The Summer Shakespeare Festival (, ) takes place in the courtyard of Burgrave Palace at

Prague Castle Prague Castle (; ) is a castle complex in Prague, Czech Republic serving as the official residence and workplace of the president of the Czech Republic. Built in the 9th century, the castle has long served as the seat of power for List of rulers ...

. The festival was originally initiated by

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...

. The performances are also presented at Špilberk in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

and at

Bratislava Castle Bratislava Castle (, ; ; ) is the main castle of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. The massive rectangular building with four corner towers stands on an isolated rocky hill of the Little Carpathians, directly above the Danube river, in ...

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

. The organizers closely cooperate with Martin Hilský, who translated most of the staged plays. So far, the most acclaimed was the performance of ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

'' in 2002. In 2004, director Martin Huba was selected for an ambitious project, a performance of ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' such as that one evening Capulets would be Slovaks and Monteks Czechs and the next day vice versa. The project failed, Huba said to the media that even though the dialogs translated by Ľubomír Feldek and Martin Hilský were perfect, they somehow did not fit together. In the end, the only Slovak-speaking character was the Nurse, performed by Emília Vášáryová.

Selected performances

* 2002 – ''King Lear'' (Lear: Jan Tříska, directed by Martin Huba) * 2003 – ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'' (Hamlet: Jiří Langmajer, directed by Lucie Bělohradská) * 2004 – ''Romeo and Juliet'' (Romeo: Jiří Hájek / Ladislav Hampl, Juliet: Kateřina Čapková / Zuzana Vejvodová, Nurse: Emília Vášáryová, directed by Martin Huba) * 2005 – '' Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' (Viola: Jitka Schneiderová / Zuzana Vejvodová, Olivia: Linda Rybová / Hana Ševčíková, Feste: Jiří Langmajer / Miroslav Táborský, Malvolio: Alois Švehlík / Jan Vlasák, directed by Viktor Polesný) * 2006 – ''

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

'' (Othello: Michal Dlouhý / Martin Zahálka, Iago: Oldřich Navrátil, Desdemona: Lucie Vondráčková / Zuzana Vejvodová, directed by Petr Kracik)

External links

*
Photogallery from ''Romeo and Juliet''
at scena.cz Prague Castle Festivals in Prague Summer festivals Shakespeare festivals {{czech-stub

Selected performances

See also

External links