Provisional Theatre (Prague)

The Prague Provisional Theatre (Czech: Prozatímní divadlo, Czech pronunciation: [ˈprozaciːmɲiː ˈɟivadlo]) was erected in 1862 as a temporary home for Czech drama and opera until a permanent National Theatre could be built. It opened on 18 November 1862 and functioned for 20 years, during which time over 5,000 performances were presented. Between 1866 and 1876 the theatre staged the premieres of four of Bedřich Smetana's operas, including The Bartered Bride. The Provisional Theatre building was eventually incorporated into the structure of the National Theatre, which opened its doors on 11 June 1881.

Before the early 1860s almost all cultural institutions in Prague, including theatre and opera, were in Austrian hands. Bohemia was a province of the Habsburg Empire, and under that regime's absolutist rule most aspects of Czech culture and national life had been discouraged or suppressed. Absolutism was formally abolished by a decree of the Emperor Franz Josef on 20 October 1860, which led to a Czech cultural revival. The Bohemian Diet (parliament) had acquired a site in Prague on the banks of the Vltava, and in 1861 announced a public subscription, which raised a sum of 106,000 gulden. This covered the costs of building a small 800-seat theatre, which would act as a home for production of Czech drama and opera while longer-term plans for a permanent National Theatre could be implemented. The Provisional Theatre opened on 18 November 1862, with a performance of Vítězslav Hálek's tragic drama King Vukašín. Since there was at the time no Czech opera deemed suitable, the first opera performed at the theatre, on 20 November 1862, was Cherubini's Les deux journées. For the first year or so of its life, the Provisional Theatre alternated opera with straight plays on a daily basis, but from the start of 1864 opera performances were given daily.

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