Posts filed under 'Events'
David Peimer, who teaches at NYU and has worked on several Prague Playhouse projects, is directing a play at Divadlo Na zabradli in English. The cast is mostly Czechs with some of the Black Snow company members thrown in for good measure. The play, a translation of a Polish play about Romanians, is called “A Couple of poor Polish speaking Romanians…” and was written by Dorota Maslowska.
Why Divadlo Na zabradli chose to do a translation of a Polish play into English for their first English-language production is something of a mystery to me, but it’s certainly an interesting choice. If it is successful (especially with tourists), I think we can start to see more theaters trying this out, which could be a boon to the English-speaking acting community here. I’m also curious to see how the Czech cast (the majority of the actors are non-native speakers) manages the English. Recent films shot in English (Bathory and Libuse) with Czech or Slovak casts have solidified my impression that acting well in another language is extremely difficult.
I have worked with David as a director and am very confident of his abilities and artistic sensibility, so if anyone can pull this off, he can.
The premier on June 3 is sold out, but there are still some spots left for the reprise on June 15. For tickets, you can call the Zabradli box office: 222 868 868
May 28th, 2010
The Prague Shakespeare Festival is roaring through rehearsals on the upcoming production of Romeo and Juliet. The show is set to go up May 25 at 19:00. The venue is the wonderful outdoor theater at Vyšehrad. Tickets are an incredibly reasonable 200 Kč general / 150 Kč students & seniors. For tickets, call 222.513.842 or email pokladna@praha-vysehrad.cz. If you have questions about the show, you want to buy an ad in the program or sponsor the show, you can contact me: brian@pragueplayhouse.com.
The show boasts a HUGE cast and many wonderful actors from around town. Full information is after the break:
ROMEO AND JULIET May 25, 26 & 27 @ 19:00
Open-Air Theatre, Vyšehrad – Prague
Prague Shakespeare Festival, Prague’s only professional English-language classical theatre company, is pleased to announce the limited engagement of a new production of William Shakespeare’s ROMEO AND JULIET by PSF Artistic Director Guy Roberts at the Open-Air Theater in Vyšehrad May 25-27, 2010 at 19:00.
One of the most beloved plays of all time, Shakespeare’s masterpiece Romeo & Juliet is the premiere PSF summer production on the outdoor, open-air stage at Vyšehrad, signaling a new annual tradition of “Shakespeare at the other castle” in Prague.
Roberts states, “Romeo and Juliet is clearly the greatest love story of all time. The question to me seems to be how to retain the beauty and romance associated with our expectations of the play, while still making the language and story accessible to a modern audience? We don’t want to feel as if we are watching a piece of museum-theatre. By securing Romeo and Juliet in the past we are also distancing ourselves from the action of the play and allowing ourselves the freedom not to be transfigured by it. I think it is impossible to do a “period play.” Plays can only occur in today’s imagination – and that is where our play takes place. Shakespeare’s Verona is not unlike our Prague today. It is a world that bridges the ancient and the modern-a world that is refreshingly relevant. At the center of the entire play is love – the kind of life-changing, soul-transforming love that we all dream of but perhaps never believe we will really find.”
Fueled by the intense passions and moving poetry that the world has cherished for years, the play is presented in English under the direction of PSF Artistic Director Guy Roberts (who also appears as Mercutio) with a multi-cultural international company of artists: the titles roles will be performed by Lenka Novakova and Kendrick Ong. Returning to the stage, Emmy-nominated Casting Director Nancy Bishop (former Artistic Director of Black Box, Prague’s original English language theatre) is joined by Prague favorites Laura Baranik, Brian Caspe (Artistic Director Prague Playhouse), David Fisher (Artistic Director, Bear Educational Theatre), Vanessa Gendron (co-Artistic Director, Miloco), Curt Matthew, John Poston and Jeff Smith (co-Artistic Director, Miloco) among others. From the United States, Steve Zinkgraf co-stars as Lord Capulet. The production features costume designs by Tatiana Evonuk, scenic design by Ivana Nikolic and an original score by Ed Kliman. Amy Huck is the production stage manager and movement coach. Sidney Berger, Artistic Director of the Houston Shakespeare Festival, is the verse coach and Anezka Novak is the voice coach.
PRAGUE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL
in association with
PZ Adventures, Mermaid Theatre Company, Classical Theatre Company (USA)
Prague Playhouse, Bear Educational Theatre & Miloco (Czech Republic)
presents
THE WORLD PREMIERE of a new production of
ROMEO AND JULIET
by
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
ADAPTED & DIRECTED BY GUY ROBERTS
DATES:
May 25, 26 & 27
CURTAIN TIME:
19:00
LOCATION:
Open-Air Theatre, Vyšehrad
TICKETS:
200kc General Admission,
150kc Student/Senior
RESERVATIONS:
pokladna@praha-vysehrad.cz
222.513.842 phone
ABOUT THE PRAGUE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL
The Prague Shakespeare Festival presents an annual celebration of professional theatre productions, workshops, classes, lectures and other theatrical events, of the highest quality, conducted primarily in English by a multinational ensemble of professional theatre artists, with an emphasis on the plays of William Shakespeare, bringing to the Czech Republic, European and World audiences classical performances that are fresh, bold, imaginative, thought-provoking, and eminently accessible, connecting the truths of the past with the challenges and possibilities of today.
For interviews & more information about PSF and ROMEO AND JULIET contact
Guy Roberts
Artistic Director
Prague Shakespeare Festival
guy@pragueshakespeare.cz
May 2nd, 2010
The Prague Playhouse is proud to announce the upcoming production of Sam Shepard’s True West. The show opens January 21st at 19:30 and plays 22, 23, 27, 28 and 29 as well as February 3, 4 and 5. Tickets are 220 Kc general and 190 Kc (for students and seniors over 65) and will be available at the Globe Bookstore (Pstrossova 6) as well as online at the beginning of next week.
The director Jeff Beck, the cast (Mark Bowen, R. Scott Williams, Andrea Bulisova and Frank Martinez), and all of the production staff are going all out for this dark comedy about two brothers who must work out who and what they are to themselves and each other. Past Playhouse productions have sold out quickly, so don’t hesitate to buy tickets now!
January 7th, 2010
The Bear Theater will present Dickens’ A Christmas Carol at Reduta Theater (Narodni 20, Prague 1) on December 13 and 14 at 7pm. Tickets are 220Kc (180Kc discounted) and are available at the box office. It is suitable for families (children from the age of 6).
Ebeneezer Scrooge is the meanest old man in London, but one evening four ghosts visit him and teach him the true meaning of Christmas. The Bear Theatre stay close to the essence of Dicken’s original story but still use film, puppets and real mince pies to communicate the spirit of this classic Christmas tale. God bless us, each and every one!
December 2nd, 2009
There are several interesting events coming up in the English-language theater world.
The Prague Fringe is offering two comedy nights this season. Both are likely to sell out quickly, so don’t hesitate to book tickets! November 17th: Stephen Frost Impro All-Stars at Divadlo na Pradle. December 15th, David O’Doherty at Divadlo na Pradle. More info and tickets at: http://www.praguefringe.com/2009/comedynights.php.
AKANDA is showing SEX, DRUGS, ROCK & ROLL at Divadlo Barfly, U Milosrdných 4, Prague 1. November 27, 28 and December 3 and 4 at 19:30. It’s a black comedy by award-winning playwright Eric Bogosian. Biting social commentary guaranteed to make you laugh at the most inappropriate things and question your own mental health. Over-the-top characters become caricatures of people we have all have met in our lives and hope we will never see again.
Students from NYU are performing two short plays by Vaclav Havel at Divadlo na Zabradli, Anenske namesti 5. December 5 and 6 at 2pm. The students are acting, directing and producing the plays, Audience and Unveiling, themselves. It should be well worth a look. Tickets are 120 Kc and available by emailing nyupraguetheatre@gmail.com.
November 12th, 2009
On November 4th, 2009 at the Rudolfinum, Struny Podzimu, one of Prague’s premier music festivals, is hosting Michael York and pianist Libor Nováček as part of their 2009 season. The music will be Enoch Arden, a melodrama for reciter and piano by Richard Strauss and a piano sonata by Leoš Janáček (On an Overgrown Path, Piano Sonata 1.X. 1905 in E flat minor ‘From the Street’).
The charismatic York, famous from award-winning films like Cabaret, The Three Musketeers, and Murder on the Orient Express, has performed roles in more than a hundred other films and theatrical productions, recited in numerous musical projects, and lent his sonorous voice to more than ninety audio books. In 2002 York recorded the melodrama Enoch Arden with pianist John Bell Young, with whom he also performed it successfully in several important festivals in the USA and Europe. His current collaboration with the gifted Czech pianist Libor Nováček, living for many years now in Great Britain, has been arranged specially at the request of the Strings of Autumn Festival. More information on www.strunypodzimu.cz.
Tickets:
Festival Information and Sales Centre (in the National Theatre box office), Ostrovní 1,
Mon.-Thurs. 11 AM – 6 PM
Ticketpro – www.ticketpro.cz
At the concert site an hour before the beginning of the event.
Reservations: www.strunypodzimu.cz,
tel.: 224 901 247 (Mon.-Thurs. 11 AM – 6 PM),
e-mail: vstupenky@strunypodzimu.cz
October 28th, 2009
Nancy Bishop, the casting director for almost all of the English-language projects coming through Prague, has written a book based on her experiences in the casting studio and teaching her on-camera workshops. The book, “Secrets from the Casting Couch”, is now out and Nancy’s hosting a book launch party at the Globe Bookstore on Thursday, September 17 2009 at 19:00.
At the launch, there will be a short panel discussion about casting and actors working in Prague. Nancy will be joined by Czech actor, Pavel Kriz, who has worked on numerous international productions. Screen International journalist Theo Schwinke will moderate a discussion about casting, Prague actors and the Prague film scene. A book signing by the author and illustrator Bonnie Glover will follow.
About the book: Why is it that so many good actors don’t perform well at castings? Secrets from the Casting Couch gives practical advice for actors, written from a casting director’s point of view, teaching the craft of film casting in front of camera. It shows how actors can work with today’s internet technologies to get cast and features advice and actual exercises that achieve results in the casting studio. The author has developed a successful approach through many years experience of working in the casting studio.
About Nancy Bishop: Emmy-award nominated Casting Director, Nancy Bishop, C.S.A, has cast supporting talent on over sixty projects from her home in Prague. Her credits include major studio pictures such as Wanted (Universal), Alien Vs. Predator (Fox), Hellboy (Revolution), and Prince Caspian (Disney), as well as TV series such as The Philanthropist (NBC), Charles II (BBC), and Anne Frank (ABC). She has worked for such major directors as Roman Polanski, and Joel Schumacher, and legendary producers such as George Lucas, and Jackie Chan. The author teaches her proven film acting technique at master classes throughout Europe and the US. She is also the Head of the Acting for Film Department at the Prague film School. www.nancybishopcasting.com
September 11th, 2009
Kino Aero will be presenting a live screening from the National Theater in London of Helen Mirren in Phedra on Thursday, June 25 at 19:30. Tickets are 350 Kc. It promises to be a really good show and sure is cheaper than flying there!
Consumed by an uncontrollable passion for her young stepson and believing Theseus, her absent husband, to be dead, Phèdre confesses her darkest desires and enters the world of nightmare. When Theseus returns alive and well, Phèdre, fearing exposure, accuses her stepson of rape. The result is carnage.
NT Live – is a new initiative to broadcast live performances of National Theatre plays onto cinema screen around the world. The pilot season will launch with Nicholas Hytner´s production of Phédre with Helen Mirren in title role, Margaret Tyzack a Dominic Cooper.
Phédre will be performed in London on Thursday 25 June 2009 and broadcast live in high definition exclusively at the cinema Aero in Prague
June 10th, 2009
Prague Shakespeare Festival is presenting an expanded version of Guy Roberts’ One Man Hamlet May 15 and 18 at Divadlo Na Pradle.
Ten Actors. Eighteen Characters. One Hundred Twenty Minutes. The Prague Shakespeare Festival’s production of HAMLET illuminates the mind of Shakespeare’s greatest and most famous creation, offering new insights into the life of theatre’s most canonical character. Using only Shakespeare’s words, in a conflated text that incorporates the First Folio (with additional aspects from the First and Second Quarto), the audience experiences the world of the play through Hamlet’s eyes – only seeing and hearing the scene and moments that the character Hamlet himself experiences in the play. Taking this singular journey with the Prince of Denmark, audiences will understand the actions, themes and motives of the play’s main character as never before. Whether seen as story of devastating human domestic passions or a suspenseful political mystery of intrigue, revenge and betrayal, the tragedy of Denmark’s “sweet prince” continues to challenge and inspire.
Information about the show can be found at the Prague Shakespeare Festival website. Ticket information can be found after the jump:
DATES:
May 15th & 18th, 2009
CURTAIN TIME:
19:30
LOCATION:
Divadlo Na Pradle
Besední 3
Praha 1 – Malá Strana
TICKETS:
200kc General Admission,
150kc Student/Senior
RESERVATIONS:
pokladna@napradle.cz online
257.320.421 phone
May 11th, 2009
Miloco is continuing with La Machine, which is in rep at Divadlo Komedie. For those of you that haven’t seen it already, I would highly recommend going. It’s non-verbal and a very cool production. Miloco devised the work through a series of improvisations and discussions and it has a post-modern, sci-fi feel to it while at the same time maintaining a core of human interaction and emotion.
May 16 at 19:30 at Divadlo Komedie
Jungmannova 1, Prague 1
Tickets are 150/100 Kc
More details and the Miloco press release are below:
Conceived by Miloco’s international ensemble, La Machine is an original multi-media performance which explores the desperation of lovers living in a dystopic near-future; it is a story of how their fantasies become a substitute for living and perhaps lead to a journey of survival.
Alternating between live performance and video, La Machine tells the story of Hurtus and Lili are desperately trying to keep living in near-impossible circumstances.
Science fiction is a genre largely ignored in the theatre, yet it is a genre that closely addresses anxieties and concerns about our world at present. La Machine is not the science fiction of spaceships and aliens, but rather that which asks questions about our current world, the direction it is taking and how we can remain human and hopeful when so much appears so bleak.
Divadlo Komedie
Jungmannova 1, Prague 1
Admission: 150kc | Students / Seniors: 100kc
Divadlo Komedie is located just off of Vodickova at the Lazarska tram stop. There will be drinks and music in the Komedie Cafe following each performance.
Online reservations: www.prakomdiv.cz
Telephone reservations: 224.222.734
May 8th, 2009
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