Cultural life in our town

CULTURAL LIFE IN OUR TOWN

Cultural life in our town is not so rich as in large cities. In spite of that there are some ways of spending leisure time.We can go to the cinema, to the theatre, or we can stay at home and listen to the radio, watch television and read books.

We have only one cinema in our town - Kino Svět.The repertory of the cinema is not specialized.Sometimes is necessary to book the tickets for a performance in advance if you wanted to avoid long queuing in front of the box office.The attendance has been declining partly due to the fact that people have less free time and are laizer to leave their homes.They prefer watching television or video to going to the cinema.Some people like to sit at the back but I ussually buy tickets to the middle of the tenth row from where I can see better than from a seat next to the gangway.Before I decide to go to the cinema, I choose the films very carefully. I don't like violence and blood and I fond of witty comedies and films about young people above all.I don't like silent films with Charlie Chaplin.My favourite actors are Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks.

There is a pernament theatre buiding- Cultural centre where are two scenes.There is also Small Scene and National House but there are rebuilt now. I like going to the theatre and I sing for the performance very often.I like the atmosphere of the theatre.People usually come dressed up, they take off their coats in the cloakroom.Students often buy cheaper tickets to the upper circle or stand in the gods.We usually read the programe to see the cast, who designed the stage-scenery, costumes, who rehearsed the performance, etc… Then the musicians come in and begin to tune their instruments and soon the conductor appears and the orchestra starts to play an overture. The lights go out. The curtain goes up and the performance begins. During the intervals, between two acts, we can go in the foyer, buy some refreshments and share opinions with our friends.When the performance is over the audience bursts into aplause and sometimes there are many curtain calls. Musicians at concerts often have to give encores.

In ISŠT dancing lessons and ball are held. When I was in the second form I took dancing lessons there too.We learned standart dances such as polka, waltz, foxtrot or tango, cha-cha and jive.

Concerts of classical music was held in the Small Scene or in the National House, but nowadays there are held in the Cultural centre and concerts of pop music are held in Top Music Club or in the Cultural centre.

Our town also has a picture gallery and library.

When I do not feel like going anywhere I watch television and listen to the radio or read books.I'm not a TV addict, I watch the TV on Monday evening when TV offer witty programs such as ''Tele Tele'' and ''South park''.Some people need a radio or TV as a background noise and they hardly know what is on the programme. I don't like films to be interrupted by commercials. Sports fans certainly enjoy live broadcasts of interesting sports events.

In comparison to a TV set,radio has a advantage - we needn‘t sit in front of it.Most of us switch on the radio to hear the time signal, morning news, press review or some good music or a hit parade. Some other programmes, such as popular talks, phone-ins or discussions with well known personalities can be very interesting too.

In comparison with the passive consumption of TV culture, reading is a highly active hobby. When we read for pleasure, we usually pick up a book of fiction, such as novels ( science fiction, westerns, travel books, thrillers, crime fiction, psychological and historical novels, adventure tales, love stories), short stories and tales or poetry. We can buy books, or we can borrow them from friends and from a library or we can give during some fasts, e.g. Christmas and our birthday, etc…. If we need information, it is good to have various dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, textbooks and history and arts books at hand.

My favourite author is Michael Viewegh, he is author of 20th century and his film Výchova dívek v Čechách was filmed. Last book when I read was Továrna na Absolutno by Karel Čapek- it is very interesting book.