The National Theatre (Národní divadlo) is a Czech theatre institution based in Prague, and also its historic building at the corner of Národní Avenue and Masarykovo Embankment.[3][4] The institution consists of four artistic companies (Opera, Drama, Ballet and Laterna magika) and four stages: the National Theatre, the State Opera, the Estates Theatre and the New Stage.[2] The opera, drama and ballet companies perform in the historic building.[1]*
Origins and fundraising
Prague patriots discussed building an independent Czech theatre from the autumn of 1844. On 29 January 1845 František Palacký submitted to the Estates committee of the Bohemian Diet an application for a privilege to establish and run it, which was granted in April 1845.[1] In April 1851 the Society for the Establishment of a Czech National Theatre called for public collections. With the first proceeds it bought, a year later, the site of a former salt house on the Vltava bank, just under 28 ares in size, whose trapezoidal shape made construction difficult.[1]
The first design competition was held in 1854 and won by the Viennese architect Froehlich, but the building was not carried out.[4] During the period of Bach's absolutism a modest Provisional Theatre was built on the southern part of the site and opened on 18 November 1862.[1] Performances were held there for 21 years.[3] A new competition in 1866 was won by the architect Josef Zítek.[3][4] Construction began in 1867, and on 16 May 1868 the foundation stones were ceremonially laid; the event became a nationwide political demonstration. In 1877 the theatre was roofed.[1]
Contributions came from collections in Bohemia, Moravia and abroad, from the nobility, entrepreneurs and municipalities. Emperor Franz Joseph I gave first 5,000 gulden and later a further 13,000; a national lottery of 1877 raised more than 238,000 gulden. Total income from 21 August 1850 to 30 June 1884 amounted to 3,204,129 gulden.[1]
Fire and reopening
The theatre first opened on 11 June 1881 in honour of a visit by Crown Prince Rudolf. After 11 more performances the building was closed for finishing work, and on 12 August 1881 a fire broke out that destroyed the copper dome, the auditorium and the stage. A million gulden was collected for the restoration within 47 days.[1] Josef Zítek was removed from further work and the restoration was entrusted to his pupil Josef Schulz. Schulz incorporated the Provisional Theatre building and the neighbouring apartment house into the complex and altered the auditorium to improve the view of the stage. The theatre reopened on 18 November 1883 with Smetana's opera Libuše.[1]
The building
The Heritage Catalogue of the National Heritage Institute states that the building consists of three parts of different age: Zítek's northern building with the auditorium and stage, a central part created from the Provisional Theatre, and a southern extension. Above the auditorium and stage is a four-sided dome carried by a steel truss. The sandstone facade is decorated, among other things, with statues of Apollo and the nine Muses by Bohuslav Schnirch and allegories of Drama and Opera by Josef Václav Myslbek.[4] The foyer contains a triptych by František Ženíšek and the lunette cycle Homeland by Mikoláš Aleš; the curtain was painted by Vojtěch Hynais.[4]
The building served for almost a hundred years without major alterations. On 1 April 1977, after a performance of Jirásek's The Lantern, the theatre closed and a general reconstruction began under the architect Zdeněk Vávra.[1] It included the construction of the New Stage, operational buildings and underground garages.[3] The historic building was handed back to the public on 18 November 1983, the centenary of its opening, again with Libuše.[1]
Companies
The theatre's first ballet master, in 1882–1884, was Václav Reisinger; he was followed by Augustin Berger, who founded a ballet school.[5] The opera, drama and ballet companies present the classical repertoire as well as contemporary Czech and international works, while the New Stage is used mainly by Laterna magika.[2]