I'm jumping over puddles again: radio dramatization

Australian writer Alan Marshall's book continues to appeal to readers today. The author has captured his childhood experiences. At the age of six, he contracted polio and in the book describes the experience of paralysis through the eyes of a child unaffected by prejudice and fear of adults. Alan accepts his fate as it is, and has no doubt that he will be able to to do everything like the other boys. Although some objective facts cannot be can't be easily changed, it's the approach that counts. A man may submit to his misfortune, or to boldly seek ways to expand his possibilities. Thanks to his ability not to give up and his spontaneous optimistic attitude, Alan manages to overcome his physical handicap. He climbs trees with his friends, discovers his surroundings, and even starts riding a horse. I mean, he knew from a young age what he was going to do in life: taming wild horses, just like his dad.

Based on this story full of hope and pure childhood strength, Karel Kachyňa made a film of the same name in 1970, set in the Moravian town of Tlumačov by screenwriter Jan Procházka. The radio creators left the early 20th century Australian rural setting in their conception. Even if they do not move the story to the present day, its message does not lose its relevance because the essence of the story is timeless.

Lenka Veverková, the author of the dramatization, has chosen the basic principle of narration. No regrets and sentimentality, through the actor Viktor Kuznik, he brings us closer to the feelings and thoughts of little Alan. The narrative is transformed into memories and echoes of important experiences, only to return again to pure narrative. Little Alan is portrayed by Mikuláš Převrátil, Tereza Vilišová and Jan Grundman play his parents, and Vasil Fridrich plays the charismatic hospital patient who manages to inspire Alan. Josef Kačmarčík's sensitive directorial concept is underlined by Radim Dlesek's sounds and mix and Jan Šikl's music.