The Bohemian National Hall Presents Rudolf II

The Bohemian NationAl Hall, a new Czech theater and cultural space once home to the original Manhattan Theater Club, hosts its first-ever full run of a play: Rudolf II, the story of a bisexual, bipolar emperor in 1600 Prague obsessed with alchemy, astronomy, his longtime mistress, and his newest lover and valet, a converted Jew. The production uses the vast expanse of the hall to create an environmental production in the center of its ballroom, accompanied by live choral singing from the balconies.

Set completely in Rudolf's bedroom, the play is a portrait of an emperor who was both extraordinarily visionary and self-destructive. As he confines himself within an increasingly suffocating atmosphere of paranoia and madness, those around him jockey for favor. Rudolf's unusual court is literally the stuff of legend, having spawned Goethe's Faust and the original Golem. The play features several historical figures, including Tycho Brahe, famed astronomer; Elizabeth Jane Weston, Latin poetess and daughter of the original Faust (Edward Kelley); and the spirit of Libuse, the prophetess who founded Prague.

The performance is part of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts' upcoming festival, Performing Revolution in Central and Eastern Europe.

The Bohemian NationAl Hall was founded in the late 19th century as a social club for Czech and Slovak immigrants. An official New York City landmark, from the 1930's to the 1980's it was rented to a variety of cultural organizations, including the Manhattan Theater Club. In 2001, it was sold to the Czech government for $1, and after sleek renovations were completed, it was opened to the public last year.

Untitled Theater Company #61 is a Theater of Ideas: scientific, political, philosophical, and above all, theatrical. UTC61 has been collaborating with the Czech theater community since its 2006 Havel Festival, the first ever presentation of Václav Havel's complete work. Since then UTC61 has focused on other Czech subjects, most recently, The Velvet Oratorio, a new piece performed at Lincoln Center in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. Other projects include the calypso musical version of Cat's Cradle, The Festival of Jewish Theater and Ideas, the NEUROfest, and the Ionesco Festival.

Tickets $18. Call 212-352-3101 or visit www.untitledtheater.com

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