History of the Playhouse
The Prague Playhouse was formed in 2003 with a production of short pieces by well known American playwrights called “An American Evening”. After a period of dormancy, the company came to life again with a series of performances of 10 minute plays. These productions brought enough artists together to form the genesis of the Prague Playwriting Contest. Conceived in 2006, the Playwriting Contest awards a cash prize the winning 30 minute play written by playwrights who live or have lived in Prague. The plays must be submitted in English and must not have been performed in Prague.
The contest’s first winner, Richard Byrne, lived in Prague for several years in the late 90s before moving back to Washington, D. C. to work as a journalist. His winning play, “Burn Your Bookes”, was set in Prague in the time of Rudolf the 2nd when alchemists were actively searching for a way to turn lead into gold. The submission to the contest was actually part of a larger work that had Richard stumped. Through winning the contest, Richard went on to finish the play, which has just received a reading at the Kennedy Center in Washington. Now in it’s 4th year, the contest is beginning to be the cultural tent pole of the season, bringing together artists from all disciplines and from many different countries to celebrate the work of playwrights.
As an outgrowth of the Playwriting Contest, the Prague Playhouse began to string productions of full-length theater together. In 2007, the company produced 3 plays (Talking with, Laughing Wild, The Sacred Sow) as individual projects. We also hosted guest performances of A Christmas Carol and The User’s Guide to Sexual Frustration. Interspersed in between the productions were readings of plays that were submitted to the Playwriting Contest but were not chosen for production. In 2008, the Prague Playhouse started to pre-plan a loose season: Criminal Hearts, and Glengarry Glen Ross. The Real Inspector Hound, and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change were planned but never realized. The production of Glengarry proved the high point of the season, selling to packed houses and garnering a lot of good response from a diverse audience of both Czech and native English speakers, along with many other nationalities.
In 2009, the Playhouse really got into the swing of seasonal planning, trimming down the planned productions and setting plays, dates, engaging directors well in advance. The 2009/10 season is: Rosencrants and Guildenstern Are Dead, True West, the Prague Playwriting Contest, and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. As an outgrowth of seasonal planning, we are able to develop plans for educational materials (both for interfacing with Czech schools as well as language schools). We are also able to begin to develop a strong fundraising and audience base.
2007-2008 season |
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2008-2009 Season |
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| 2009-2010 Season (stay tuned for posters!) | |||
Rosencranz and Guildenstern Are Dead |
True West |
The Prague Playwriting Contest |
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change |
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(comedy) |
(dark comedy) |
(muscial) |
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