Fresh open-air theater breezes in for the summer

It's summertime, and, as usual, many of the city's theater spaces are shuttered for the season. Apart from a bit of the Bard at Prague Castle and a few scattered odds and ends, the hard truth is that there is little or nothing to see until autumn leaves turn gold and the stage lights are back on for the year. Three days in July (19-21) will be a welcome exception, however, as the Eighth Annual Teatrotoč Summer Street Theatre Festival swings into high gear.

Teatrotoč has been bringing vibrant theatrical events to Prague in the otherwise blighted month of July since 2002, when a marionette carving workshop at Mirek Trejtnar's studio evolved into something unexpected. The founders started out teaching participants how to fashion traditional Czech marionettes in an organic workshop that culminated with public performances during the summer. Then they took the show on the road to the enormous Linz Street Theatre Festival in Austria.

"We were inspired to try to create something similar in Prague," said Mirek Trejtnar, one of the Teatrotoč co-founders.

Leah Gaffen, another co-founder, laments the all too familiar bureaucratic obstacles to mounting a production of this sort in Prague, but hopes that the group's efforts to sort out licensing details on behalf of its performers will enable more groups from the international community to participate in the future.

"The idea is to promote street theater, as it already is in many cities in Europe," Trejtnar says.

As enthusiasm for past festivals has demonstrated, there is an option-starved audience willing to come out and attend theatrical performances in the city during the summer.

This year, Teatrotoč is colonizing Kampa Island near the Charles Bridge. The three-day extravaganza features jugglers, puppeteers, musicians, stilt-walkers, pole balancers, storytellers, pantomimes and comedians from around the world. All told, a whopping 17 companies will offer 70 performances throughout the festival. The material is clearly aimed at the young and the young at heart. For those looking to entertain children during the summer holiday, Teatrotoč will be a refreshing change from Ice Age and Hannah Montana.

Varied program

Performances are broken into two blocks, with morning fare - which should not be confused with an opening act - from 10:30 a.m. to noon-ish and an afternoon set from 1:30 to 8 p.m. Day one will feature three puppet shows in the morning block: Brass Goggles and Balloonists (USA), Pancake Pepina and The Most Beautiful Birthday, as well as a wide variety of puppetry, juggling and acrobatics in the afternoon - Trejtnar recommends Australian Leighton Ledbouy's acrobatics act in particular. The afternoon will also feature brief stilt-walking shows at 4, 6 and 8 and a noteworthy pantomime or "walk" act by Metroccolis (Germany). The following days will be a variation on the schedule, with Apple Tale, Mr. Snooze's Storytime, Firefly Family and Hot, Hot, and Even Hotter entering the rotation in the mornings.

One of the highlights of the festival will be a series of children's arts-and-crafts workshops put on by the admirable folks from Puppets Without Borders (PWB). Children are invited to explore their imaginations with collage and papier-maché sculptures consisting of materials provided by PWB. The group has participated in the festival for six years, and has staged similarly interactive events since 2006. The workshops begin at 10 a.m. all three days.

Teatrotoč has continued to grow with each passing year, and would appear to be establishing itself as a summer tradition.

James Walling can be reached at
jwalling@praguepost.com