About the festival

Dear audience, 
I have become the dramaturge of the Prague Crossroads festival this year, which marks the tenth anniversary of its inception. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to lead on the paths built by the previous festival teams while exploring new, parallel routes. Indeed, a crossroads is not necessarily a place where we must choose our way. It can also be a point of temporary repose, a point to which we can return after having ventured into all the possible turn-offs. We can meet someone along the way, pass someone else by, or change direction unexpectedly. Our crossroads does not succumb to the rules of the road; rather, it is a fluid space where every decision you make along the way takes you to a new place. Freedom of choice and intercultural dialogue are among our highest values, whereby the festival’s programme pays tribute to the legacy of Václav Havel. 

The Prague Crossroads has never followed the pattern of standard festivals that are packed with events happening during a short period and then go on hiatus. Slowly but surely, the festival has become a firm item on the National Theatre’s repertoire. The very concept of a crossroads is in fact at the heart of all NT Drama’s international activities, whose comprehensive concept will be completed upon the opening of the refurbished New Stage.  

We still aim to present the best of international theatre productions. Yet, the goal is not to showcase foreign art, but to create stable conditions for long-term collaboration and to expand the platform for international exchange. To inspire the local arts community, as well as to spark the interest and curiosity of the general public. To provide new impetus for social and artistic reflection.

In line with the above, this year’s programme offers a great variety of productions not only in geographical terms – Georgia, Ukraine, Austria, France, Argentina, Switzerland – but also in terms of artistic forms. Alongside purely theatrical productions, we will present a staged oratorio, a staged concert, a dance performance and even an exhibition, prepared in collaboration with our partner venue, the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art. We also offer an accompanying program focusing on the creative process and education.

Soft resistance is the pivotal theme of this year’s festival, in the sense of kind defiance that does not attack, but firmly holds one’s ground. Resisting oppression in our personal, family, or civic lives is all the more effective where the resistance embraces generosity. I firmly believe that seeking non-violent solutions is one of the fundamental expressions of humanity. But what is life like for those who must accept violence as part of their struggle to protect their borders and values? Every day, the current events worldwide remind us that soft resistance is not enough in the face of relentless aggression. Nonetheless, we can cherish it as an unattainable goal, a much-needed illusion. 

Our first guests, the Georgian director Data Tavadze and his Royal District Theatre, are also facing social and political pressure. Tavadze’s production Liberté [trigger warning], promoting the rights of the oppressed queer community, has gained renown throughout Europe yet was censored in Georgia. Two reruns will be presented in October, together with a creative workshop led by the director himself. The participation of this production in the festival programme was supported by the Prospero NEW platform, which is co-funded by the European Union's Creative Europe Programme.

In November, we will host the Kyiv-based Dakh Theatre, a documentary theatre company which has been taking a firm stand against the Russian invasion for several years now. Its artistic director Vladislav Troitsky will first present the travelling exhibition Field of Memory in Prague, which explores how the war has affected Ukrainian children. The exhibition will be followed by Antidote, a captivating performance by the successful band Dakh Daughters. A panel discussion on the state of artistic creation in the occupied country will conclude this topic.

This autumn, the ensembles of NT Drama and the Dejvice Theatre will meet on the same stage for the first time to rehearse a staged oratorio The Pelicot Trial. The transcript of the recent trial against a French sex offender will be directed by the Austrian-French duo Milo Rau and Servane Dècle in the Czech premiere. This project was conceived for the Wiener Festwochen festival and, since its premiere last year, has been staged by a host of theatres around the world. Its Czech premiere is co-produced by the Dejvice Theatre.

The documentary-dance production Israel & Mohamed will bring up the theme of defying one’s own family just before Christmas. In this piece, French director Mohamed El Khatib and Spanish flamenco dancer Israel Galván take a tender yet uncompromising stance against their fathers. 

In January, we will commence the new year with an exhilarating dance performance SHOUT TWICE by Katerina Andreou and Mélissa Guex, where anger turns into a whisper and a scream into catharsis. During this ritual, the performers’ and the audience’s heartbeats will gradually synchronise.

A new production by Theatre Basel – The Rape of Lucrece: The Casting – will close the theme of soft resistance. The Argentine director Lola Arias will show her distinctive style to Czech audiences in February. Her original adaptation of Shakespeare’s famous poem is a sensitive and bold statement on physical abuse and the exploitation of the body within as well as outside the artistic community. 

Thank you for standing by us. You are the ones to ensure that the crossroads will never narrow into a straight route offering no choice. 

On behalf of the entire festival team,
Linda Dušková
dramaturge of the Prague Crossroads Festival