A Year of Joy 2025
The year 2025 was a rich and eventful one for Divadlo Radost, filled with premieres, exhibitions, international travel, and major cultural events.
New Productions
Throughout the year, we premiered four new productions. In May, we introduced Animal Farm (15 May), followed in June by Radim, Your Fimfárum (13 June). The autumn season then brought the premieres of About the Devil (3 October) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (10 October).
Exhibitions at Divadlo Radost
Alongside our theatrical work, we also devoted significant attention to exhibition activities. In 2025, we organized three exhibitions.
The year began in January with the exhibition Transformations of Puppets, presenting stage design works by scenographer Irena Marečková. In March, it was followed by Fairy Tales of Mr Gardener and Mrs Peony, organized in cooperation with Host Publishing House. The exhibition featured illustrations from the book and its opening was accompanied by a staged reading performed by our actors, as well as a meeting with the book’s creators. The final exhibition of the year presented illustrations by Pavel Čech and took place in early October on the occasion of the premiere of About the Devil, a production inspired by his book of the same name.
International Travel and Collaboration
In 2025, we once again extended our activities beyond the Czech Republic. With the production Hamlet on the Road, we appeared at the Metamorfozy Lalek Festival in Białystok, Poland, where we introduced local audiences to our work.
The most significant international journey of the year, however, was our trip to France. Representatives of our workshop travelled to the village of Hérisson, home to the theatre Les Antliaclastes, where they collaborated on the creation of new puppets.
The Journey of the Puppet Exhibition in France
In November, our exhibition Journey of the Puppet also travelled to France, where it was presented to visitors in the cities of Rennes and Paris. As part of this interactive exhibition, audiences encountered the characters of Tradition and Time, who guided them through various periods of Divadlo Radost’s puppet-making history. Visitors also had the opportunity to gain insight into the puppet-making process itself, guided by members of our workshop team.
Festival of Joy 2025
Undoubtedly the most significant event of 2025 was the third edition of the Festival of Joy, held under the subtitle Illusion – Transience – Dreaming. The festival welcomed theatre ensembles from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Italy, and Poland, offering audiences a total of sixteen productions throughout one week.
The festival also featured a rich accompanying programme, highlighted by three meetings with Barry Purves, the world-renowned animator specializing in stop-motion animation.
Literary and Dramatic Competition
As part of the festival, we also organized the second edition of our Literary and Dramatic Competition, aimed at supporting the creation of new works for children and young audiences. A record number of texts were submitted this year, with the jury awarding three of them: Lapili OKAmžiky, Digiland, and Halo Effect.
In conclusion, we would like to thank you, our audiences. It is only thanks to your support that all these activities are possible. We are already looking forward to what the year 2026 will bring.
