Current Monthly Program here
Archa Theatre Flood Relief Fund
All that the things that water can do
How you can support Archa Theatre
We would like to thank for their help and support
Photo Album
April 10, 2002
April 15, 2003 / Rotterdamse Schouwburg, Rotterdam
Magic Night of Prague
Benefit evening for the Archa Theatre
With: Nederlands Dans Theater 3, Conny Janssen Danst, Nederlands Blazers Ensemble, Dogtroep, Jana Beranová, The Plastic People of the Universe, Agon Orchestra, Feng-Jün Song, and Tereza Roglová. Organized by Rotterdamse Schouwburg in cooperation with the Archa Theatre.
Detailed information and program
December 20, 2002
We wish you Merry Christmas and PF 2003!
December 6, 2002
And now, we are already in December. In addition to the celebration of St. Nicholas in Archa, we also have several other things happening this month. On November 7th, starting at 7pm, we began our café concert series. On this evening, it was possible to enjoy your cup of coffee with the singer and actress Petra Cikánová and the pianist Michaela Kabátníková, who prepared an evening, entitled One Long Evening After the Other, full of jazz and the songs of Duke Elllington, Eva Olmerová, George Gershwin and others. Petra Cikánová, as you might remember, performed in the past at Archa in Tender Buttons and Second hand Twilights. The Saturday immediately following - December 14th - offered up songs of a somewhat different kind. The well-known literary historian Martin C. Putna put together an evening of music called "Too Much Christmas", of pre-Christmas and anti-Christmas texts and songs. As you may have already discovered, musical sessions in Archa Theatre have become a regular thing. And for this reason, you can already look forward to the performance of Feng - Jün Song, who will perform in the Archa Theatre café on January 14th as a prelude to the Celebration of the Year of the Sheep in Ponec Theatre (January 22). But we are already getting ahead of ourselves. In December there are still several other treats. First of all, the unique meeting of the legendary underground band the Plastic People of the Universe and Agon Orchestra in the stage concert Wandering was I through Fields of Five, based upon the writings of Ladislav Klima at Roxy.
On November 26 we held another benefit performance for our theatre. This time we moved the performance of Questioning Heaven in Despair to the State Opera, where we received a check for 10,000 US dollars from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Prague.
November 13, 2002
For the second time this week already, our theatre has moved over to the State Opera in Prague. We would, first of all, like to take this opportunity to thank the State Opera, and our many other partners, for hosting the world premier of the Canadian dance ensemble La La La Human Steps, a part of the Canadian Season Festival. And on November 11th, once again on the stage of the State Opera, the Japanese dander Min Tanaka performed in a benefit for Archa Theatre. Nearly 700 people attended the solo performance of this well-known Japanese dancer, who received a terrific response. The final amount of the money raised from the benefit will depend on the outcome of an outstanding grant proposal to cover the essential costs. We would like to thank all you who came to the performance, the State Opera who kindly offered their space, Min Tanaka who performed for free and paid his own travel costs, and all our media partners and the company SAS. On the occasion of this benefit performance, we also organized another Internet benefit auction, this time of photographs of Min Tanaka by our house photographer Jaroslav Prokop. The proceeds from this auction will go towards covering the costs of the clean-up effort.
October 4, 2002
The situation is already beginning to somewhat stabilise in the theatre: the large waste containers have disappeared from the street and now just the bare bones remain from our theatre. The damage flooring and wall panelling have been torn out and pulled down, along with the movable walls and ceilings. We received several dryers from our theatre friends and the dampness is slowly going away - as is the smell. Photographs of how we tore up and dismantled the damaged theatre can be found here.
On the last Sunday in September, we organized a benefit concert at Prague Castle for our Theatre where a wide range of our musician and theatre friends performed: Tata Bojs, The Plastic People of the Universe, Monika Načeva, Už jsme doma, Filip Topol and Psí vojáci, Michal Prokop & Luboš Andršt & Jan Hrubý, MCH Band, November 2nd, and many more.
The Festival came out well, as expected and hoped, and thanks to the large attendance we earned close to 300 thousand Kč. We would like to thank the artists, our sponsors, media partners and other supporters, Mirek Mencl and Key Production, the Prague Castle Administration Office and, in particular, the sun, which kindly shone brightly for us all throughout the day. Of course, we also would like to thank all those who came to the festival for their support. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
In cooperation with Radio 1, at the end of September, we prepared a live broadcast of the Theatres in the Mud, which surveyed the current situation of several of Prague's flooded theatres. In addition to representatives of the afflicted Prague theatre stages, a range of other musicians and actors also participated.
We continue to look for support wherever possible. Most recently, on the Internet news service iDnes, an auction of the graphic work Netopyr (Bat) by Petr Nikl took place. The proceeds from the auction - at the last minute the winning bid reached up to the gratifying height of 6.000 Kč - were donated to our theatre.
Apropos, if anyone has a surplus of alder wood that we could use for the new theatre floor, please let us know (tel. 221 716 111 or email at archa@archatheatre.cz).
September 4, 2002
Good news! In spite of yesterday's power failures and the leak of gas in our street, we still could work on the preparation of our exile programme at Ponec theatre "Archa Adrift!". In the second half of September you can visit performances of the Vizita Theatre, Archa's productions Tender Buttons, and House of the Death, and a special performance of Petr Nikl and his friends. You will find more information in our programme for September.
With Mirek Mencl from the Key Production Production, we have discussed the organization of a benefit concert for Archa. The concert will be held at the Prague Castle, on September 29. Such bands and artists as Tata Bojs, Už jsme doma, The Plastic People of the Universe, Feng-Jün Song, Kateryna Kolcová, Tereza Roglová and many others will perform. More information will be available in our monthly programme.
September 2, 2002
Today it is a great day for us - we have opened our Café! Through the windows you can see the first guests, and besides the funky container on the street, everything looks just as before. So the cruise in the Archa Café is here for you from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on the weekdays, on Saturday we are sorry to be closed, but on Sunday you can board between 1 and 9 p.m.
On board there is intensive work going on on several projects that will be on in September. Additionally, we will be able to save the world premiere of the Canadian dance company La La La Human Steps in the State Opera Prague that will take place in the framework of the Canadian Season festival.
August 28, 2002
The cleaning out of the destroyed theatre equipment and scenery steadily continues in Na Poříčí Street, with the filling of one container after the other. The water from the theatre is almost completely drained away, with only the occasional puddle to be found on the misshapen floor. For the second week in a row, groups of volunteers and part-time theatre employees help in the theatre (the best organized group being, once again, the audience) and the first financial donations have started to arrive on our account - our immense gratitude to all concerned. One working telephone line was hooked up on Monday (02 / 21 71 61 11), and our email addresses are back in operation, communication with the outside world continues to improve. Tanec Praha has offered us several free dates in Ponec Theatre, where a special "after the flood" theatre programme will be in progress as of September, entitled Archa adrift! We have heard from other international artists (i.e. Meredith Monk, Diamanda Galas), who have performed in the past in Archa theatre, with offers of help. We are also considering holding a benefit concert for Archa, for which several groups with whom we have worked having already pledged their participation (one of the first offers was from the Tata Bojs). In the beginning November the Japanese dancer - Archa's "godfather" - Mina Tanaka will come to Prague to conduct two benefit solo performances. Up-to-date information about the performances and concerts will be available on the web page: www.archatheatre.cz.
The atmosphere on deck, as well as under the deck, is optimistic, albeit still a bit damp. With a sort of rough humour, the aroma of Sava disinfectant intermingles with that of rot.
August 21, 2002
With rubber boots, it is already possible to enter the lower level of the theatre without problem, and the Petrof piano has departed for Hradce Králové with great celebration. A generator stands in front of the theatre, and enough light is projected in the theatre so that hardly anybody needs to roam around the theatre with a flashlight anymore. Libor has hooked us up to a provisional connection to the Internet and several members of the Archa crew have assumed the role of theatre office rats.
... Martin C. Putna - August 21, 2002
Archa Adrift!
Archa (the Ark), true to its name: who would have thought that its name would become a prophecy, that Archa would be set afloat? The water came from above on Noah's ark, on Na Poříčí's Archa, the water came from below. Waves surged out from underneath. Could any possible human strength hold back the onslaught? No. Archa filled up to the balconies with foul smelling water from the river bottom. And yet, it didn't sink; it floated onwards. On its deck voyaged living creatures who, over the course a few August days, lived through many experiences of which stories are made.
There is the story of Ondrěj Hrab and his voyage to Japan, the home of the dancer Mina Tanaka. As he contemplatively looked out at Fuji Mountain, thinking about European and Asian Theatre, his meditations were interrupted by the cry: Ondřej san! Plague! Brtaba riber! - the Japanese not distinguishing the difference between "r" and "l", "v" and "b" - this is multi-culture for you. This meant his immediate return home.
There is the story of the piano, which the technicians moved all the while higher and higher in Archa's auditorium as the water continued to rise, finally ending up in the middle on a four-meter tower, the motor working up to the last moment to lift it up, then jammed; the piano remains dry, as the water recedes, how to get the piano down?
And the story of the Mr. Nikl's taxi driver - the "only" thing that he had in common with Archa is that he drove the artist there from the airport - who then ended up wading in the stinking water up to his chest to help lift the piano. Mr. Nikl is also a football player, and now the salvaged curtains from Archa are drying out on a Prague playing-ground.
The story of the choreographer Jan Kodet, who pulled on rubber boots and gloves and went to extract wreckage from depths of Archa; although newly engaged at the National Theatre, he went to Archa.
The story of Viktor, who was to have started on September 1st as the head technician for Archa, but who began to work on August 13th as the head of the theatre's rescue team, to date not having received even one cent of pay from the theatre, where surely nothing will be staged in September.
And the story of a song from Gluck's opera about Orfeo, who journeyed to the underworld for Euridice; the story of a song, that someone began to sing during the initial inspection of Archa's lower level, in the dark by flashlight, mid-calf in the muddy water, reverberating again and again, the song Che faro senza Euridice? What to do without Euridice? Dove andro? Where to go? Che faro? What to do?
What will we do without Archa, where will we go?
It's all about what Archa is.
Archa is a space in ruin.
However, Archa is also an idea, Archa is a fellowship.
This Archa was not flooded, let alone wrecked. This Archa floats on. For a while, it will float in another space before it puts back into port again on Na Poříčí.
And it will come back in, as long as its friends and supporters do not loose faith in the meaning it's voyage.
Martin C. Putna
Tip of the Day for April 19, 2002
In cooperation with Key Production agency we decided to produce an additional concert of Tata Bojs on June 20, 8 p.m. Again, under the title of Biorhythms you will see a multimedia show. The concert of Tata Bojs on April 20 is sold out but you can watch it live on the internet at http://archa.inway.cz.
Tip of the Day for March 18, 2002
As usually, we started selling tickets for the Roskilde Music Festival 2002. This Four Day marathon of concerts, dance, theatre and performances starts on June 27, and will run until June 30, 2002. The stages of Roskilde Festival will host ANTIPOP CONSORTIUM (US), THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS (UK), GARBAGE (US/UK), HIM (SF), KAIZERS ORCHESTRA (N), MILLENCOLIN (S), RAMMSTEIN (D), RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS (US), THE SAVAGE ROSE (DK), SAYBIA (DK), SPIRITUALIZED (UK), STEVE EARLE & THE DUKES and many others groups. Tickets to the entire festival cost 4.200 Kč and they are available at the Archa Theatre Box Office.
For more info, visit the Roskilde website: www.roskilde-festival.dk
Tip of the Day for January 1, 2002
From the February 2002 monthly programme which will be available on January 16 we will sign some performances with a notice "English friendly". It means that the performance is accessible to non - Czech speaking visitors. The performance is either in English / without words or basic information / program in English is available in the theatre during the performance. For further information on language of the performance, please, contact our Box Office - 221 716 333, ticket@archatheatre.cz. They will give you advice in English.