Black-light theater
The principle of black-light theater is of an optical illusion of the so-called black cabinet, which plays upon the imperfections of the human eye: It's not possible for the eye to differentiate black on black. Objects and props controlled by actors dressed in black thus gain the ability to move by themselves in front of our eyes.
The Ta Fantastika Praha theater(Karlova 8, Prague 1) is the most famous black-light theater. Ta Fantastika was founded in 1981 in New York City by Petr Kratochvil.
The All Colours Theatre (Rytířská 31, Prague 1)combines black-light theater with elements of musicals, dance and above all pantomime.
Other important black-light theater stages include Černé divadlo Animato (Animato Black-light Theater, Na Příkopě 10, Prague 1) and Černé divadlo Jiřího Srnce (Jiří Srnec Black-light Theater, U Lékárny 597, Prague 5).
Drama
Drama is the most widespread theatrical form in the Czech Republic. According to the statistical yearbook of the Czech Statistical Office, 54% of all performances given by theater ensembles in 2004 were drama presentations.
Divadlo Archa (Archa Theatre, Na Poříčí 26, Prague 1) is a distinctive drama stage, which presents both its own artistic projects and performances by domestic and foreign visiting ensembles. The theater participates in a number of international projects and cooperates with many foreign institutions.
Laterna Magika (The Magic Lantern)
This special theater stage (Národní 4, Prague 1) cannot be categorized among classic genres. It combines the most varied forms of projected or electronic images with live stage production. The basic endeavor is to seek out ways toward a specific theater form that is capable of telling a story while using the most diverse themes and resources.
Laterna Magika first introduced itself at the EXPO ’58 world exposition in Brussels. In the 1960s, a team of artists under the direction of Alfréd Radok and Josef Svoboda took part in a number of foreign tours and international expositions.
Puppet theater
The most famous puppeteers in modern history include Josef Skupa and Miloš Kirschner with the puppets Spejbl and Hurvínek.
The year 1912 can be considered the beginning of the serial production of puppets in Bohemia. This was when Jindřich Veselý met with Antonín Münzberg at an ethnographic exhibition of puppets. The initial series of puppets was produced according to designs by Mikoláš Aleš.
An important puppet ensemble of international renown is the Buchty a loutky theater (Cakes and Puppets, Štefánikova 57, Prague 5), which was established in 1991. In its performances, emphasis is placed on intimate dialogue with the audience. It also comprises a strong experimental element, particularly in performances for adults.
Another puppet ensemble, which often makes guest appearances abroad, is Divadlo Minor (Minor Theater, Vodičkova 6, Prague 1). This continues the tradition of the Central Puppet Theater, which was established in 1949.
Musicals
This genre has experienced a big boom in the Czech Republic over the past two decades. Both world-famous musicals translated into Czech (e.g. Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Misérables, Miss Saigon), and original Czech musicals, such as Dracula,Krysař (The Pied Piper of Hamlyn) and Golem are presented.
Opera
The most important Czech opera ensembles include the National Theater in Prague(Ostrovní 1, Prague 1), the State Opera in Prague (Legerova 75, Prague 1), the National Theater in Brno (Dvořákova 11, Brno)and the National Moravian-Silesian Theater in Ostrava (Čs. legii 14, Ostrava).
World-renowned contemporary singers primarily include mezzosopranists Magdalena Kožená and Dagmar Pecková and the sopranist Eva Urbanová .
Operetta
The most important Czech operetta theater is the Musical Theater Karlín (Křižíkova 10, Prague 8). One major event, for example, was a tour to Japan in 2000 with the musical My Fair Lady. The Karlin ensemble was the first from the Czech Republic to bring a musical to the Japanese. The Musical Theater Karlín is situated in a beautiful pseudo-baroque building, the interior of which recently underwent an extensive reconstruction. Currently, the theater is presenting musicals such as The Producers, Jekyll & Hyde and the operetta Vampire.
Pantomime
Modern Czech pantomime dates to 1959, when Ladislav Fialka came to Divadlo Na Zábradlí (Theater on the Balustrade) with a pantomime group (presented under the name Pantomima Na Zábradlí) in order to return a neglected theater genre to its former glory.
The young but already internationally recognized inventive motion theater Veselé skoky (Jolly Jumps) won two of the five awards given at the Teatarfest international theater festival in Sarajevo in 2004. Their dance farce Na hlavu! (Flathead!) won the prize for Best Performance of the seventh annual Teatarfest and also won a special jury prize.
Divadlo Alfréd ve dvoře (The Alfred in the Courtyard Theater, Františka Křížika 36, Prague 7) is an important Prague theater focusing on non-verbal performance. Divadlo mimu Alfréd ve dvoře (The Alfréd in the Courtyard Theater of Mimes) was established in 1997 by mime artist, choreographer, director and teacher Ctibor Turba .
Other important exponents of Czech pantomime include Boris Hybner and Michal Hecht.
Dance theatre (ballet, dance)
One of the most important Czech ballet theaters with a rich history, which began in 1883, is the National Theater Ballet (Ostrovní 1, Prague 1). For all the relevant names, we shall mention at least one – Vlastimil Harapes . Under the management of the current artistic director, Petr Zuska, besides classical works (Swan Lake, The Nutcracker), modern works of Czech and foreign origin have been added to the repertoire of the National Theater Ballet.
Besides Petr Zuska and Shawn Hounsell, the world-famous Czech choreographer Jiří Kylián, who works at The Nederlands Dans Theater. From all the soloists, we should at least mention Tereza Podařilová, Zuzana Susová, Adéla Pollertová, Alexander Katsapov, Jiří Kodym and Michal Stipa.
Balet Praha came into existence in 1964 as part of the new cultural wave, which was projected into practically every artistic genre in the Czech lands. It was founded by Pavel Šmok and Luboš Ogoun, who conceived the ensemble as the specific dance reaction of small studio theaters to the events of the time. The creative output of the choreographic duo Šmok and Ogoun in Balet Praha was distinguished by the quantity and quality of the staged creations. From 1975 to 1999, the ensemble performed under the name of the Prague Chamber Ballet.
The Křeč (Spasm) ballet troupe is on the boundary of dance theater and pantomime. It was founded in 1981 by the Caban brothers. The ensemble has produced a number of original presentations, and at present it chiefly performs special audiovisual projects.
Many Czech dancers have permanent engagements at foreign theaters. For example, these include Darja Klimentová (English National Ballet), the brothers Jiří a Otto Bubeníček (Hamburg State Opera) and Jiří Jelínek (The Stuttgart Ballet).
Jiří Bubeníček became the first Czech to win the Benois de la danse prize. This is the most prestigious world ballet prize and is awarded to the best dancers in the world.
The annual Czech Dance Platform festival is the biggest showcase of the Czech dance scene.
See the long history of Czech theater under The history of Czech theater.