The ultimate guide to Prague's buzzing culture scene in autumn 2023

The Prague Shakespeare Company presents three new premieres in the coming months, all of them taking place at Divadlo Na Prádle. The Third Army by Joe Sutton on Oct. 5, 6, and 7 is a play about Karlovec, a small town in Czechia subjected to the vagaries of 20th-century history. On Nov. 17, 18, 24, and 25, the Thanksgiving Play by Larissa FastHorse is a satire about a troupe of “woke” teaching artists who scramble to create a Thanksgiving Day pageant. On Dec. 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9, The Book of Will is a story of love, loss, and laughter set in Elizabethan London.

After a successful premiere in the spring, the modern adaptation of the classic play A Beggar’s Opera returns to Divadlo Na Prádle with music composed by the Tiger Lillies and experienced local actors playing a colorful cast of thieves, prostitutes, and lowlifes. The 18th-century drama by John Gay has been reworked with new music many times over the centuries, most famously as Three Penny Opera by German playwright Bertolt Brecht, with music by German-American composer Kurt Weill. 

A project to bring the works of non-existent Czech playwright and polymath Jára Cimrman to an English-speaking audience starts a new season. The next performance of The Pub in the Glade at Žižkovské divadlo Jarý Cimrmana is on Sept. 22, Plum, one of Cimrman's best efforts, is on Oct. 13 and Nov. 24, The Stand-In is on Oct. 27, The Act on Nov. 10, and The Conquest of the North Pole on Dec. 15.

Inspired by the book of the same name, the Serotonin play (with English subtitles) at Meet Factory centers on Florent-Claude who finds himself at a crossroads that makes him question his life choices. His troubles may or may not be tied to an imbalance of Serotonin, a neurotransmitter whose lack results in depression and other mood disorders.

New York avant-garde artist and composer Laurie Anderson will perform in the show Laurie Anderson with Sexmob: Let X=X at the Archa Theatre. The show will see Anderson perform material from her seminal 1982 album Big Science plus stories and other creative elements in her signature style. The experimental multimedia set features her New York band Sexmob, led by Steve Bernstein with Briggan Krauss, Tony Scherr, Kenny Wollesen, and Doug Wieselman.

An opera about a magic elixir purportedly bringing love set to melodic folk-inspired music, L'Elisir d'amore brings together The State Opera Chorus and Orchestra and the National Theatre Opera Ballet. Prague has a special connection to the opera, as it previously welcomed renowned tenor Enrico Caruso in the role of the naïve peasant Nemorino in 1904.

Beyond Vibrations brings a triple bill made up of works by distinguished contemporary choreographers to the National Theater. Krzysztof Pastor, Hans van Manen, and Marco Goecke set their choreographies to the music of Alfred Schnittke, Henryk Górecki, Benjamin Britten, and Gustav Mahler, creating pieces that seek singular aesthetics, and feature metaphoric messages delivered by instruments that range from dancing bodies to sonorous strings.

Coproduced by The National Theatre Drama and its Prague Crossroads Festival, Angela (a strange loop) is a case study of what it means to be human today, and what happens when illness engulfs someone and changes their perspective on their own life. Are our lives just a strange loop and an endless sequence? Writers Susanne Kennedy and Marcus Selg use a post-humanist aesthetic and a multimedia approach to explore these existentialist issues.

Prague's performing arts venue Jatka78 will present seven premieres between Sept. and Dec. focusing on new circus, dance, physical theatre, and alternative arts. The new season starts in full force with a live trailer for the film An American Girl featuring over 30 children. Other premieres include a new circus adaptation of Franz Kafka's work incorporating animal masks and circus skills, a dance interpretation of A Streetcar Named Desire, a magic-filled cabaret show from Berlin, a dance piece inspired by Polish vegetable greenhouses featuring acrobatics, and a family-friendly version of Bach's Goldberg Variations.

Inspired by the concept of noise, HeArt of Noise is the latest dance performance by the contemporary dance company 420People at Divadlo Archa. Choreographed by Sylva Šafková, it introduces a modern take on futurism in movement, music, and set design. The musical background comes from T. Reindl & OMNION, who created their version of stage noise using recordings and live music.

Boccaccio Revue is an exclusive evening presented by Prague Burlesque featuring champagne, cocktails, delicious refreshments, timeless music, and burlesque conjuring the atmosphere of a smoky cabaret atmosphere. Showgirl Nirvana is an unusual spectacle featuring a motley crew of characters engaged in a mix of humor, parody, vaudeville, and grotesque.