In April 2025, Nová síť announced an open call to support the presentation of theatre, dance and performance projects outside the capital city of Prague. The call was aimed at organisations and companies that wanted to present their performances in the regions and needed funding for artist fees.
Both managers of cultural venues and the artistic groups themselves could apply for support with an already arranged performance. The results were published on 9 May 2025. Support was awarded in the amount of up to CZK 15,000, up to a maximum of 50% of the cost of the artist’s fee.
A number of high quality projects and cultural organisations applied to the call. An overview of the supported projects can be found below:
Supported projects
‘On the Spot’
On the Spot is a format of dance improvisation in a non-theatrical space where anything can happen. Only the place, the performers, the music and the audience are determined.
Organiser: SPOLK in cooperation with the festivals Regions (Hradec Králové), Jesnění (Jeseník), Uprostřed (Brno), Faktor K (Brno), Kredance (České Budějovice) and the Holy Trinity Church (Zahořany).
Amount of support: 12 000 CZK
‘The Power Game’
This stylised duet performance by two old men explores the absurdity of power games and manipulation that take place in a claustrophobic space on the borderline between mockery, reality and a cautionary analogy about loss of control.
Organiser: Taje z. s.
Amount of support: 12 500 CZK
‘DĚDA: PTAČÍ SNĚM’
Inspired by Persian mysticism, this minimalist production plays out a heroic tale of stakes, voices and fragments of words at an ordinary table – without theatrical illusions, with an emphasis on meaning, encounter and language.
Organiser: VZBUĎME VARY
Amount of support: 7 000 CZK
‘Aleš Hrdlička: Orbiting Zero’
Orbiting Zero is a new circus interpretation of magical realism using juggling as the main means of expression and elements of new magic to blur the boundaries between realities.
Organiser: DIOD
Amount of support: 7000 CZK
‘Prázdná místa’
A docudrama about the ethical boundaries of activism that asks what is more important – the true act or its representation? Is it possible to be an activist without looking like a fool in the process?
Organiser: KC Kino Železný Brod (Ing. Cyril Vacek a spol.)
Amount of support: 6 000 CZK
‘Michal Heriban – I am a placebo’
Dance-visual performance with original choreography by Michal Heriban and original suggestive music by Jozef Vlk explores the theme of human memory, automated behaviour stored in the subconscious, unconscious habits and conscious programming.
Organiser: Industra
Amount of support: 7500 CZK
‘Hustle and Bustle’
Hustle and Bustle is a performative installation that invites you to visit an unusual garden where you can discover and experience various forms of vibration, fluidity and balance together with the three artists.
Organizer: REZI.DANCE Komařice
Amount of support: 10 000 CZK
‘Spies’
An original production inspired by the fate of married couples who sacrificed their privacy, identity and in some cases their entire lives to espionage. What happens to them the moment one of them wants out of the spy game?
Organizer: Divadlo na cucky
Amount of support: 10 000 CZK
‘LOOPS AND HOOPS’
Puppet production about Spartakiada, infinity and life in normalization Czechoslovakia. The production combines two-dimensional paper puppet theatre in a classical puppet theatre with complex technologies.
Organizer: Divadlo loutek Ostrava
Amount of Support: 7000 CZK
‘My Siberia’
There are places that whisper and scream. There are places that we return to and that we search for all our lives. These places are both real and imaginary, but that doesn’t detract from their reality. Such is My Siberia. A graduate composition by Roman Zabelov, in which he works with his newly built electromagnetic accordion.
Organiser: Valdštejnské imaginárium z. ú.
Amount of Support: 10 000 CZK
‘Detektiv Emil a králík s velkýma ušima’
When a little boy who can find everything is born, he is destined to become a detective. And when one day he finds a lost rabbit that has very long ears, they become inseparable friends. But oh! A cunning and hateful chef wants to take over their little town.
Organiser: Umění do Znojma, z.s.
Amount of Support: 5 000 CZK
‘Stories / Věra Ondrašíková and Collective’
The author based her work on the theatre performance WITNESS (Cena diváka na České taneční platformě 2022), ‘which is about trees and people, how we treat others, but also ourselves’, says the choreographer herself.
Organiser: Farmstudio – středisko umění a kultury, z.s.
Amount of Support: 10 000 CZK
‘Bocirk: OnTestosterone’
Four men go on an incredible emotional ride where adrenaline soars with honesty, strength shakes hands with vulnerability, and humor mates with fragility.
Organizer: Městské divadlo Varnsdorf
Amount of Support: 15 000 CZK
‘POLO’
Puppet show for 6+. What happens when a lost cat takes you to the South Pole?
Organiser: Taje z.s.
Amount of Support: 7 500 CZK
‘Okaz – Mezigenerační dialog nad rakví.’
“Grandmother is born in 1930. If I staged her funeral, the family would probably kill me. You don’t talk about death until it comes. And preferably not even then. So I prefer to stage my own funeral. The roles are cast. The coffin is mine. You are the guests.”
Organiser: Fujaré, z.s.
Amount of Support: 10 000 CZK
‘Jumbo’
JUMBO Large. Giant. Grandiose. Colossal. XXXL. Hugely entertaining, Jumbo. The largest elephant in human history, and one of the world’s first animal celebrities.
Organizer: LETOPRUHY, z.s.
Amount of Support: 8 000 CZK
‘Ovečky, ovečky, pojďte domů!’
Ovečky, ovečky, pojďte domů! is an original production by the Třetí Hřiště about man and sheep in the 21st century. The story winds its way from freshly shorn wool through washing and drying to a knotted ball.
Organiser: Nezávislý podmelechovský spolek
Amount of Support: 5 000 CZK
‘Nebojsy’
The performers’ personal confessions invite us into the bowels of the house and the edge of my and other people’s bodies. The immersive production by Tereza Holubová, Klára Kočárková and Kristýna Štarhová touches the inner space of non-acceptance, being stuck in oneself and the border point of whether to give life or not.
Organizer: Unijazz, pobočný spolek Boskovice
Amount of Support: 8 000 CZK
‘Co je v bytí, nelze odejmouti’
Many members of the Catholic Church came to the conviction during the communist totalitarianism that the Church must have, in addition to its official line, whether the part of it that was persecuted, suffered, or collaborated with the regime, a hidden part that would operate in inner freedom.
Organiser: Knihovna Ostopovice
Amount of Support: 7 000 CZK
‘Pink Bus, IHOPEIWILL’
The PiNKBUS project represents a new platform that mainly protects young queer artists and brings a new creative wave to the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The creators have managed to bring together the underground queer scene and professional established artists during these composed evenings, and a truly diverse range of artists from all disciplines have taken turns on stage.
IHOPEIWILL explores our shared future against the backdrop of current political tensions and the deepening climate crisis. Despite the prevailing feelings of fear and great uncertainty worldwide, it brings a sense of anticipation and hope.
Organiser: Centrum pro otevřenou kulturu
Amount of support: 10 000 CZK
‘Pink Bus’
The PiNKBUS project is a new platform that protects mainly young queer artists and brings a new creative wave to the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The creators have managed to bring together the underground queer scene and professional established artists during these composed evenings, and a truly diverse range of artists from all disciplines have taken turns on stage.
Organiser: Co.Labs
Amount of support: 10 000 CZK
‘Wonderland’
Wonderland is an original production that reflects the reality of the internet age and the phenomenon of experiencing the present through ‘connectedness’ and the intensive use of smartphones. A kind of friendship and addiction.
Organiser: Třeboň 105
Amount of Support: 8 000 CZK
‘Essay on Light’
Essay on Light is an experimental puppet production based on an interest in theatre technology and the belief that it is important to share our thoughts on creation and art form to bring the possibilities of contemporary theatre closer.
Organiser: Farmstudio – středisko umění a kultury, z.s.
Amount of Support: 7 500 CZK
Congratulations to all the supporters! The shows will be performed between May 10 and December 15, 2025. With this open call, Nová síť continues to support the diversity and accessibility of contemporary theatre in counties outside the metropolitan area. For more information on current cultural challenges and activities, please visit our website.