A feast of international theatre set to hit the stage at the Prague Fringe Festival May 23-31.
There is no shortage of theatre in the Czech capital, but even in a city with more than 40 theatres, presided over by the spectacular National Theatre, it’s often in the tiniest and quirkiest of venues that you find a gem of a production. Enter the Prague Fringe Festival – now in it’s 13th year.
This year the Fringe will present 36 productions from 13 countries, including of course home-grown talent. The Fringe is staged in a string of intimate venues in the beautiful Mala Straná district of the central city, against a backdrop of the stunning Prague Castle. Performers from countries including Great Britain, Australia, USA and Canada, South Africa, Poland, Finland and The Netherlands will bring a heady mix of entertainment to an audience made-up of Czechs and visitors alike.
“The Fringe is not to be missed” says Director, Steve Gove. “On offer are nine packed days of theatre, comedy, music, dance, improv and the ever sociable “après-fringe” atmosphere. There’s something for all ages from multi-award winning South African sleight of hand expert, Stuart Lightbody to Australian beatbox and guitar sensations Tom Thum and Jamie MacDowell. Regular Fringe-goers come back year after year to enjoy the atmosphere and cram in as many shows as they can – with most productions only an hour long you can really make sure you take in a real mix – and you’ll be desperate to head to the bars to share your experience with other festival attendees and glean from them what to go see next” says Gove.
The Fringe has a team of Czech and English speaking staff to help guide you and offers great value with tickets only 150kc (100kc for students). There’s even a 5 shows for the price of 4 voucher on offer.
Naturally popular is the free Fringe Sunday event. Held at the Malostranská beseda on Sunday 25th May this is a great taster of what’s to come throughout the Festival with a variety of Fringe acts performing a 1 minute teaser of their show.
Fringe is an international phenomenon having started in the Scottish capital city of Edinburgh more than 60 years ago. The number of events continue to grow and there are now more than 50 Fringe Festivals around the world and Prague is becoming an increasingly popular choice for performers touring the circuit.
Check out the official Prague Fringe Festival website!
