The Globe Theatre in Prague - More Information about the Disaster

In the past issue of the THEATRE.CZ bulletin, we provided you with basic information about the burning down of the Globe Theatre in Prague on November 12, 2005. In a recent article in the TÝDEN Magazine (21.11.2005), events surrounding the disaster provide a little better insight.

The article from the magazine The Globe Burned Down. Will Anyone Miss it? (Globe shořel. A postrádá ho někdo?), provides a little better insight into the events surrounding the disaster and what future lies ahead for the historical landmark.

The article states that the origin of the theatre was somewhat unique. The director of the Výstaviště Exhibition Grounds in Prague in 1999, Karel Klíma, decided to build a replica of the Elizabethan theatre. Construction began without proper permission and the theatre had no proper dramaturgical vision for the future operations of the theatre once the Globe had been built. “The idea was a ´shot in the dark´,” Klíma is said to have admitted. The project had anticipated to develop it’s own dramaturgy, and it seems as though no real clear thought had been given to the future of the theatre once it had been built.

Once the Globe opened to the public, its premiere production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet by the students of the Jarosalav Ježek theatre academy was confronted with its first problem. The open walls of the theatre provided no sound protection from the other attractions of the Vystavište exhibition grounds (noise from the Křižík Fountain musical performances, the midway attractions, as well as the drone from the passing trains).

The golden age of the short-lived Globe was during the 2000 and 2001 summer seasons, when the theatre was home to the summer production of Richard III. During this time, the City of Prague supported the theatre operations with a reasonably healthy budget. The years following, the City support had dwindled down to approximately one fifth of the budget from the previous years. Eventually, the agency operating the theatre, Echo Agency, could not find any sponsors and decided to close the theatre; the primary reason being the theatre’s location. The agency added, that time and patience were necessary before the project could “take off”.

In August 2002, the floods swept through the Czech Republic, putting the entire exhibition grounds under water, and requiring a great investment to return the grounds and the surrounding city park back to their natural, functional state. The entire exhibition grounds were then put under the care of Incheba Praha Management Group. No one was interested in the “unique” theatre space, and nothing related to theatre seemed to occur in the spaces – other than the exhibition of Contemporary Czech Theatre Architecture during the Prague Quadrennial International Exhibition of Theatre Architecture and Scenography in 2003.

Currently, Incheba Praha is not considering the possibility of rebuilding the Globe. In the Týden article, director of Incheba was quoted as saying, that if the company chooses to build the theatre again, it will not be in the same place.