Dear audience, thank you for twenty-five years of shared life!
Líšeň Theater was born in Brno-Líšeň at the end of the last century as an independent professional ensemble. Over the quarter-century, we have presented over two thousand of our own performances, workshops, and discussions. Additionally, we have invited and staged several hundred artistic productions – theatrical, musical, and visual arts – as part of the festivals we have been organizing since 1999. We have implemented numerous educational projects and have had a longstanding collaboration with Romani dancers and musicians. The theatrical creations of Líšeň Theater developed in collaboration with the Roma community have been included in the international RomArchiv collection, documenting Roma activities, especially in artistic fields. We also focus on human rights and political topics.
We travel to institutions and hospitals to reach disadvantaged audiences.
In Líšeň, our presence began in the late nineties with the “rescue of Dělňák,” initially designated for demolition. To raise awareness, a festival was created, which in subsequent years expanded to include significant Czech and foreign guests. In addition to Dělňák Líšeň, it embraced other beautiful and important places in Líšeň – the castle park, the oldest Workers’ House on Šimáčkova Street, Mariánské údolí, Kostelíček, the spaces of the abolished library, and in recent years, most notably, the garden of the former Orlovna, which has become another place saved for the joy of Líšeň residents.
Throughout our long-standing presence, we have collaborated with local artists, associations, and organizations, inspiring us to establish the Líšeň sobě association and a series of Líšeň sobě Festivals that have been taking place since 2010.
In addition to organizing festivals in Líšeň, co-founding associations, and preserving picturesque places and buildings, we have also revived the tradition of the Líšeň Carnival, an idea initiated by Josef Trávníček from the Folklore Ensemble Líšňáci. Originally a small-scale event, The Líšeň Carnival has evolved into a well-known, all-encompassing celebration with over a hundred participants from several local artistic ensembles and the public. It attracts thousands of viewers from Líšeň and the entire city of Brno.
We celebrated our Quarter Century with a festival in the courtyard and garden where it all began. Through exhibitions, workshops, and performances, we also commemorated the significant jubilee of puppeteer Tonda Malon, whose puppets play a role not only in our productions.
You can watch a report about our celebrations and the theater in general, produced by Czech Television for ArtZone, at this link (28:38).
