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The theatre of the Czech Republic has a rich tradition in all genres, including drama, opera, ballet and dance, puppet theatre, black light theatre etc.
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The theatre of the Czech Republic has a rich tradition in all genres, including drama, opera, ballet and dance, puppet theatre, black light theatre etc.
The Czech theatre played an important role in the history of theatre since the Middle Ages. In the 19th century, the theatre was an integral part of the Czech National Revival. Later, in the 20th century, many notable theatre makers influenced the European theatre art.
Between 1739 and 1783 the Divadlo v Kotcích (English: Kotzen Theatre), a theatre and opera venue on v Kotcích street in Prague, enjoyed its heyday as the second public opera theatre in Prague. The opera theatre of Franz Anton von Sporck was also a notable public theatre in the city at this time. [1]
The Estates Theatre was initially built with the intention of producing German dramas and Italian operas, but works in other languages were also staged. Czech productions were first staged in 1785 in order to reach a broader Czech audience but by 1812 they became a regular feature of Sunday and holiday matinees. The somewhat political nature of these performances later led to idea of founding a National Theatre after 1848 with the defeat of the revolution and the departure of J.K. Tyl. Many of the founding Czech dramatists were involved in the Estates Theatre, such as the brothers Thám (Karel and Václav), J.K. Tyl, Ján Kollár, and so on.
Before the early 1860s almost all cultural institutions in Prague, including theatre and opera, was in Austrian hands. Bohemia was a province of the Habsburg Empire, and under that regime's absolutist rule most aspects of Czech culture and national life had been discouraged or suppressed. [2] Absolutism was formally abolished by a decree of the Emperor Franz Josef on 20 October 1860, which led to a Czech cultural revival. [3] The Bohemian Diet (parliament) had acquired a site in Prague on the banks of the Vltava, and in 1861 announced a public subscription, which raised a sum of 106,000 florins. [3] This covered the costs of building a small 800-seat theatre, [4] which would act as a home for production of Czech drama and opera while longer-term plans for a permanent National Theatre could be implemented. [5] The Provisional Theatre opened on 18 November 1862, with a performance of Vítězslav Hálek's tragic drama King Vukašín. [6]
The drama of the First Czechoslovak Republic followed the same stylistic evolution as poetry and prose — expressionism, followed by a return to realistic, civilian theatre (František Langer, Karel Čapek). Avantgarde theatre also flourished, focusing on removing the barriers between actors and audience, breaking the illusion of the unity of a theatrical work (Osvobozené divadlo, Jiří Voskovec and Jan Werich). In the 1930s, Karel Čapek wrote his most politically charged (and well-known) plays in response to the rise of fascist dictators.
Václav Havel found employment in Prague's theatre world as a stagehand at Prague's Theatre ABC – Divadlo ABC, and then at the Theatre On Balustrade – Divadlo Na zábradlí. Simultaneously, he was a student of dramatic arts by correspondence at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (DAMU). His first own full-length play performed in public, besides various vaudeville collaborations, was The Garden Party (1963). Presented in a series of Theatre of the Absurd, at the Theatre on Balustrade, this play won him international acclaim. The play was soon followed by The Memorandum , one of his best known plays, and The Increased Difficulty of Concentration , all at the Theatre on Balustrade. In 1968, The Memorandum was also brought to The Public Theater in New York, which helped to establish Havel's reputation in the United States. The Public Theater continued to produce his plays in the following years. After 1968, Havel's plays were banned from the theatre world in his own country, and he was unable to leave Czechoslovakia to see any foreign performances of his works. [7]
Ladislav Fialka was a mime from what is now the Czech Republic.
The Theatre on the Balustrade is situated in Prague, Czech Republic.
The Estates Theatre is a historic theater in Prague, Czech Republic. The Estates Theatre was annexed to the National Theatre in 1948 and currently draws on three artistic ensembles, opera, ballet, and drama, which perform at the Estates Theatre, the National Theatre, and the Kolowrat Theatre.
Jiří Bartoška is a Czech theatre, television, and film actor and president of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. His most notable film roles include performances in Sekal Has to Die (1998), All My Loved Ones (1999), and Tiger Theory (2016), as well as the television series Sanitka (1984) and Neviditelní (2014).
The Alfréd Radok Awards were presented annually by the Endowment for the Alfréd Radok Awards in collaboration with the theatre and literary agency Aura-Pont and the magazine Svět a Divadlo for achievements in Czech theatre, starting in 1992. The category of Best Performance was the first created. In 1995, the categories Best Play, Best Stage Design, Talent of the Year, Theatre of the Year, Best Actor, and Best Actress were created. The winners were selected by vote by theatre critics. 2013 was the last year the award ceremony was held. It was followed in 2014 by the Ceny divadelní kritiky, awarded by Svět a Divadlo for staging categories, and Anonymní dramatická soutěž agentury Aura-Pont.
Ladislav Smoček is a Czech writer, playwright and theater director.
Lenka Pichlíková – Burke is an American actress of Czech descent, the seventh generation of her family to appear onstage since the 18th century. Her great-uncle was the noted national actor, Ladislav Pešek. While in Czechoslovakia, she performed on stage in many theatres, played in twelve films, and created over 40 television roles, rising to the rank of Advanced Master Artist. In addition to performing as a speaking actress, she was also involved professionally in classic pantomime. Since the 1980s she has resided in the United States. In the United States, she has performed onstage in speaking roles as well as in pantomime productions for more than 25 years. Since 1988, she has been a member of the Actors' Equity Association, the union which represents professional actors. In 2006 she was named the "Best Mime" of Fairfield County, Connecticut. She teaches performing arts, dramatic literature, and cultural history, and translates plays.
The Divadlo v Kotcích, German Theater an der Kotzen, in English more usually Kotzen Theatre, was a Prague theatre and opera venue on v Kotcích street, which had its heyday from 1739 to 1783 as the second public opera theatre in Prague. Spoken plays and ballets were also presented there.
Josef Jiří Kolár was a Czech theatrical actor, director, translator, and writer.
Jiří Macháček is a Czech actor and singer.
Café Slavia is a café in Prague, Czech Republic, located on the corner of Národní street and Smetanovo nábřeží, next to the Vltava river and opposite the National Theatre. From its spectacular windows, the Prague Castle can be glimpsed.
Collegium 1704 is a Czech early music orchestra and choir founded in 2005 by the Czech conductor, harpsichordist, and horn player Václav Luks. The Collegium Vocale 1704 is the affiliated vocal ensemble. Since 2007, the ensemble has been making regular guest appearances at festivals and concert halls all over Europe: the Salzburger Festspiele, the Berliner Philharmonie, London’s Wigmore Hall, Vienna’s Theater an der Wien and Konzerthaus, the Lucerne Festival, BOZAR in Brussels, the Chopin Festival in Warsaw, Wratislavia Cantans, and the Elbphilharmonie, and it is an ensemble-in-residence at the festival Oude Muziek in Utrecht and at the Leipzig Bachfest. In 2008, Music Bridge Prague — Dresden began, bringing together the two cities’ wealth of cultural traditions. In 2012 Collegium 1704 started a concert series at the Rudolfinum in Prague. Since autumn 2015, the two cycles have been merged into a single concert season that continues to take place in parallel in Prague and Dresden. In 2019 Collegium Vocale 1704 launched a series of chamber choir concerts in Prague.
Barbora Hrzánová is a Czech actress and musician. She won the Alfréd Radok Award for Best Actress in 1994 for her role in the play The Seagull at the Theatre on the Balustrade in Prague. At the 2003 Thalia Awards, she won Best Actress in a Play for her role in Hrdý Budžes at the Antonín Dvořák Theatre in Příbram. She is married to actor Radek Holub, with whom she often performs on stage.
The National Moravian-Silesian Theatre is a professional theatre company based in Ostrava in the Czech Republic. It is one of ten opera houses in the country, and the largest theatre company in the Moravian-Silesian Region. The NDM has two permanent theatres, the Antonín Dvořák Theatre and the Jiří Myron Theatre. The company was registered in 1918, and the theatre was first opened to the public on 19 August 1919.
Václav Luks is a Czech harpsichordist, horn player, conductor, musicologist and pedagogue, founder and artistic director of the Prague baroque orchestra Collegium 1704 and of the vocal ensemble Collegium Vocale 1704. He specialises in Baroque music, especially in the works of Jan Dismas Zelenka, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, and others. His activities have played an important role in reviving interest in the works of Czech composers including Zelenka and Josef Mysliveček. In 2022, Luks was awarded the title of Knight of the French Ministry of Culture, Arts and Letters.
Jana Pidrmanová is a Czech theatre and film actor.
Jindřich Honzl was a Czech theatre theorist, film and theatre director and pedagogue who was a leading representative of Czech modern theater.
Sklep Theatre is a theatre in the Czech capital of Prague, founded in 1971 by Milan Šteindler and David Vávra. It is currently based at the Divadlo Dobeška building in Braník.
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