The "father" of the rotating auditorium in Krumlov was the Latvian Joan Brehms

Publisher
ČTK
05.06.2018 13:55

Prague - Basic information about the revolving auditorium of the natural theater in the castle park of Český Krumlov, which was put into operation 60 years ago on June 9, 1958:

The author of the revolving auditorium located in the garden of the Český Krumlov castle is theater architect and set designer Joan Brehms (1907-1995), a native of Latvian Libava (Liepaja), who started in 1945 at the South Bohemian Theater as a worker. Gradually, he worked there as a theater architect, set designer, and artist, creating around 150 stage designs for the theater. Brehms came to South Bohemia via Slovakia, where he was forcibly conscripted, serving with the Red Army as an interpreter.

The original revolving auditorium was designed in the late 1950s with director Otto Haas. In 1947, he also laid the foundation for the South Bohemian Theater Festivals in Český Krumlov with Karel Konstantin.

The first performance on the revolving stage was on June 9, 1958, with the staging of the play Lost Face by the German prose writer and playwright Günther Weisenborn. At that time, only 60 spectators could fit, and human power was required to move the stage. However, just a year after its establishment, the auditorium's capacity increased to 400, and the duo Haas-Brehms staged Jirásek's Lucerna in front of the expanded auditorium.

In 1960, the auditorium was modified, increasing its capacity to 550 seats, and electric motors replaced human power.

The auditorium's current appearance was given by a reconstruction from 1989 to 1993, which increased its capacity to the current 644 seats. Four electric motors were installed to move the revolving stage.

Since its inception, the operator of the revolving auditorium has been the South Bohemian Theater based in České Budějovice. All four artistic ensembles – drama, opera, ballet, and puppeteering – contribute to the theater productions before the revolving auditorium.

However, the future of the Český Krumlov revolving stage is uncertain. Heritage conservationists are bothered that the unique auditorium built during the era of socialist Czechoslovakia mars the character of the castle garden. This fact is also pointed out by the international organization UNESCO, which has listed Český Krumlov since 1992.

Last year, the revenue of the South Bohemian Theater from the revolving auditorium was 32.9 million CZK, 4.5 percent higher year-on-year. A total of 56,528 spectators attended, which is 1,330 more than in 2016. Revenue from the revolving auditorium constitutes nearly 80 percent of all theater revenues. By last year, over 2.117 million spectators had passed through the revolving auditorium, watching nearly 3,500 performances.

Another revolving auditorium in the Czech Republic is located in Týn nad Vltavou. It was built by the local amateur ensemble Vltavan in 1983. According to available sources, the first revolving auditorium in Europe opened in 1959 in Tampere, Finland.

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