Czech theatre and delegates of the Czech ASSITEJ Centre at the 21st ASSITEJ World Congress and Performing Arts Festival 2024 in Cuba
At the end of May, Drak Theatre will embark on a week-long tour to Havana, Cuba. We perform three shows of the production Bedtime! at the 21st ASSITEJ World Congress and the Festival of Performing Arts for Children and Youth. The production, directed by Veronika Poldauf Riedlbauchová, has been selected for this international showcase along with 14 other foreign productions out of a total of 542 submitted projects.
The production Bedtime! designed for children aged three and up stands at the intersection of poetic physical theater and clownish grotesque. All three actors, Petra Cicáková, Luděk Smadiš and Dominik Linka demonstrate significant physical talent and a sense of gag. This is all accentuated by visually clean stage design by Marianna Stránka and the stage lighting by Michal Kříž.
Drak Theatre tour is carried out in cooperation with PerformCzech / the Department of International Cooperation of the Arts Institute – the Theatre Institute and with the support of the Ministry of Culture and the National Recovery Plan. The Czech delegation of si representative from the Czech ASSITEJ Centre, of which Drak Theatre is a member, will also participate in the congress.
ASSITEJ International (International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People) associates theatres, organisations and individuals from around the world to share knowledge and practical experience, create new opportunities for collaboration and network.
“The ASSITEJ World Congress aims to achieve several goals: advocating for theatre and performing arts for children and youth to bring them to the forefront of decision-makers’ interests, supporting new synergies between education and culture, fostering a new generation of professionals and artists in the field of theatre arts, and strengthening intergenerational trust and cooperation. These are all values that are relevant in the Czech theatre context as well, and we are pleased to be a part of their development, strengthening, and sharing,” the director of Drak Theatre, Tomáš Jarkovský, explains the main purpose of the event.
Jarkovský mentioned: “We greatly appreciate that the production of ‘Do hajan!’ has been selected for the showcase programme, giving us the opportunity to present Czech theatre for children and youth at this event of global significance. Participation in the festival will also be an opportunity for us to develop contacts with colleagues from ASSITEJ International and other national centers.”
Martina Pecková Černá, the Department of International Cooperation of the Arts Institute added: “The activities of the Czech ASSITEJ Center are coordinated by the Arts Institute – the Theatre Institute, and the history of this international non-governmental organization affiliated with UNESCO has been connected with our country since its inception as the first congress was held in Prague in 1966 the first congress held in Prague in 1966. The long-standing excellent relations between Czech theatre professionals and this organization are further confirmed by the fact that the ASSITEJ Executive Committee will meet in Prague this autumn as part of the Hi PerformanCZ Visitors’ Program for foreign guests, and further collaborations within ASSITEJ projects are planned for the upcoming years.”
Meeting with the Czech ASSITEJ Centre delegates will take place on May 30 at 5:30 PM in Pabellón Cuba.
Three performances of Bedtime! will be on program May 27, 28 and 29 at 3:00 PM in Teatro Nacional, Sala Covarrubias.
The presentation is implemented with the financial support of the European Union through the Czech Recovery Plan and the Ministry of Culture Czech Republic.