Summer Theatre in English

When I’m not penning articles for Expats.cz, I’m lucky enough to work on the Fringe with Festival Director and long-term expat Steve Gove, who told me how excited he is about the standard of work on offer this year. “2013 really is an award-winning edition of the festival” he said. “We have such a great programme of high quality performances lined-up. As well as previous Prague Fringe award winners returning with new works, there are also shows which have won awards at other Fringe festivals across the globe including Atlanta, Stockholm, and even the big-hitters Edinburgh, Adelaide, and the National Arts Festival in South Africa – all fellow members of the World Fringe Alliance which Prague Fringe co-founded.”

Prague Playhouse:
From the director of last year’s sell-out musical Sweeney Todd, the Playhouse’s next production, The Glass Menagerie, is one of the most well-known plays of the iconic paragon of American theatre, Tennessee Williams. This time, the company has taken the interesting decision to form two casts: an American cast, all of whom are American or speak with an American accent with perfect fluency and a Czech cast who, while speaking in English, bring their own unique perspective and cultural knowledge to the process.

Blood, Love and Rhetoric:
BLR are rounding off their very busy and successful 2012/13 season with a rendition of the musical Chess at Divadlo Palace (Vaclavske Namesti 43, Prague 1) from May 16 – 18 at 19:30. This highly acclaimed musical, written by ABBA members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and with lyrics by Tim Rice, develops the ancient and distinguished game of chess into a metaphor for romantic rivalries and East-West political intrigue. Tickets cost 300 CZK and can be reserved at www.blrtheatre.com.

Prague Youth Theatre
Prague Youth Theatre (PYT) continues to grow. A new class, PYT Dance, began at the beginning of April and currently there are over 80 children and young people enrolled across five groups. Artistic Director Adam Stewart told me that rehearsals are well underway for their upcoming performances in June. PYT Juniors present Morgan and the Martians by Victoria Twead on Tuesday June 18 and Thursday June 20, and PYT Seniors will perform The Musicians by Patrick Marber on Monday June 24 and Tuesday June 25. The youngest group, PYT Tots, will present the well-known children’s books The Ravenous Beast and Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book on Wednesday June 19. All performances take place at Divadlo Kampa, and tickets for all shows can be purchased at www.ticketstream.cz

While it has not yet been officially announced, the PSC 2013-14 season will include performances of Shakespeare’s Henry V, Cymbeline, As You Like It, and Julius Caesar, David Ives’ Venus in Fur and David Sedaris’ Santaland Diaires (starring Pavel Kříž). All the Shakespeare productions will feature Czech subtitles. Productions will play in the new PSC permanent home Divadlo Kolowrat in the Kolowratsky Palac in the heart of the city. Check the PSC website for more information: www.pragueshakespeare.cz

Akanda and A Broad’s Way Productions’ multi-media collaboration ‘Beirut’ will take place at Meet Factory on the 25th and 26th of June. The play is set in a dystopian not-too-distant future in which a sexually transmitted disease has caused cities to be torn in half – the land of the Positives, and the land of the Negatives. The story is centred around a couple who are both very much in love, and are also torn apart due to this disease. More information about this exciting project at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Akanda/155036074733 and https://www.facebook.com/ABroadsWay