Arena Theatre ( sk, Divadlo Aréna) is one of the oldest theatres in
Bratislava.
It was established in 1828 on the right bank of
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...
. In the beginning it served as
an open summer
amphitheatre
An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...
, hence the name Arena. The current building was built in
1898.
From its establishment till the end of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, many
Hungarian,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n and
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
theatre companies performed there. After the war, the
theatre was gradually closed and served as a storehouse for state-owned Slovak Television.
The theatre was revived by a group of people around
mime
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...
artist
Milan Sládek, opening performance
took place in 1997. The repertoire consisted of several pantomimic performances, an annual
pantomimic festival took place there.
In 2003, renowned Slovak actor
Juraj Kukura
Juraj Kukura (born 15 March 1947, in Prešov) is a Slovak actor.
Kukura studied acting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (VŠMU). Since 1985, when he emigrated to West Germany, his films were banned in the Czechoslovak Socialist ...
became managing director and focus of the
theatre shifted to drama. Performance ''
The Goat or Who is Sylvia?
''The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?'' is a full-length play written in 2000 by Edward Albee which opened on Broadway in 2002. It won the 2002 Tony Award for Best Play, the 2002 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, and was a finalist for the 2003 P ...
''
[co-production with ]Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
-based The Drama Club was nominated
for
DOSKY Award 2004 in categories best performance and best director, Juraj
Kukura and
Emília Vášáryová won the categories for best actor/actress. A year later,
monodrama ''Tiso'' was voted the best performance.
Marián Labuda, who was performing
Jozef Tiso
Jozef Gašpar Tiso (; hu, Tiszó József; 13 October 1887 – 18 April 1947) was a Slovak politician and Roman Catholic priest who served as president of the Slovak Republic, a client state of Nazi Germany during World War II, from 1939 to 194 ...
, won the prize for best actor.
Notes
External links
Official site
{{Authority control
Theatres in Bratislava
Culture in Bratislava
Buildings and structures in Bratislava
Theatres completed in 1898