Our Mission
The Prague Shakespeare Company presents professional theatre productions, workshops, classes, lectures and other theatrical events of the highest quality, conducted primarily in English by a diverse multinational ensemble of professional theatre artists, with an emphasis on the plays of William Shakespeare. The Prague Shakespeare Company brings to Czech, European and international audiences performances that are fresh, bold, imaginative, thought-provoking, and eminently accessible, connecting the truths of the past with the challenges and possibilities of today.
Our Vision
The core of our artistic vision is creating high-caliber, classic yet cutting-edge English language performances of Shakespeare’s timeless, cross-culturally relevant work with a dedicated ensemble of theatre artists. The Prague Shakespeare Company is dedicated to presenting to Czech, European and world communities vibrant year-round, professional theatre, essential in shaping Prague’s global, culturally dynamic landscape.
Why PSC?
Until the launch of the Prague Shakespeare Company, Prague’s theatre arts patrons, audiences, artists and students lacked comprehensive access to professional English-language classical theatre. Prague Shakespeare Company fills a void in Prague’s arts and expat community by presenting classical English-language dramatic works that are fresh, vibrant, affordable and engaging. The Prague Shakespeare Company is the only professional English-language classical theatre company in the Czech Republic.
Why Shakespeare?
The Prague Shakespeare Company believes that Shakespeare is our theatrical DNA and that there is a reason his texts still reverberate today. These timeless stories are universal in theme, speaking directly to the human condition around the world, through all ages. Over four hundred years since their premiere, Shakespeare’s plays continue to inspire and entertain in theatres throughout the world, in every language in which any kind of theatrical performance is given. Shakespeare’s work offers a dramatic richness unequaled in any other age or epoch; it is theatre where the ritualistic and the comic, the high-brow and the low-brow, the lyrical and the bawdy, all meet and intermingle with the complexity of life. Shakespeare’s words constantly remind us of our own humanity and through his texts we can better understand our own modern experiences, anxieties, and sensibilities. A primary purpose of the Prague Shakespeare Company is to continue this rich tradition of entertaining, enlightening, educating and inspiring audiences, artists and students not only in the Czech Republic and Europe but worldwide.
Why English-language Shakespeare in Prague?
There is a rich tradition of experiencing Shakespeare in English in the Czech Republic. Robert Browne’s acting troupe perhaps played Shakespeare in English in Prague as early as 1596 and then certainly in 1603. In 1619 they returned to celebrate the wedding of Princess Elizabeth to the Elector of Palatine. Shortly before that time Czech aristocrats watched plays in the Globe and other London theatres whilst on their travels. The English language continues to be the most dominant world language for business and commerce and is the language of the greatest writer in the Western tradition: William Shakespeare. To truly experience Shakespeare one must “hear” the plays in the English language. Shakespeare in English also compliments the great tradition of Shakespeare performances in Czech; deepening appreciation and understanding for audiences, artists and students not only of art, theatre and Shakespeare but the English-language as well.