The King’s Speech has enjoyed a long run in Brno. Performances include English subtitles. Photo credit: NdB.
Brno, Dec 1 (BD) – What are the best presents? Clothes? A book? A coffee mug straight from a Christmas market stall? Chocolate? Flowers?
All are good and all can be the perfect present for someone.
But many people prefer experiences. Get the right experience for your loved one and you create a memory that will last much longer than clothes or flowers.
Fortunately, Brno is blessed to have a packed schedule of performances, including ballet, opera and English-subtitled plays. And that is only through Narodni divadlo Brno, the National Theatre of Brno, which operates three of the most famous theatres — Janáčkovo divadlo (Janacek Theatre), Mahenovo divadlo (Mahen Theatre) and divadlo Reduta (Theatre Reduta). There are also many other offerings throughout the city.
Plus, if you purchase a pair of theatre tickets for a loved one, you might be the plus 1. Nice!
Click here for the full schedule and ticket information, in English.
Here are some December highlights for the National Theatre of Brno:
DRAMA
Mahen Theatre will have several fascinating performances with English subtitles to send 2019 out with a bang.
• Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019 — Night of Fools, which is by Australian author Louis Nowra, is a crazy look at an insane asylum, literally. The plot is that a theatre director attempts to put on a play in a mental institution. It’s not easy. One patient insists on nothing but Mozart’s opera Così fan tutte. Another patient, a junkie who is addicted to lithium, really hates Mozart. Then there is the pyromaniac, the stuttering lawyer and the autistic woman. Madness ensues.
• Monday, December 30, 2019 — King’s Speech, the popular play that has been running in Brno for several years, is a great night out. The play is closely based on the 2010 film of the same name that won a four Oscars.
For more information about the productions can be found at www.ndbrno.cz/drama/mahen-theatre.
BALLET
Nothing says Christmastime like the Nutcracker. There are many performances from which you can choose over the next month.
And, at the very end of the year, Janacek Theatre will host New Year´s Eve with Ballet NdB 2019. The program starts with the opening of the house at 6:30 p.m. and continues into the early morning hours of 2020.
The “New Year’s Eve Lake of Swans” will feature two hourlong ballet performances that were choreographed by Markéta Pimek Habalová. Related events include musical accompaniment of pianists in the foyer, a banquet and concerts by Zuzana Santin & JK Group and then DJ Schafff on the stage.
The night will include food, drinks and even a raffle with a main prize of two airline tickets to any destination in Europe.
OPERA
The December operatic offer includes Rusalka (Antonín Dvořák), The Cunning Little Vixen (Leoš Janáček), Faust (Charles Gounod), The Devil and Kate (Antonín Dvořák), The Barber of Seville (Gioachino Rossini) and more.
The Knight of the Rose, by Richard Strauss, premiered on Nov. 29 and it will continue with performances on Dec. 2, 8 and 29.
The Knight of the Rose, which is known as Růžový kavalír in Czech, is a comic opera that is set in Vienna. It works on several levels to peek into what life was like in that so-close capital city in the middle of the 18th century.
There are many themes that are interlaced with the rhythms of the Viennese waltz: the desire to be young, the fear of growing old, infidelity, the selflessness in love.
This new production is staged by Jiří Heřman and the music is conducted by Robert Kružík.
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