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The National Theatre hopes to reopen talks with representatives of Vaclav Havel on the possibility of staging the playwright's first work in nearly two decades, one of its directors said on Thursday. He said the institution now proposed to stage the play Leaving at its Estates Theatre. It was reported recently that Mr Havel had decided to take the long-awaited piece to another theatre, after the National Theatre refused to allow his wife Dagmar to take part in the production. The former president said he had written a key part in Leaving for her.

After a break of 18 years, the playwright and former Czech president Vaclav Havel has finally finished a long-awaited new play. Called Odchazeni (Leaving), it has been receiving some perhaps unwelcome coverage in the media. After a few months of talks with the Czech National Theatre, Mr Havel has now decided to withdraw his play from the theatre, because it refused to cast his wife Dagmar Havlova in the main role.

Playwright and former Czech president Vaclav Havel withdrew his new drama Odchazeni (Leaving) from the National Theatre, which was to have produced the play in May 2008. The theatre refused to cast his wife, actress Dagmar Havlova, in a leading role. Meanwhile, other Czech as well as foreign theatres have expressed their interest in staging the long awaited play.

The end of the summer holidays brings yet another event not to be missed by any true film fan. Following the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the Summer Film School in Uherske Hradiste, Fresh Film Fest, the biggest show of international student and young cinema in the Czech Republic, is starting this Wednesday.

Former president Vaclav Havel visited the open-air music festival in Trutnov, North-East Bohemia, on Saturday, and signed a petition in support of the location of an U.S. tracking radar base in the Czech Republic. The festival, which is the largest event of its kind in the country, was first organized in 1987. This year, the festival was dedicated to "chief' Vaclav Havel who received standing ovation from the crowd and was awarded a war bonnet on stage.

Pivnice U Zlateho Tygra, At the Golden Tiger, is a name that resonates with all Czech beer lovers. Located on Husova Street in Prague's Old Town, it is one of the oldest pubs in the centre of the city and was the second place in the capital to serve the renowned Pilsner Urquell. Among its famous regulars was Bohumil Hrabal, the great Czech novelist.

Jiri Dienstbier has emerged as the latest "anti-Klaus" candidate for next year's presidential elections. The former dissident and first post-communist foreign minister of Czechoslovakia has just confirmed he is willing to stand. His backers, including some leading Social Democrats, would like to see the incumbent Vaclav Klaus replaced at all costs and hope Mr Dienstbier, aged 70, could unite opposition. Talking over the phone to Jiri Dienstbier, who is attending a conference in San Sebastian, I asked him what his motivation was to run for

Former president Vaclav Havel, speaking on a TV debate programme on Sunday, has suggested parties should get their act together if they wish to field a strong candidate in next year's presidential elections. Anyone vying for the post of president will face current Czech head-of-state Vaclav Klaus, who, polls have repeatedly suggested, remains one of the country's most popular political figures. Mr Klaus announced his intention to seek re-election back in February. Mr Havel suggested on Sunday that a younger candidate than someone of his and Milos Zeman's generation should be fielded, adding it would be "excellent" if a woman ran. He said he thought that the Social Democrats, the Christian Democrats, and the Greens should agree on a joint candidate.

Former Czech President Vaclav Havel has criticised what he described as the EU's strangely diplomatic approach to Cuba. Speaking at a conference of pro-democracy activists in Berlin, Mr Havel said EU countries tended to appease the Castro regime by not inviting dissidents to events at their embassies in Havana. He also implied that the European Union should try and catch up with the United States in terms of it support for human rights in addition to competing with America economically.

Former Czech president Vaclav Havel has decided to not accept an award for humanism in a ceremony in Montenegro on Monday that he was to receive for his contributions. Mr Havel was reportedly asked by Montenegrin intellectual circles protesting the awards to distance himself from Monday's ceremony, as figures like controversial former prime minister Milo Djukanovic, who served during the collapse of Yugoslovia in the 1990s, will be among those recognised. The award is being given by the International League of Humanists (ILH).