An adventurous puppet comedy with a minimum of words, but a lot of action and live music. The creators of the production - the dramaturgist and playwright of Liberec Vít Peřina and the director Tomáš Dvořák - were freely inspired by Johnston McCulley's book The Mark of Zorro and its cinematographic work, especially the 1920 film by Douglas Fairbanks.
The Three Musketeers is grotesque hand puppet burlesque of the immortal story of the group, whose motto was "all for one, one for all!" The theatrical performance was inspired by the novel by Alexander Dumas, Sr. and the silent grotesque of Max Linder. Characterized as "scenic comics", the performance emphasizes action and uses live songs on the stage.
The plot of Alfa’s Musketeers is simplified, featuring baby-talk, notoriously familiar English, French, or international expressions, and lots of interjections. The company performs with hand puppets above a wooden wall, in which small window can be opened to reveal hidden chambers with hand puppets or live actors. This "staged cartoon", lasts just under an hour and is communicative and entertaining for both children and adults owing to its scaled down language. Comprehension of Czech is not necessary. Audiences can find everything they could wish for in an adaptation of The Three Musketeers: excitement, humor, situation comedy, fierce duels - along with professional puppet work, well sung songs, and a directorial vision that infuse the classic story with entertainment, but with oversight of knowledge and love.
List of Awards for The Tree Musketeers:
Total 22 awards + 2 nomination from 2006 –2012
26th Skupova Plzeň 2006
1. Best Performance / nejlepší představení
2. Best Director / nejlepší režie
3. Best Scenography / nejlepší scénografie
4. Best Music / nejlepší hudba
5. Best Lyrics
15th Babkárská Bystrica, Bánská Bystrica, (Slovakia)
6.Prize of Henrik Jurkowski – Main prize of the festival awarded by
honorary board of UNIMA
7.Best Audience Performance
ERIK Theatre Award of the professional theatres of the Czech Republic
8. Best puppet performance of the Year 2006
Award of Theatre Critics of The Czech Republic 2007 / Cena divadelní kritiky za rok 2007
9.Best Performance of the Year 2006 of the Czech Theatres.
- nomination of the most honoured award Alfred Radok Awards 2007 / nominace na cenu Alfréda Radoka 2007
Vice Best Performance of the Czech Republic
most prestigious awards of CZ, selection by experts and critics committee.
14th International Festival of the Childrens Theatre Subotica
(Serbia) 2007
10. Best Direction - T.Dvořák
11. Best Actor - M. Bartůšek
14th International Festival of Puppet Theatre for Adults – Pécs,
(Hungary) 2007
12. The Main Prize – Best Performance of the Festival
40th Puppet International Festival 2007 Zagreb, (Chroatia)
13.Best Director - T. Dvořák
14.Best Music - M. Vaniš,
15. Best Performance – Children Jury
16.Best Animation and Acting Group
7th International Puppet Festival – Spectaculo Interesse, Ostrava (Czech Republic) 2007
17.Award for best group cooperation with traditional puppet practice
Showcase Czech Theatre 2007
18.Prize for Most Significant Artistic Work of the Showcase
19.Prize for Most Succesfull Performance of an Audience
23rth International Festival of Puppetry Art, Bielsko Biala, Poland 2008
20.Honorary Certiticate for Contribution and Cultivation of traditional Puppetry Art
9th International Puppet Festival „ LUTKE“ Ljubljana, Slovenia 2008
21.Award for Craative Acting and Animation with Puppets.
Festival Dítě v Dlouhé (Child in Dlouha) 2011
22. The best performance /nejlepší představení