Foster was the assistant director of Pankrác '45 in Washington, D.C. at The Atlas Performing Arts Center.

Pankrác ’45 is written by Czech playwright Martina Kinska and translated by Barbara Day. The play takes place in 1945 Prague after the defeat of the German Nazis. A short period of liberation is then followed by a turbulent time of retribution as Nazis and traitors are prosecuted. Public executions of those involved in Nazi collaboration happen daily. The play follows five women who are accused of sympathizing and collaborating with Nazis. They all share one prison cell. None of them know how long they will be there, or if they will live to see the outside world again. Each has to testify to her own involvement, all facing the gallows. The play is a story that raises  questions of guilt, revenge, betrayal and survival.Though the five women are fictional, all of the events described in the play are true.

The live, in-person performance featured Sara Barker as Hana, Lisa Hodsoll as Julča, Aniko Olah as Nova, Karin Rosnizeck as Adina, and Stacy Whittle as Lída. 

Kate Foster is currently working as an Artistic Associate with ExPats Theatre. She is a D.C. based dramaturg working in international and intercultural theatre. She trained with international artists abroad in Moscow, Russia (Moscow Art Theatre School), Munich, Germany (Ludwig Maximilian University, DAAD grant recipient), and Florence, Italy (IUGTE–International University Global Theatre Experience). She was a literary manager for Columbia University’s School of the Arts International Play Reading Festival in 2020 and a Student Fellow at Georgetown University’s Laboratory for Global Performance & Politics during the 2020/2021 academic year. MA German, BA Theatre and German, Wayne State University.