It is barely a week since disastrous floods invaded the ancient and beautiful cities of Bohemia and caused enormous damage. Another dark August (34 years after the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968) threatens to paralyse Czech culture and its most "live" offspring, the theatre. Theatres in Prague, Ústí nad Labem, Budweis (Ceské Budejovice) and Pilsen were flooded entirely or in part and their buildings, technical equipment, scenery and costumes badly or even fatally damaged. Prague's historical National Theatre, the famous Theatre on the Balustrades and others will have to reconstruct their equipment; the young and highly popular award-winning companies of the Theatre in Dlouhá Street and the Theatre Pod Palmovkou in Prague, and the Cinoherní (Drama) Studio in Ústí, will have to leave their totally destroyed houses and seek provisional stages to be able to continue their existence. The total damage cannot yet be precisely estimated, but the total sum could amount to £6 - 7 million (10 million $US or EUR).
The AURA-PONT Agency, with the Alfréd Radok Foundation, the Association of Professional Theatres of the Czech Republic and Theatre Institute Prague, has just started a charitable collection, the proceeds of which will be used for the reconstruction of the flooded and damaged Czech theatres. We would be happy if the money from the donors could at least reduce the difference between the enormous costs of reconstruction and limited public sources and insurance. Any support from friends of theatre around the world will be appreciated. Please send your contribution to account no. 179201477/0300 at CSOB, Na Príkope 14, 115 20 Praha 1, Czech Republic. Detailed information about affected and damaged theatres, including photographs, can be found at the website address given below.
