Legends of Magic Prague at The New Stage

The latest Laterna Magika project is based on the performances of Ji?i Srnec’s Black Theatre staged in the 1990s in several versions (Ahasver, Timewalker, Prague Pedestrian, Legends of Old Mother Prague). Legends of Magic Prague is an essentially modified Laterna Magika adaptation with new music, choreography, sets and additionally filmed sections. Prague is a city of legends and myths, some of which are presented in this multi-media performance (the legends of the most famous dwellers of the Faust House – Faust and the English alchemist Edward Kelley; of Chanina, daughter of a Jewish merchant who spurns all her suitors and, out of love for the enigmatic Master of the Vltava, enters the river a nd returns on the roofs only in the semblance of a green cat; of the mysterious encounters of Emperor Rudolf II with the philosopher and great personality of Prague Jewish culture Rabbi Lowe; and finally the legend pertaining to the creation of the Old Town Astronomical Clock by Master Hanuš).

After a relatively long time, it is project drawing upon the Laterna Magika principles, linking up to its artistic inheritance and the legacy of its creators. This production also served to celebrate the 80th birthday of Ji?i Srnec, one of the most distinguished Laterna magika artists and, most notably, the founder and artistic director of the Black Theatre – a small theatre of great miracles.