Central Library - Puppet Theatre

The Puppet Theatre is a unique theatre space located in the basement of the Central Library building in Prague’s Old Town, with its own entrance from Žatecká Street. The theatre is home to an amateur puppet theatre company that performs mainly at weekends. Other performances are presented by visiting companies. The theatre also offers programmes for schools.

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Season for young audiences

Performances run from October until the end of May. Weekend performances take place at 10:30, 14:00 and 16:00.

Tickets can be purchased online, at the Municipal Library of Prague box offices (weekdays from 14:00 to 20:00), or at the Puppet Theatre box office one hour before the performance begins.

A little history

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Puppet Theatre auditorium

This unique theatre space opened together with the Central Library building in 1928. It became the home stage of the already established Puppet Theatre company, which at the time performed under the name Umělecká scéna Říše loutek. Still an amateur company today, the Puppet Theatre continues to be based at the theatre and uses the stage for its productions, which are also created in collaboration with leading professional artists and musicians.

Led by Vojtěch Sucharda, members of the company also contributed to the overall design concept of the theatre and its equipment, thanks in part to the understanding and support of the building’s architect, František Roith. The new theatre caused a sensation and was described as the most modern puppet theatre in the world.

It also attracted considerable attention during the major puppetry exhibition and puppeteers’ congress held in May 1929, when the Puppet Theatre became the setting for a historic event: on 20 May 1929, the international puppetry organisation UNIMA was founded here.

The theatre is unique not only for its stage technology, specifically designed for puppet theatre, but also for its auditorium, which is equipped with special height-adjustable seats for the youngest audience members. Equally distinctive is the Art Deco decoration of the space, particularly the playful ceiling of the auditorium, which creates the impression of a starry sky.

Address

Puppet Theatre
Žatecká 98/1
Prague 1 – Old Town

Metro A, tramvaj číslo 17 a 18; autobus číslo 207 (zastávka Staroměstská), autobus 194 (zastávka Mariánské náměstí).