The Vaněk Plays use are a set of plays in which the character Ferdinand Vaněk is a main character. Vaněk first appeared in the play Audience by Václav Havel. He subsequently appeared in three other Havel plays (Protest, Unveiling, and Dozens of Cousins), as well as plays by his friends and colleagues, including Pavel Landovský and Tom Stoppard.
Ferdinand Vaněk first appeared in the play Audience in 1975 as a stand-in for Havel. Vaněk, like Havel, was a dissident playwright, forced to work in a brewery because his writing has been banned by the Czechoslovak Communist regime. In the course of the play, it become clear that the brewmaster has been asked to spy on him. A long, rambling, comic dialogue proceeds, in the course of which the brewmaster eventually becomes a sympathetic figure, rather than a villain.
Since Havel's work was banned, the play was not performed in any theater. Instead, it was performed in living rooms and as samizdat. However, the work became quite well known in the Czech Republic despite that.
Play may refer to:
Play is a 2002 album by Joanna MacGregor. The album was released on the SoundCircus label and was a nominee for the Mercury Music Prize.
"Play" is a song by Swedish recording artist Robyn from her second studio album My Truth (1999). Robyn wrote the track in collaboration with Ulf Lindström and Johan Ekhé, who also helmed production. BMG Sweden released it as the album's second single on 21 July 1999 with the non-album song "Good Thang" as its B-side. Musically, "Play" contains some world music influences and a "playful" vibe.
"Play" received positive critical response and became Robyn's seventh consecutive top 40 entry on the Sverigetopplistan singles chart, where it peaked at number 31. The singer performed the song live while promoting the parent album, but the single itself received limited promotion. As with the album, "Play" was not serviced outside of Sweden.
"Play" was written by Robyn, Ulf Lindström and Johan Ekhé. Lindström and Ekhé recorded Robyn's vocals and produced the track at Lifeline Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. Almnils Erson, Pär-Ola Claesson, Gunilla Markström and Olle Markström played the strings and Niklas Gabrielsson provided handclaps, while Lindström and Ekhé played all other instruments. The duo also managed arrangement and mixing; both these tasks were done at Lifeline Studios. Britta Bergström and Angela Holland sang backing vocals alongside Robyn. Björn Engelmann and Henrik Jonsson were enlisted to master the track at Cutting Room Studios in Stockholm.
Audience is a cult British art rock band which existed between 1969 and 1972, and reformed in 2004.
The original band consisted of Howard Werth (born Howard Alexander Werth, 26 March 1947, The Mother's Hospital, Clapton, East London) on nylon-strung electric acoustic guitar and vocals, Keith Gemmell (born Keith William Gemmell, 15 February 1948, Hackney Hospital, Hackney, East London) on tenor and alto sax, flute and clarinet, bass guitarist and vocalist Trevor Williams (born Trevor Leslie Williams, 19 January 1945, Hereford General Hospital, Hereford, Herefordshire, and drummer/vocalist Tony Connor (born Anthony John Connor, 6 April 1947, Romford, Havering).
Audience rose from the ashes of a semi-professional soul band named 'Lloyd Alexander Real Estate', which had included all the Audience members except Connor, who had unsuccessfully auditioned for the earlier band when John Richardson left to form The Rubettes. However, when Werth, Williams, and Gemmell decided to form their new band, they thought of Connor. The 'Lloyd Alexander Real Estate' issued one 45rpm single on President PT157 in 1967 "Gonna Live Again"/"Watcha' Gonna Do (When Your Baby Leaves You)", a Mod R&B record.
"Audience" (often titled as "Audience of One") is a song by American indie rock band Cold War Kids. It was the sole single off their seventh EP Behave Yourself (2010). The song was made available as a free download by the band on November 2009 before being officially released on December 1, 2009.
The song had a great response from critics who saw it as a return to form for the band. The song peaked at number 39 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, their third top 40 hit on that chart. A music video was made for the single and premiered on January 2010.
The song was given a great reception from critics. Heather Phares of AllMusic praised the song, saying that it brought the band's sound and Willett's voice "closer to the Jeff Buckley-tinged side of their music than their feisty rock". Dave Park of Prefix also praised the song, saying that he found "a latently bittersweet quality to it that adds an extra layer of humanity and relativity to the affair".