Vinohrady Theatre: a classic performance about how love knows no boundaries - Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare's classic play is in the repertoire of the Vinohrady Theatre

Please note: Tickets can still be purchased for January 31, February 1 and February 19 at 7:00 p.m.

Romeo and Juliet
Thanks to William Shakespeare (1564-1616), the two young Veronese lovers are perhaps the most famous loving couple in European culture; they are known even to those who have never seen or read the tragedy of the famous Elizabethan. The play is also the greatest celebration of love, of human emotion, which, with all its defenceless vulnerability, is able to stand up to prejudice, family resentment, intrigue, ridicule and hatred.

A great drama theatre should regularly return to this play and always convey that experience of emotion to new generations of viewers - and remind older generations of it. A story full of dangerous and deadly street battles, but also of emotional confessions, with a famous balcony scene, Mercutio's unforgettable monologue about the Queen of Dreams, Mab, and the lovers' quarrel after a night of love, whether the morning singer who wakes them up is a nightingale or a lark, and with the feigned suicide that escapes in the tragic conclusion of the play, has received many treatments - also in film, opera, ballet, musical. It therefore does no harm to return to its original form, as written by Europe's most performed author to this day four hundred and twenty years ago - and in Jiří Josek's contemporary translation, to let the powerful story ring out without decorative modernisation in its essential stage effectiveness.

Romeo and Juliet is a rare opportunity for both producers and audiences to return to the world of poetry, imagination and deep emotion, values that are so often lacking today, and which in the ultimate dramatic poem are pitted against physical violence, pragmatism, intrigue and abysmal hatred. Such a dramatic conflict between the two extremes of human existence in this world can give us a new understanding of the higher meaning of love in our daily lives.

The premiere was on 12 December 2015

The music was recorded by the Epoque orchestra and Martinů Voices, conducted by Tomáš Brauner.

Running time: 170 minutes

Creators

Cast

Romeo, Son of Montague   Marek Lambora
Julie, Capulet's daughter   Sabina Rojková
Mercuzio, Romeo's friend   Ondřej Kraus
Tybald, Mrs. Capulet's nephew   Marek Holý
Benvolio, Romeo's friend   Jiří Roskot
Capulet   Svatopluk Skopal
Mrs. Capulet   Antonie Talacková
Nanny   Tereza Bebarova
Montek   Otakar Brousek Jr.
Mrs. Montague   Eva Režnarová
Paris, a young nobleman   Daniel Bambas
Father Lorenzo, Franciscan friar   Igor Bareš
Chorus   Tomas Dastlik
Peter, Julie's nanny's servant   Vojtěch Bartos
Escalus, Duke of Verona   Tomas Töpfer
Abraham, Montague's servant, Brother John, Franciscan friar   David Steigerwald
Samson, Gregory, Castrol, Anton (servant of the House of Capulet), Apothecary, Townspeople of Verona   Lukáš Kofroň / Jan Battěk / Mimic Choir of the Vinohrady Theatre