Thomas S. Eliot wrote his poem – an opus magnum of the 20th century – as a reflection of the horrors of WWI and situated it in a landscape woven from the historical consciousness of humanity and voices of European literature. Through this open barren land, where town meets sea and desert and the state has collapsed, rambles don Quixote, the wandering knight who upholds the values of chivalry and never loses his faith in the power of love. Is he obsolete, foolish? While don Quixote’s acts are incomprehensible by reason, our hearts root for him. The production searches for the fundamental values in a country swept by the war. It is also a tribute to the naive adoration of Dulcinea del Toboso and to the thousands of heroes conceived by human imagination, the great spirits shining as a still point of the turning world.

Don Quixote. The Waste Land

State Opera

Shakespeare’s immortal tragedy about the world’s injustice, the burden of an arduous mission, and human small-mindedness. A ghostly journey in search for the meaning and sense of life, a drama where the past mingles with the future, a story about the erosion of the state, society and values.

Hamlet

National Theatre Prague

Strange tidings come from the mysterious land of Illyria! Duke Orsino, a music lover, is tormented by his unrequited love for the beautiful Countess Olivia. Sadly, Olivia mourns the death of her brother and refuses to accept love from anyone until seven years have passed. Meanwhile, a merry group runs her court: the drunkard Sir Toby, Olivia’s cunning gentlewoman Maria, the irresistibly ridiculous suitor Sir Aguecheek, and the pompous puritan Malvolio, all overseen by Feste (or Clown), the witty royal jester. But one day, beautiful Viola is shipwrecked on the coast by the rough seas and starts a new life disguised as a young man named Cesario ... The plot thickens, taking unexpected twist and turns and spinning a whirlwind of misleading and mistaken identities. Yet one thing becomes clear: love knows no limits, though one can easily fall in hopeless love with the wrong person.

Twelfth Night

The Estates Theatre

The councillors of Honice are to elect a bellman, the person responsible for security in the village. The task is formidable, with two strong candidates running for office – the veteran soldier Valentin Bláha and the tailor František Fiala. What is more, the mayor, Filip Dubský, and the first councillor, Jakub Bušek, obstinately sit tight, neither of them willing to compromise. The fraught situation is further aggravated by the municipal council receiving an anonymous letter threatening arson. A plethora of human types is presented on the stage – the “important persons” and their wives, old-timers, young lovers, lowlifes, pig-headed dimwits, tenacious truth-seekers and enthusiastic dupes. All of them live their little lives and great dreams, all of them desire, fight and argue, while the Red Rooster hovers above their roofs … Some 135 years after it was written, Our Uppish and Defiant Fellows is still a fascinating Czech play, a play about ourselves across generations and eras, a play in which the contest for the post of bellman becomes a gigantic struggle for truth and honesty.

Our Uppish and Defiant Fellows

A small town, where the old world of liberal fathers is fading away, sees the raise of young idealists proclaiming revolutionary slogans. Some believe this is an inevitable change. Others crave for power. But there are also those, the most dangerous ones, whose only purpose is overall destruction.

Ondřej Pavelka

Events

Upcoming events

Sep 12 - Dec 20, 2026

Don Quixote. The Waste Land · Národní divadlo

Sep 21, 2026 - Feb 5, 2027

Hamlet · Národní divadlo

Sep 26, 2026 - Feb 10, 2027

Twelfth Night · Národní divadlo

Oct 10, 2026 - Feb 21, 2027

Our Uppish and Defiant Fellows · Národní divadlo

Dec 2, 2026 - Apr 19, 2027

Demons · Národní divadlo

About

Ondřej Pavelka hasn't added a bio