MUD ON HEAD

A unique puppet production for adult audiences combines the tradition of Czech puppetry with absurd humor. Using the means of classical theatre, it captures the grotesque dimension of today‘s reality.

The production of Richard Balous is co-produced with Prague‘s La Fabrika.

BEDTIME!

A devised production bordering on poetic physical theatre and clownery by the director Veronika Poldauf Riedlbauchová. Suitable for audiences aged 3+. The production builds on the well-known moment when children should go to bed, but suddenly they discover an undreamt surge of energy and do not want to get to sleep at all, with their father naïvely thinking how smooth this will be. Riedlbauchová graduated from theatre direction at KALD DAMU under the supervision of Professor Josef Krofta. Consequently, she studied physical acting at Institut del Teatre in Barcelona. It is poetic physical theatre which is at the crux of her oeuvre – most recently her collaboration with Bratři v tricku troupe. Together they have devised a trinity of highly acclaimed productions: Plovárna(Riverside), Funusand Lov(Hunting). On the side, Riedlbauchová is engaged with opera directing, choreography or devising of productions fusing music with poetry.

Awards and acknowledgements:

At the 2021 Mateřinka international theatre festival, Veronika Riedlbauchová received the Governor of the Liberec Region’s Award for the direction and choreography of the production, Marianna Stránská for the scenography, Michal Kříž for light design and composer Jan Čtvrtník for music.

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The White Doe

A daughter is born to a royal couple and they give her the name Jitřenka. She was kind and pretty and would have brought only joy to her parents if she didn’t have a strange threat looming over her. She couldn’t let a simple ray of sunlight fall upon her until her sixteenth birthday, otherwise… And so the King had a castle built without windows or doors, determined to protect Jitřenka from the sun. But it is not possible to live without light… https://youtu.be/8DHl-kRWkxE

Sleeping Beauty

An evil fairy is not invited to be a godmother to an infant princess. Yet, the fairy is not to be discouraged and keeps attempting to reach the baptism at any cost. Will the fairy succeed? The readers familiar with the story know that she will. Our production tells the story as a puppet slapstick about the inevitability of faith, when you literally show it out of the door and it will return through the window. However, besides evil fairies, there are also good ones. The world abounds with princes seeking fortune and ready to set free cursed princesses. Our production is based on classic fairy-tale themes, which are a traditional dramaturgical part of Drak Theatre’s repertoire. Following the success of the acclaimed productions like The White Doe and The Golden Fish, after many years Drak has revived a most-classic story of Sleeping Beauty. The well-known tale of a beautiful cursed princess has seen many adaptations by various artists. Its provoking metaphors and imagery seem perfectly suited for puppet theatre. Moreover, its multi-faceted nature is attractive not only for school-aged audiences.

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Goldilocks by M. D. Rettigova

The performance of Goldilocks by M. D. Rettigova (director Josef Krofta) builds on the theme of successful production “How Daddies Play”. The performance was awarded on the International Festival of Puppet Theater in Bielsko-Biala in 2012 as the best performances for children. The production is still one of the most successful productions of Drak Theatre.

The performance attracted audiences by the well known fairy tale in an unusual environment. This time we encounter a group of men as masters of the art of cooking in a restaurant kitchen. One of the cooks starts reading the fairy tale of Goldilocks and burns onion. Servant George tastes magical snake, which allows the king to understand the speech of animals. To save his life, he sets out to look for the golden-haired maiden among the pots, mixers, spoons, pans, meat grinders. And Goldilocks? She is simply tasty!

Actors dazzling by humor and culinary skills. And cooks are cooking and frying during the search for the golden-haired. The performance is not only for children but also for adults. We promise you a typical and atypical theatrical aroma and experiences.

Kašpar’s Menagerie

The production from Blanka Luňáková, both the director and the author, drew inspiration from traditional folk puppetry and brings to the stage a famous and celebrated character: Kašpar.

Everybody knows that wherever Kašpar goes, fun is sure to follow. Because since he is not only a merry little lad, but also a fox and a joker, there is no doubt that there will be more than just fun. This time he is heading to the forest in order to offer loads of enticing entertainment to the animals living there. Brtnik the bear is happy to finally have a friend, All the animals are happy and having fun. Nobody suspects that Kašpar may not have the purest of intentions…

It is said that you should quit while you’re ahead, but the rabbit, fox, mole and other high-spirited denizens of the forest want none of that, and they get into quite a mess. But it is also said that every cloud has a silver lining. Thanks to their adventures, the animals come to understand that not everything may be as it seems at first, and that a true friend is one who truly cares about you.

The stage design by Irena Marečková is based on classic puppet comedies, enabling the actors and their puppets to really express themselves in what may appear to be an incompatible manner: both tough and tender at the same time. (more…)

How Daddies Play

Drak Theatre’s celebrated production directed by Josef Krofta won the Grand Prix at the Spectaculo Interesse festival in Ostrava and individual prizes at the Skupova Plzeň festival in Plzeň.  Five daddies / handymen get together in a workshop and tell the fairy tale about Snow White each in their own way while using all kinds of tools. The production even had a very loose sequel entitled Goldilocks according to Magdalena Dobromila Rettigová.

Play it

Which sound goes with which to make candy for the ears? Who to tell what and when? How great is the reward for those who listen carefully? Which of the keys opens the mysterious cube? And what (or who) is inside it?

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The African Tale

Our new tale is a little different from what we used to see. That is because it comes of Africa – the land of beautiful and wild nature full of exotic creatures that we know only from a zoo. Africa is also the cradle of Africans that, similarly to us, relate their own tales and myths.
Our straightforward tale accompanied by rythmical rhymes and drumming doesn’t lack for the hero with his failings that leads him into danger. Just a sound story!

R.U.R. 2.0

One hundred years ago, Karel Čapek, in his play R.U.R., played with the idea of a human invention similar to a biological machine, whose task is to replace human work. This is also where the name for the autonomous machine, the robot, found its way into all world languages. These days the idea of an artificially-created intelligence is not just a theme for sci-fi, but a real phenomenon, whose development is advancing faster and faster. At the same time, we are witnesses to how the character of human work is changing, a significant part of which looks like it will be expendable in the future. But if human work would be replaced entirely, what would be the effect on mankind itself? What would actually be left of humanity? Wouldn’t mankind lose one of the basic meanings of its existence?

It’s fascinating how many questions posed by Čapek a hundred years ago not only apply to our present day, but especially to the near future, in which the generation on which our production primarily focuses will grow up and live. R.U.R. 2.0 is not an interpretation of the original play, but plays out its central theme in brand new contexts. For this reason, we created a laboratory in Studio Drak Theatre, where you can witness a unique experiment. Its goal is nothing less than trying to bring Čapek’s robots back to life using means typical for Drak creativity, and to once again answer the questions posed in his work.