The Pod Palmovkou Theatre (Divadlo pod Palmovkou)
The Pod Palmovkou theatre is a professional repertoire theatre with a permanent ensemble of actors. The theatre is located in the Prague district of Libeň, which has a strong industrial and working-class past, but which was also made famous by the Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal, who also noticed in his works the contradiction between dream and reality and who found poetry and beauty even in the most ordinary and simple things. Established by Prague City Hall, this stage presents productions based on large and powerful stories, as well as on authorial and generational theatre, with a primary focus on younger and middle-aged generations.
ARTISTIC TEAM ANDREPERTOIRE The Pod Palmovkou was founded by a group of young theatre enthusiasts in 1948. Throughout its history the theatre has focused on grand stories, staging both classical and contemporary plays as well as pieces by authors of the respective generations.
In September 2024,The Pod Palmovkou Theatre launched its 77th theatre season. Theatrical life has been categorised into two distinct areas: the Grand stage, with an auditorium capacity of approximately 280 seats, hosts productions – highly acclaimed pieces – powerful stories about pressing issues of our time as well as classical drama and adaptations of world-class literature. Productions presented on the Grand stage feature meticulous staging and powerful writing,concerning both contemporary issues and timeless, ever-relevant ones. In addition to that, there is also a studio stage called Studio Palm OFF, with a capacity of roughly 80 seats, focusing mainly on contemporary works (targeting primarily younger and middle-aged generations) and experimental theatre. Studio Palm OFF has attained popularity with theatre-goers as well as critics thanks to its unorthodox directness and artistic open-mindedness. The pieces presented here often resonate on a nationwide scale thanks to their subject matter and form.
The Pod Palmovkou Theatre’s repertoire is currently supervised by the artistic director Michal Lang and his team. It is designed to appeal to a wide range of theatre-goers across generations and deal with subject matters that are – or should be – social, cultural or artistic talking points. Both stages feature top-tier directors such as Jan Nebeský, who has been consistently praised by critics as well as theatre-goers.
Significant awards for Divadlo pod Palmovkou:
● The Theatre pod Palmovkou was named The atreof the Year 2018 at the prestigious Theatre Critics’ Awards
● Winning in the category of Production of the Year 2018 at the Theatre Critics’ Awards for the production of W.Shakespeare's play Something for Something, directed by Jan Klata
● The Theatre Newspaper Award for the Best Production of the Year for the production of Nora (A Doll's House), directed by J. Nebeský
● Winner in the category Best First Czech Play of2020 at the Theatre Critics’ Awards (production of T. Dianiška's The Magnificient 294, directed by Tomáš Dianiška)
● The prestigious Thalia Award for Best Actress for Tereza Dočkalová for the role of Nora (production of Nora,directed by J. Nebeský)
● T. Dianiška won the Talent of the Year 2016 category at the Theatre Critics’ Awards
● Best Actress Award for Kamila Trnkova as Edward/Betta and Best Actor Award for Radek Valenta as Betty/Edward awarded by the prestigious Festival of Laughter (production of The Seventh Heaven, directed by E. Kudláč)
● Nomination in the category of Production of the Year at the Divadelní noviny Award for the production A Year in the Village, directed by M. Lang
● Nomination in the category of Production of the Year at the Theatre Critics’ Awards for the production Silence of the Beavers, directed by J. Frič
● Short listed nomination in the Best Male Actor category for Jakub Albrecht for the role of Frantík at the Thalia Awards(production Bezruký Frantík, directed by F. X. Kalba)
● Nomination in the Best Male Actor category for Jan Teplý at the Thalia Awards for the role of Maximilian Aue (production of The Kindly Goddess, directed by M. Lang)
● Nomination in the Best Male Actor category atthe Thalia Awards for Jan Vlasák as Vincentio (production of Something for Something, directed by J. Klata)
● Nomination in the Best Actress category for Tereza Dočkalová for the role of Isabella in the Thalia Awards (production Something for Something, directed by J. Klata)
● Nomination in the Best Male Performance category for Radek Valenta at the Thalia Awards for the role of Sganarel (production of Don Juan, directed by M. Lang)
● Nomination in the Best Actress category for Tereza Dočkalová at the Thalia Awards for the role of Karlička (production of Don Juan, directed by M. Lang)
● Nomination in the Best Male Performance category for Jan Teplý at the Thalia Awards for the role of Iago (production of Othello, directed by M. Lang)