Theatre Night 2017 to engage theatres from the Czech Republic for the fifth time

The third Saturday in November traditionally belongs to the Theatre Night, which celebrates 5 years of its existence. On Saturday 18^th November, theatres from the Czech Republic come alive; they prepare over 500 performances, night tours and theatre workshops for the the afternoon and evening – and their activities will be for free or with a symbolic entrance fee. The last year’s Theatre Night saw 50,000 visitors, 130 theatres and cultural organizations from 31 cities. The tagline of this year’s festival is “Forever Young”. “It is clear from impulses we received from theatres that the biggest challenge to address teenage audiences. This is why we have decided to dedicate the fifth Theatre Night to young audiences,” says Pavla Petrová, the director of the Arts and Theatre Institute (ATI). More information at www.nocdivadel.cz.

The fifth Theatre Night, the biggest theatre festival of its kind in Europe, is coming. Visitors may look forward to unusual experiences, which are prepared exclusively for the Theatre Night and they do not take place during the theatre season. The program features over 500 events, such as workshops, backstage guided tours or discussions with actors, scenographers and directors. The registration of companies and theatres is now in progress and the program is going to be announced on 23^rd October on the website of the project. “We have decided to choose the tagline ‘Forever Young’ for this jubilee edition of the Theatre Night. The surveys of the theatre attendance from the past years show that teenagers are the group for which theatre as a medium is less attractive or difficult to understand. The upcoming Theatre Night would like to attract and engage younger audiences; the ATI has already organized a two-day meeting, which dealt with this issue and we presented successful models of working with the development of young audiences in the Czech Republic and abroad. We believe that the Theatre Night brings new viewers to theatres again,” says Martina Pecková Černá from the ATI.

The last year’s Theatre Night saw 50,000 visitors, who paid a visit to some of 130 participating theatres and theatre companies in 31 towns in the Czech Republic. The third Theatre Night surpassed all the previous ones, speaking of the nationwide engagement in particular. The Theatre Night is now established as a project with a national impact. The Czech Theatre Night is part of the international project European Theatre Night, which started in 2008 in Croatia as Noc Kazališta. The idea of a joint theatre holiday has spread to more than ten countries in the world. The Czech Theatre Night was brought to life in 2013 and is the biggest project of the European Theatre Night thanks to the participation of more than fifty thousand visitors.