From 17-28 May, Brno was once again the center of the theatre world, as the Divadelní Svět Brno (DSB; ‘Theatre World Brno’) international festival drew over 10,000 spectators to its more than 60 performances. Including the rich accompanying program, the festival offered over 100 events, and brought over 50 foreign and domestic drama, dance and alternative theatre companies to the city, ranking it among the three largest theatre events of its kind in the Czech Republic.
The festival’s programme took place in the buildings of the Brno National Theatre (the Mahen Theatre, the Janáček Theatre and the Reduta Theatre), Divadlo Husa na provázku, the drama and music stage of the Brno Municipal Theatre, Divadlo Polárka, Divadlo Radost, both art stages of JAMU (Studio Marta and the Orlí Theatre), and other non-theatrical venues such as the piazzetta in front of the Janáček Theatre, Brno Káznice, and the Tržnice on Zelný trh.
International highlights…
As every year, the festival placed the main emphasis on the foreign programme. The highlight of the festival was the performance of ‘Quanta’, which originated at the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, and was co-produced by DSB alongside the Polish International Theatre Festival Divine Comedy, the Greek art organization Onassis Stegi, and the Belgian cultural center deSingel. Set in a fictional situation in a Swiss hotel in the presence of the greatest figures of interwar physics, chemistry and philosophy, the production offered the audience a captivating and sophisticated multimedia experience full of live projections and captivating music, enhanced by its size on the stage of the Janáček Theatre. The premiere of the work took place on 20 May, and it was reprised on 21 May.
Two other significant performances from the festival programme were also the result of cooperation. The first was a production staged at Reduta by the Warsaw Variety Theatre and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, which presented a dramatic contemporary story called ‘When the Snow Melts’, from the environment of a Polish family. The second project created in this way was ‘By the River’, co-produced by the Slovak National Theatre and the Vienna Schauspielhaus. The Slovak National Theatre also presented a second production, ‘Odliv’, depicting the current Slovak phenomenon of young and educated people leaving their homeland. The range of foreign productions for adults also included a production by Theatre Bremen, ‘Because the Night’, about the legendary American singer Patti Smith.
There were also foreign productions presented for children, including the puppet show ‘Robinson.ka’ by the Žilina Puppet Theatre, which was created in the production of the award-winning children’s theatre ODIVO. For the young adult audience, the Bratislava LUDUS Theatre staged a production of ‘The Odyssey’, based on the famous Homer epic, updated for young audiences by the contemporary German author Roland Schimmelpfennig. This was followed at the very end of the festival by a project from the Norwegian NIE Theatre, performed in Czech and English, entitled ‘We Come from afar’.
… to home-grown delights
Another fundamental priority of DSB is to bring the best of Czech theatre to Brno every year. The Slovak Theatre from Uherské hradiště presented a title written for the theatre and the company – ‘How We Got Here’; the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre brought the classic ancient tragedy ‘Medea’ to Brno; another Ostrava production was the drama ‘Mary Stuart’ by Friedrich Schiller, updated by the British theatre director and novelist Robert Icke.
Prague’s NoD presented the production ‘The Scammers Attack’ at the festival, while the popular Geissler Hofcomoedianten returned to the festival with ‘Simply Simplicius or Holy Simplicity!’ – based on the book by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen – with the appropriate subtitle: ‘Forrest Gump in the backdrop of the Thirty Years’ War’.
Moving scenes
The DSB festival has long offered a popular line of dance and movement productions that differ from those of classical ballet. This year, the festival prepared three productions designed for large festival stages. The first was presented by the renowned Czech dance group DEKKADANCERS, which, together with the Czech Philharmonic, prepared a dance production with spoken word based on the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The second was ‘The National Collection of Bad Habits’, a new comic circus performance based on the well-known project by Kateřina Šedá, which maps the bad habits that we all know well and that accompany us all throughout our lives. The third movement production of this year’s festival was a project called ‘Fairy Tales’ by the POCKETART collective, co-produced by the Tanec Praha dance festival.
Small companies on big stages
For the 6th year, DSB was running the so-called Performance Incubator, which sees Czech independent theatre groups cooperating with larger institutions to stage productions that would normally exceed their operational possibilities. The largest co-production project this year, prepared in cooperation with the Letí Theatre, was the immersive ‘The Last One Goes Out’, which premiered in Brno Káznice. The production is the result of a two-year workshop sponsored by the international network Fabulamundi – Playwrighting Europe.
Other co-productions included the project ‘Mountains, Mines, Episodes’ by the D’epog experimental theatre, and the latest project by the Prague Studio of Heroes, ‘The World Around the Corner’, which premiered at this year’s DSB. The last festival co-production was the presentation of the work-in-progress project ‘(ID)ENTITA’ by the Brno theatre group Aldente, which provides theatre opportunities for people with Downs syndrome.
Showcasing Brno talent
Brno theatres are also represented in the “Brno showcase” section, where festival audiences can get to know the best of the city’s local scene. The main organizer, the Brno National Theatre, presented ‘Vlastenci’, directed by Jakub Šmíd with Tomáš Šulaj and Viktor Kuzník in the lead roles. The Reduta Theatre hosted ‘The Hotelier of the Hour’ by the NdB Drama section and ‘Program 6’ by the NdB2 Ballet.
The Brno City Theatre contributed its latest production ‘Otec’ and the musical ‘Šakalí léta’, while Husa na provázku included two new works in its showcase this year: ‘Jedno nám za to to děcka podekujou’, based on the prose work by Petr Šesták, and the ‘From the Sexual Life of Our People’ directed by Daniela Špinar. The Polárka Children’s Theatre presented ‘Love from TikTok’ on its Small Stage, and the production ‘Poprvé’, directed by Štěpán Gajdoš, on its Large Stage. The Radost Theatre presented its latest premiere at the festival in the large hall – an adaptation of the famous literary classic ‘Animal Farm’ – and ‘1950: Horáková ON AIR’ in its small hall.
As part of the Brno showcase, the festival is increasingly emphasizing Brno’s independent theatre scene, such as a performance by Divadlo 3+kk entitled ‘Franz Kafka Lives: Žranice!’, which took place in the premises of the Brno Káznice.
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In the autumn, the festival will return with the DSB+ program, bringing one selected production from theatres outside Brno to the Reduta Theater every month.
Next year’s 17th DSB festival is scheduled for 13-24 May 2026.
Brno Daily is a media partner of Divadelní Svět Brno.
