High water has impressed its signature both on people and on actual cultural institutions. Only a certain miracle caused that puppet theatres (except for the Realm of Puppets) has not extended the number of "Theatres under Water". The only decisive metre of the water surface failed in reaching the catastrophy.
The mentioned Realm of Puppets witnessed the destruction of the scene, the stage and a considerable part of the technical ecquipment. The reconstructions of the cloakrooms and the lounge will have to be done. The archives were damaged, too - not only the carefully constructed and from the historical point of view the unique archives and the library of the Realm of Puppets, heavy damaged suffered the Library of the Theatre Faculty of the Prague Academy of Arts (DAMU) and the Prague Municipal Library. Unfortunatelly, the depozit of the National Museum at Terezín were heavily damaged, too: curtains, puppets, puppet costumes and the puppet barrel organ of the Czech folk puppeteers (Kopecká, Dubský), ornaments of the art scene of the Realm of Puppet Theatre of the thirties (Sucharda, Bouda, Suchardová-Brichová) and puppets of the fifties and seventies of Central Puppet Theatre (Malik, Cynibulk, Havlík. 333 objects were affected by the floods, a part was definitely damaged (taking into account the used material: wood, clay, plaster, paper, textil, papermaché, glue, amyloid). Only 9 curtains, 4 puppets, set of puppet´s costumes by A. Kopecká and the barrel organ of the a folk puppeteer, 41 decorations of the Realm of Puppets and 23 puppets of the Central Puppet Theatre of the key productions from the fiftieth and sixties, will be able to be recontructed.
If you have other ideas or possibilities how to help either financially, materially or profesionally to those struck by the flood, please, contact directly The Realm of Puppets (Vladimír Novák, Chaiman of the Art Scene of the Realm of Puppets, mobil 603 702 007 or Ing. Jan Novák, Art Leader of the ensemble, mobil 603 560 236, account for reconstruction of the Realm of Puppets at the Czechoslovak Commercial Bank, a. s. , No 12141214/0300), National Museum (Mgr. Jan Kostroun, Administrator of the Puppet Collection) or AURA-PONT, Theatre and Literary Agency Ltd. , Radlická 99, 150 00 Prague 5, tel. 25155 4938, 25155 3992, fax: 25155 0207 0207, e-mail: zaplavy@aura-pont.cz, www.divadlo.cz/zaplavy who together with the Alfred Radok Foundation, Association of Professional Theatres of the Czech Republic and the Theatre Institute declared a public collection in harmony with the Bill 117/2001 Sb. (No of the account: 179201477/0300).
Czech UNIMA Centre, info foreign.dpt@divadlo.cz
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