Divadlo Sklep

The name of the Sklep theater comes from the actual basement space of David Vávra's grandmother's house, who founded the group here (under the original name Kobil klub) with his fourteen-year-old classmate Milan Šteindler in 1971. The texts from this time, early poems and short skits, were about a few years later used in individual performances of the program Besídka. In the first half of the seventies, they presented these texts only to their friends. Originally a private activity of the founding couple and a few other friends, it began to grow into public performances in the second half of the seventies. The very first took place in the Zvoneček Puppet Theater in Branicky, where the father of troupe member Tomáš Vorl worked, another in the ZV ROH Tesla Karlín club, the U Jaurisů restaurant in Michli, the Strahov student club and many others. Around 1978, the core of the ensemble begins to form - in addition to Vávra and Šteindler, Jiří Burda, Tomáš Vorel, František Váša, Eva Holubová and Tomáš Hanák were added. Holubová joined the ensemble after the entrance exams at DAMU, when Tomáš Hanák offered her a role in the play The Amazing Travelogue, which she performed for the first time directly in front of DAMU professors with the help of Vávra and Šteindler. They attracted attention with the huge amount of props they carried with them, but after a "hailstorm" in which they threw hail at the jury, they were kicked out of the entrance exams. Since 1980, the ensemble has been performing in the cultural house Dobeška, which became its home stage for many years to come. In addition, the troupe performed at various important Prague venues such as Malostranská Beseda, Futurum or Branické divadlo pantomimes, but also outside Prague - for example in Písek, Pilsen and Brno. Cooperation between Vávra and Vorlo with the Mimóza association and the recitation association Vpréd also began to develop. At that time, cooperation with other Prague theaters begins. The Sklep Theater was the main driving force of the Pražská 5 group, which also consisted of the Mimóza, Vpřed, Kolotoč and Křeč theaters, which represented the most significant generational movement of the 1970s and 1980s and brought about the revival of the theater scene at that time. All associations were connected by a personal, life, philosophical and aesthetic opinion. Joint projects include the Maskáč theater carnival in the Tichý hotel, the theater ball in the Vysočany People's House, or the hop-free Mimotočskřed or the maze in the Na Chmelnici junior club. The activity of Pražská 5 penetrated into the television area as well. When Tomáš Vorel directed the film Prague Five in 1989, in which the Sklep Theater prepared the fifth part called On the Brigade. The film, along with other TV skits and song clips, brought the group more supporters.