The Bald Princess

Lena Stein-Schneider

#musical puppet fairy tale
#for children
#mobile performance 

A co-production project of the National Theatre, the Loutky v nemocnici (Puppets in Hospitals) association and the Divadlo DamDam theatre within the Musica non grata cycle, financially supported by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Prague.

A mobile theatre performance for children aged 4 to 8, intended for nursery schools, children’s festivals, and children in hospitals and other medical institutions. It can be combined with a 45-minute workshop, part of which is a complimentary spreadsheet for children. We can either come to you, or you can order and attend a performance at the State Opera in Prague within the ND+ educational programme. The production is performed in Czech or German.

Would you like to learn more, or would you like to order a performance of The Bald Princess?
ND+ programme: t.dubsky@narodni-divadlo.cz
We will come to your schools and kindergartens: divadlodamdam@seznam.cz
Other performance types: jakub.matejka@loutkyvnemocnici.cz

Dates

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Sat 06/04/2024
2.00 pm

Prague, Ronald McDonald House, Motol University Hospital

#premiere

Tue 04/06/2024
5.00 pm

Prague, Minor Theatre

Tickets

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The Bald Princess,
or A Brazen Puppet Fairy Tale to Lena Stein-Schneider’s music

Following on from the fairy tale with music LouTkáček (Tuttifäntchen), we have prepared another project for children within the Musica non grata cycle Women in Music! The new production is inspired by the music fairy tale Goldhärchen (Goldilocks), created by the German composer Lena Stein-Schneider, who between 1942 and 1945 was interned at the Theresienstadt camp-ghetto.

The story of The Bald Princess is set in a kingdom where a beautiful, albeit somewhat (or downright?) brazen, golden-haired princess rejects one wooer after another. She ultimately does fall in love, but the flippant girl inadvertently casts a spell on her chosen prince, turning him into a thrush! She then sets out on an adventure-filled, at times dangerous, journey with the aim to liberate him. During her expedition, the princess has to overcome numerous pitfalls and obstacles, yet she learns how to respect and be compassionate to those around her. The princess encounters a host of peculiar creatures and animals, who plainly hold up the mirror to human iniquities. The princess pays a high price for saving her beloved prince, but, like in every proper fairy tale, all ends well!

The engrossing fairy-tale production, with puppets playing the main role, features arrangements of songs written by the German composer Lena Stein-Schneider, who between 1942 and 1945 was incarcerated at the Theresienstadt camp-ghetto. A young staging team has created a poetic, humorous, edificatory, action-packed and playful theatre piece, reaching out to the children of today.

The production, suitable for children aged 4 to 8, has been conceived as mobile – we will be happy to bring it to your nursery or primary school, or present it at a festival. In collaboration with the Loutky v nemocnici (Puppets in Hospitals) association, we will also give benefit performances of The Bald Princess for children in hospitals and other medical institutions. Moreover, you can order a show within the ND+ educational programme, taking place at the National Theatre venues in Prague. A performance can be combined with a 45-minute workshop, or the two activities can be ordered separately. We have prepared for the participating children a beautiful complimentary spreadsheet, encompassing a comic strip, a song, a colouring book and a cutout. The production is performed in Czech, as well as in German!

Workshop for children, combined with a performance of The Bald Princess (for groups)

The music workshop, inspired by the fairy-tale opera created by the Theresienstadt composer Lena Stein-Schneider, affords the children the opportunity to spend a whole day with a composer: from waking up, to a music rehearsal, to the departure for a tour of the USA. They will try out what it is like to be a composer, to conduct a rehearsal or to run to a transatlantic steamship.

During the workshop, the children will focus on rhythm and dynamics, learn a song, and also find out how things a century ago were different from today. They will receive an illustrated spreadsheet.

Music workshop duration: 50 minutes
In Czech or German
Target group: 1st–3rd grade of primary school
Minimum capacity: 20 persons
Maximum capacity: 30 persons
Group orders only

Concept, scenario, direction: Matyáš Míka, et al.
Music: Lena Stein-Schneider (1874–1958) and Markéta Labusová
Set design: Iva Ščerbáková
Cast: Alžběta Nováková and Kryštof Míka
German translation: Johannes Mohl

The stage director, playwright and actor Matyáš Míka studied direction and dramaturgy at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre of the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts (DAMU) in Prague, and philosophy and Bohemistics at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University. While at DAMU, he and Markéta Labusová created the puppet fairy tale Sedmero krkavců (The Seven Ravens, 2021), and in tandem with Marta Hermannová he conceived the productions Nebezpečí přetečení (Danger of Overflow, 2022) and Tupým koncem (With the Blunt End, 2021). Within the DAMÚZA studio, he, Markéta Labusová and Alžběta Nováková staged the fairy-tale Uši pro princeznu (Ears for the Princess, 2022) and the immersive project Stroj času: Vyšehrad (Time Machine: Vyšehrad, 2022). He is currently working with Alžběta Nováková on the original production Bába a holub (The Granny and the Pigeon, scheduled to premiere in 2025). Matyáš Míka is engaged as a stage director and actor at the DAMDAM theatre, for which he and his brother Kryštof have created the productions Co je víc? (What is More?, 2022) and Obří tajemství (A Colossal Secret, 2021). Moreover, he collaborates with the Loutky v nemocnici (Puppets in Hospitals) association, for which he has crafted the performances Amundsen (2024) and Jonáš (Jonas, 2023). Over the long term, he has cooperated with the Den poezie (Day of Poetry) festival, most recently on the opening evening, Básně v obraze (Poems in Pictures, 2023), at the Klementinum in Prague.

The performance artist, stage director, dramaturge, multi-instrumentalist, translator and educator Markéta Labusová is currently studying at the Department of Creativity and Pedagogy of the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts (DAMU) in Prague. She previously studied direction and dramaturgy at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre of DAMU, as well as composition at the Music and Dance Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts. At DAMU, she and the stage director Matyáš Míka created the puppet fairy tale Sedmero krkavců (The Seven Ravens, 2021). Within the DAMÚZA studio, she, Míka and Alžběta Nováková staged the fairy-tale Uši pro princeznu (Ears for the Princess, 2022) and the immersive project Stroj času: Vyšehrad (Time Machine: Vyšehrad, 2022). For the Loutky v nemocnici (Puppets in Hospitals) association, she has composed the music for the play Cesta do Vánoc (The Road to Christmas, 2022) and worked on Matyáš Míka’s production Amundsen (2023). She and the designer Iva Ščerbáková have created the production Krajina v batůžku (A Land in a Rucksack, 2023). As a member of the vocal group Veselé chvíle, she has appeared in the productions Triomphez (2023) and Beracha (2022), implemented under the auspices of the Prague City Gallery. As a director, producer and performer, she participated in the premiere of the graduation composition Moje Sibiř (My Siberia) by Roman Zabelov, with whom in 2023 she conceived the music-dramatic piece Podélné trhání stébel trávy (Tearing Grass-Blades Lengthwise). She is currently preparing projects for the Divadlo Komedie theatre and leads a creative workshop at the Rudolfinum Gallery.

The visual artist, set designer and performance artist Iva Ščerbáková studied at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre of the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts (DAMU) in Prague. She devotes to original and puppet theatre, installations, book illustration and drawing, with a special focus on landscape and fragility. She and Markéta Labusová created the production Krajina v batůžku (A Land in a Rucksack, 2023), in which she herself performs. She has collaborated on productions at the Bajka theatre in Český Těšín (Hänsel und Gretel, 2024), Studio G (Hordubal, 2019, and Through the Forbidden Land, 2021) and the Puppet Theatre in Ostrava (Plasťáci útočí, 2019). Furthermore, she has worked for the Loutky v nemocnici (Puppets in Hospitals) association, designing the sets for the show Cesta do Vánoc (The Road to Christmas, 2021) and creating the painting workshop Drátci (2023). As a member of the vocal group Veselé chvíle, she has appeared in the projects Triomphez (2023) and Beracha (2022). She currently works on the Špatné divadlo production Ida and the exhibition on hunting at the Czech-German Centre in Schönsee, leads creative classes at the Rudolfinum Gallery’s Artpark and prepares her first book, Tohle je bobr.

Alžběta Nováková, a graduate of Czech in communication with the deaf at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, is currently studying at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre of the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts (DAMU) in Prague. She specialises in theatre and film acting, puppetry, improvisation, dabbing and radio plays. She has appeared in the productions Triomphez (Troja Chateau, 2023), George (Divadlo Venuše ve Švehlovce, 2023), Pětkrát kolem světa (Five Times Around the World, 2023) and Mistr a Markétka (The Master and Margarita, 2022) within the Tygr v tísni (Tiger in Distress) troupe, and the itinerant show Cirkus Faust of the Budenebude kůň group. She has directed the production Příchozí (The Arrivals, 2022) at the Vzlet arts centre in Prague. Alžběta Nováková has also appeared in the short student documentaries Auto.au.rum (Lukáš Valíšek, 2022) and Života proud (The Stream of Life, Jan Hecht and Greta Stocklassa, 2020). In 2022, she performed in Matěj Šámal’s semi-feature Přes to nejede vlak (There is No Changing It).

Kryštof Míka studied Romanian and Italian at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague. Over the past few years, he has made his name as a musician and puppeteer. He has been engaged at the DAMDAM theatre, where he has worked on his brother Matyáš’s productions Co je víc? (What is More?, 2022) and Obří tajemství (A Colossal Secret, 2021). Moreover, he has appeared in the Loutky v nemocnici (Puppets in Hospitals) association’s performances Amundsen (2024) and Cesta do Vánoc (The Road to Christmas, 2021). Kryštof Míka also focuses on stage improvisation and dramatherapy within workshops at psychiatric hospitals. He is a drummer of the band Iritující Pýchora.

The Loutky v nemocnici association devotes to dramatherapy, pursuing a plethora of psycho-social care activities. For 19 years, it has focused on delighting children and senior citizens in hospitals and other medical facilities. Puppets can often act on patients more effectively than pills – they can improve mood, make one laugh, alleviate homesickness, help forget about pain and anguish for a while, regardless of whether you are 8 or 88, whether you look forward to early recovery or you know there is nowhere to return. By giving performances, through song and game, Loutky v nemocnici aims to facilitate the therapeutic process, and opens scope to play and sharing that which the patients go through. Every year, Loutky v nemocnici sees tens of thousands of hospitalised patients within more than 1,200 visits throughout the Czech Republic. You can support the association’s work by donating a financial gift to the transparent account 37373767/5500 or via the darujme.cz portal.