The Theatre World Festival Brno was established in 2010 by the leading theatres in Brno and TIC – the tourist information centre of Brno, who was, at the time, the main organizer. Theatre World Festival is a cultural festival brings the whole city to life; the squares and streets of Brno pulsate with performance just as much as the theatres do.
Theatre World Festival Brno is in a superb location, the second city of Czechia is within easy striking distance of Prague, Bratislava and Vienna. Another positive factor is the year-round cooperation of Brno’s theatres – The National Theatre Brno, Goose on a String Theatre, HaDivadlo, Brno City Theatre, Polárka Theatre, Studio Marta and Radost Theatre.
The Festival is a major international theatre festival, one of the three largest theatre festivals in the Czech Republic. The festival strives hard to attain the highest European standards and in doing so cultivates an audience that has the highest expectations from the art scene. The festival brings productions that audiences would otherwise have to travel outside the country to see. Each year the festival puts on more than fifty performances in the main programme.
Dramaturgy
In 2015, the National Theatre Brno was appointed the main festival organizer by the City of Brno. This meant a new long term direction for the festival’s curation: towards becoming a showcase of progressive theatre pieces with an international reach.
A long-term goal of the organizers is to bring the best Czech companies to Brno, as well as international productions. Most of the performances are subtitled and the response of the audiences has been increasingly positive. The performances by the Czech companies are uniquely available at this Czech festival.
The festival is not limited to drama; audiences can also enjoy dance, movement and musical theatre productions. After very positive reviews in previous years, the organizers also focus on plays for young adults and families with children (multiple collaborations with the DRAK Theatre, Small Theatre České Budějovice and the Naive Theatre Liberec).
The richness and variety of the theatre groups involved really makes the festival a major international cultural event.
The organizers
The National Theatre Brno collaborates with other leading Brno theatres to organize the festival. As in previous years, the co-organizers of the festival are the Goose on a String Theatre, Brno City Theatre and Polárka Theatre and Radost Theatre. Apart from these theatres, the Theatre Faculty of the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno and its musical/drama laboratory at the Orlí Street Theatre are also involved in the festival preparations.
The cooperation which takes place between the individual theatres in Brno is a real asset to the Theatre World Festival Brno. During the festival they cease to be competitors, and are transformed into partners both in the selection of productions, as well as the organization and logistics for guest performances.
All of this tried-and-tested cooperation means the festival has a large number of different theatre spaces available. This allows a wide variety of options when selecting productions. This joining of forces creates an ideal network of theatres that is quite exceptional in this country. Especially in terms of the advanced technical facilities available for all types of productions.
In an effort to get as close as possible to the audience, creative use of external spaces suitable for this purpose is also made when planning and giving performances.
Thanks to the positive feedback on the organization by the National Theatre Brno, other groups from the city have gotten involved with the festival, which has really helped the event to develop. Similarly, more and more theatres have become interested in taking part in the festival, which increases its prestige both in the Czech Republic and abroad.
