Czechast with Daniel Hrbek, Theater Director

Czechast invites Daniel Hrbek, the director and manager of Švanda Theater in Prague, to discuss the enduring appeal of live theater, even in our digital age.

Despite the rise of streaming services, Prague’s theaters are thriving, with shows often sold out months in advance. People are clearly yearning for the unique experience of live performances. Here’s what Daniel had to say about this trend:

Švanda Theater in Prague|Photo: Kristýna Maková, Radio Prague International

"Our performances are sold out. I cen see that people want to be positive, want to meet and be with other people, want to share their artistic experience."

But that's not all we talked about. Daniel also shares some exciting news about an upcoming collaboration between Švanda Theater and the Shakespeare Center in Los Angeles. They are teaming up to bring a modern adaptation of Czech playwright Karel Čapek's groundbreaking science fiction play, R.U.R., to the stage:

"Our theater produced and performed a play based on a script developed by artificial intelligence. It is called 'AI: When a Robot Writes a Play. We had an international opening night broadcast live on YouTube, so people could watch the show live all over the world and we had good reviews in The Guardian and some other media."

This caught the attention of Ben Donenberg, the Founder and Artistic Director of The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles:

"Because whe wants to adapt Karel Čapek's R.U.R. for the Shakespeare Center in L. A. I think for the next year."

So, Ben Donenberg is coming to Prague in July, with more of his colleagues arriving later on, to start this brand new link of creativity between Czech and American artists. If you want to learn more, listen to Czechast!

AI: When Robot Writes a Play • SHOWCASE

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