Famous productions in the repertoire of the New Stage

Before the building undergoes its well-deserved renovation, it is time to remember how many captivating theatrical worlds were created here. How many languages were spoken here – the language of images, bodies, sound and silence. And to say thank you. Not only for the beauty and imagination, but also for the fact that there was always space here to be different – and yet fully present.

Since its opening in 1983, the New Stage has always been open to experimentation, new technologies and playful forms of storytelling. It was here that Laterna magika found its home – a phenomenon that has no parallel in the world.

The ensemble, which began as the Czechoslovak contribution to the World Expo 58, transformed into a living and modern organism at the Nová scéna, approaching theatre art in a completely innovative way. The very first production staged here was Strakonický dudák (The Bagpiper of Strakonice) – a drama that symbolically combined a time-tested text with a modern space.

Soon after, however, the imagination and technology of Laterna Magika and its greatest legend, Kouzelný cirkus (The Wonderful Circus), came into their own. This poetic story of a girl who gets lost in a dreamlike circus became synonymous with visual theatre, helped by the imaginative sets of the genius Josef Svoboda. Since its premiere in 1977, there have been over 6,000 performances, which have appealed not only to our audience but also to international audiences, making The Wonderful Circus an icon of Laterna and Czech theatre in general.

Who would not know The Opening of the Springs, Odyssey, Casanova...? Productions that ran for years and filled the auditorium. Laterna Magika has always been about more than just combining film, theatre and dance – it has been about the desire to tell a story in a way that cannot be experienced anywhere else. Projections, animations, live actors and dancers all came together on stage to create a captivating world in which reality and illusion walked side by side.

In recent years, Laterna has also opened its doors to younger artists. The LaternaLAB project has provided space for experimentation and a new generation of artists seeking new forms of expression, including the 11:55 and tYhle ensembles, as well as the renowned 420PEOPLE. Recent successful titles include Cube, which plays with the visual elements of the New Stage, Human Locomotion, with its skilfully crafted theme of the beginnings of photography, Krajina těla (Landscape of the Body), which combines dance, projection and acrobatics, and the intimate Zázrak (s)tvoření (The Paper Story), which develops children's imagination with humour and tenderness. Families with young children fell in love with BatoLaterna, a production that tuned into the rhythm of a toddler's perception of the world without resorting to pandering. Valérie a týden divů (Valerie and a Week of Wonders) also brought a distinctive authorial style – a theatrical adaptation of a cult novel that develops its mysterious poetics through dance stylisation, acting, captivating music and impressive visual effects.

Laterna magika has changed over the years – from poetic fantasies to technologically advanced productions that do not shy away from difficult topics. Yet it has remained true to its roots: to be a theatre of images, movement and rhythm. A theatre that appeals to the senses and awakens the imagination.

Over the years, the New Stage has also been the venue for exceptional projects by other Czech ensembles that deserve a place in our memory.

The drama department found space here for more daring dramaturgy. Director Michal Dočekal successfully staged several notable titles here, such as Beckett's Waiting for Godot, Bond's provocative play The Saved, and Elfriede Jelinek's daring text What Happened After Nora Left Her Husband. The anniversary adaptation of Medek's Plukovník Švec (Colonel Švec), directed by Jiří Havelka with a stellar, all-male cast, also made a significant mark on the repertoire of this building.

In recent years, the Drama Theatre has mainly presented original productions and productions of contemporary Czech plays on the New Stage, such as Ondřej Novotný's Father Watches Over His Daughter (directed by Jan Frič), with the directors sometimes taking the iconic interior into account, and so H. Hilar's tribute to K. H. Hilar, Za krásu (directed by Daniela Špinar), was performed in the auditorium among the well-known leather seats, and Frič's Návštěva, based on a short story by Emil Hakl, took the audience through parts of the building that are usually inaccessible to the public.

The productions Wernisch (directed by Jan Nebeský) and Privatizace (directed by Petr Erbes and Boris Jedinák) became instant hits with audiences after their premieres and will now find a new home at La Fabrika in Holešovice. Although new audiences will go elsewhere to see them, the fact that they were created for the New Stage cannot be denied.

Ballet also wrote a strong and distinctive chapter here, as did domestic creators, and there was no shortage of world-class creators either. Daniel Wiesner's Macbeth became almost legendary, presenting Shakespeare's tragedy in a purely dance language without losing any of the drama. Carmina Burana captivated audiences with its spectacular musicality and sensual scenography, and the evening performance of Little Mr Friedemann / Psycho, a dance adaptation of horror suspense, showed that ballet is not afraid of psychology or darkness. Christopher Bruce's Moonshine offered a melancholic look back at the era of swing and blues, bringing the music of the Rolling Stones to the stage.

A groundbreaking production was Ohad Naharin's Decadance, which introduced Czech audiences to a completely new physical language – his choreography, in the spirit of the gaga technique, was not only hypnotic and ritualistic, but also drew the audience into an intense, collective experience. In a similar vein was Alexander Ekman's lively and ironically self-assured Cacti, a choreography that humorously dissected the clichés of modern dance.

The Prague opera world, and indeed the theatre world as a whole, was completely captivated by the opera Sternenhoch by composer Ivan Acher. Ladislav Klíma's expressionist grotesque combined electronics, dance and expressive visual stylisation in a work that critics described as ‘mysticism of madness’ and ‘an opera you either love or hate’. Equally powerful was Rudá Marie, an opera with a libretto by Oldřich Kaiser and music by Jan Kučera, which explored the image of womanhood and faith with grotesque exaggeration. And the opera Toufar – a musical and dramatic reconstruction of the life of a priest tortured by the communist regime – offered a quiet but all the more powerful story of dignity.

The double bill of Shostakovich's operas Orango and The Anti-Shostakovich Festival – a satirical look at dictatorship, conformism and artistic self-censorship, which resonated ironically in the space of the New Stage – can be considered an extraordinary event. Žádný člověk (No Man), a minimalist opera by Jiří Adámek and Michal Nejtek, delved into the themes of loneliness, rootlessness and the inability to communicate – using everyday language, subtle irony and existential gravity. The Opera Nova festival also featured other original and exceptional projects at the New Stage, including Kafka's Letter to His Father.

And this is precisely where the strength of the New Stage lies – in its openness, exploration and courage.