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On January 29, the Prague Playhouse – a Prague-based theatre company that specializes in English-language productions is set to debut a brief run of the David Mamet play Glengarry Glen Ross. Dominik Jun caught up with the Playhouse’s artistic director Brian Caspe to find out more and began by asking him to tell us a little more about the Prague Playhouse:

For years, numerous Czech governments promised but failed to abolish an infamous pig farm in Lety, South Bohemia, built in the 1970s at the site of a former concentration camp. More than 1,000 Romanies were interned there during World War II and more than 300 died there. But until now, all efforts to abolish the farm, in favour of a proper memorial, have come up short. Now, the newly-named minister for human rights and ethnic minorities, Michael Kocáb, has expressed his own commitment to see the project through. But many have questioned whether

The Czech government has been rethinking its finances for 2009, and is ready to almost double its budget deficit. With growth forecasts slashed from five to one percent, the cabinet has been seeking the advice of some of the country’s top financial experts to stimulate the economy. After the first meeting of the advisory board NERV on Sunday, the government presented its plan, in somewhat somber a manner.

After more than ten years, Czechs can once again look forward to a visit by the Pope. Czech Cardinal Miroslav Vlk has confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI is going to spend up to three days in the country at the end of September. Benedict’s predecessor, Pope John Paul II, visited the Czech Republic altogether three times; the last visit taking place in 1997. I spoke to Jiří Gračka of the Czech Bishop’s Conference, who initiated Pope Benedict’s visit:

The EU's Labour and Social Affairs ministers have been meeting in the Moravian spa town of Luhačovice to discuss further liberalisation of Europe's labour market. That continues to be something of a thorny issue, as citizens from the 10 countries that joined in 2004 - including the Czech Republic - still can't work everywhere in the EU. The meeting, chaired by Czech minister Petr Nečas, is aimed at persuading those countries that still restrict their labour markets - chiefly Germany and Austria - to lift those restrictions sooner rather than later.

The former Czech president Václav Havel who is in hospital with a lung inflammation is reported to have made some progress on the road to recovery. However he remains in intensive care and doctors have been warning that the seventy-two year-old’s health is still fragile.

David Černý, the author of the controversial artwork Entropa unveiled by the Czech EU presidency last week in Brussels, has agreed to give the government back the money he received for the work. Meanwhile, an internet petition has been started in Bulgaria protesting against the Bulgarian part of the mosaic having been covered up.

A Renaissance mystery is beginning to unravel in Prague. A team of experts from Denmark have asked the authorities for permission to open and explore the grave of the Danish-born astronomer Tycho Brahe who died in Prague in 1601. They are hoping to learn more about one of the most famous scholars of the time – and perhaps to throw more light on his mysterious death.

The Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has said he would welcome Russia’s involvement in the U.S. missile defence shield, part of which could be based in the Czech Republic if the Obama administration proceeds with the plan. That of course is still open to question, with signals coming from Washington that the new president intends to “review” the plan, which is deeply opposed by Russia.

Despairing students often say that Czech is a particularly difficult language to learn, and even Czechs themselves have problems with it. Last year, the Ústav pro jazyk český received over 9000 emails from Czechs unsure about their spelling and grammar. Now, the organisation has launched the first online Czech handbook to help users sort their s’s from their z’s. I met the head of the Ústav pro jazyk český, Karel Oliva, to ask him whether it was exasperation which drove him to publish a grammar online: