Prague Hybernia Theatre
This is a 600 year old building that has been a theatre for a few years. What’s the story? Formerly a monastery in the reign of Charles IV it’s also been a college and a customs house as well as surviving four wars. It was briefly a theatre around 1780 but it did not last after the owner died.
The Prague Hybernia Theatre Trust raised enough money to begin renovating the building and it reopened in 2013 (the stage is in the location of the former monastery chapel and the grounds pre-1918 held the Prague Customs House). It is still establishing itself on the cultural circuit so there are no big productions here yet.
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Prague Hybernia Theatre DRESS CODE:
The Prague Hybernia Theatre encourages people to dress smartly. For “first night” performances this would stretch to black-tie if you have it or at least a jacket and tie. Other dates usually require only a jacket for men. So in general, no jeans, no trainers, no loud shirts.
Performance – Best of Swan Lake
In the big opera houses like the National Theatre, Swan Lake is almost a three hour ballet production but at the Prague Hybernia Theatre it is about 90 minutes so forget the flow and concentrate on the ballet because keeping track of the story is challenging. Each scene basically has to be taken on it’s own merit. It’s a nice venue with terrific history but not a destination for serious opera/ballet fans.
Performance – Best of Carmen
Once again this is a “Reader’s Digest” type performance where they cherry-pick the most well known scenes and arias. Its a way of compressing the story into half the time but in can feel a bit disjointed if you know the story well as you’ll not have the build up to the scene. If you just like to watch a quick ballet then this Prague Hybernia Theatre production is perfect.
Performance – Quasimodo
This is an original Czech language production with English subtitles. It follows the story by Victor Hugo set in 15th Century Paris using quite original stage props and scenery. I think it’s more suited to a smaller venue but a selection of well known Czech actors and actresses will entertain you.
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