The complex of buildings that today forms the New Stage of the National Theatre is not just a venue for theatre performances. It is an urbanistically well-designed and artistically unique whole, where architecture, art and everyday life meet. The two main parts – the representative New Stage building and the service buildings with entrances from Václav Havel Square – engage in a quiet but meticulously thought-out dialogue that also involves the historic National Theatre building.
The New Stage building itself, facing Národní třída, is an unmissable symbol of brutalism and glass art.
Its iconic façade, made of more than 4,300 hand-blown glass shapes, was created in collaboration between architect Karel Prager and designer Stanislav Libenský. The glass components were made from special SIMAX glass at the Kavalier glassworks in Sázava and then irradiated to achieve the desired colour tone. Each element weighs over 40 kg, yet the entire façade appears light – like a crystalline shell that reflects the hustle and bustle of the city during the day and transforms into a glowing lantern at night.
The chosen scale and module of the glass elements follow the proportions of the historic National Theatre building – for example, the rhythm of the capitals, spheres and cones of Zítka's architecture. Although the New Stage is radically contemporary, it does not deny its place in relation to the older building, but mirrors it in its own way.
The interior of the New Stage building feels like an open theatre landscape. Wood, stone and glass create a dynamic composition in which light plays an important role. The spiral staircase, which rises several floors, is the main backbone of the entire space, in the centre of which is a light sculpture by Pavel Hlava and Jaroslav Štursa. Cut glass complemented by chromatic neon tubes was intended not only to illuminate the space, but also to attract attention from outside and entice passers-by to visit.
On the second floor, we find other artistic elements: bronze reliefs by Jan Simota, The Art of Joy and The Art of Struggle, which have been an integral part of the NoNa Café in recent years, and glass ceiling lights by František Vízner, whose sparkle creates an atmosphere of concentration and calm.
The theatre hall of the New Stage itself was designed by architect Martin Sladký as a clean, almost austere space without unnecessary decoration. The dominant visual element is the curtain with vertical blue stripes, which also appear in other textile elements of the interior. The striped rhythm unifies the space, as does the combination of concrete walls, wooden panelling and acoustic grilles.
Both operational buildings, including the one formerly known as the Restaurant, are primarily intended as theatre facilities, but from an architectural point of view, they are an integral part of the whole. Their interior is based on a modest but exceptionally high-quality material solution: blasted granite cladding, copper details, veneered walls and fine textiles.
It is here that some of the works of art often mistakenly associated with the New Stage are displayed. These include tapestries by Věra Drnková-Zářecká (Opera) and Radomír Kolář (Drama) and a painting by Jiří Karmazín entitled The World of Theatre. An inconspicuous but well thought-out detail is the delicately layered veneer walls and wallpaper by Zora Smetanová and Karel Lapka.
One of the most remarkable features of the Operations Building is its internal connection with the rest of the complex – through viewing corridors and carefully composed vistas, the surrounding city, the Voršilská Garden and the piazzetta are always present. It is this motif – space as a stage – that connects the Operations Building with the New Stage and the historic theatre into a visually coherent whole.
The entire urban complex is based on the idea of a theatre square – a piazzetta that connects all four buildings and at the same time offers the public a natural space for meeting. Its composition is based on the principle of a stage space: it is elevated, framed by staircases, open to the city, but at the same time protected. Deliberately composed views – of the National theatre, the Voršilská Garden and Žofín – give everyone passing through the feeling that they are entering a stage.
The entire complex is exceptional not only for its individual buildings, but above all for its visual and artistic cohesion. Every detail – from the fittings and lamps (Jan Tatoušek) to the information system (Rostislav Vaněk) and the choice of stone, glass and textiles – is the result of careful collaboration between architects and artists. The buildings engage in a quiet but profound dialogue with each other. At the same time, they speak to the city of which they are a part.
Today, more than forty years after its completion, the entire complex appears as a carefully thought-out theatre stage that is not limited to a single stage. Every step, every light and every material has its place – and together they form an architecture that plays.