Czech culture this week: Electronic beats and English-friendly theater

Artist and singer Léna Brauner will display her recent work for three days at Hall 13 in Pražská tržnice on Sept. 25 to 27. The works are from 2020 to the present and were made in Prague and Indonesia. Framed posters of her work will also be available.

See works of Czech artists past and present at the illustration festival Lustr 9 at Kampus Hybernská to Sept. 28.

You can see the opening of Undoing the inevitable at the small gallery of the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague (UMPRUM) on Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. The show, in which the gallery space is opened up as a work in progress, runs to Oct. 21.

The outdoor exhibition Enlightenment: Stop as a Sign ends at the cascades of the Vltavska metro stop on Sept. 30. The street art piece is presented by the Prague City Gallery (GHMP) as part of the Art for the City project.

Time is running out to see the video installation I Call You Hero, which closes at Nau Gallery on Sept. 30. The video delves into epic fables set in northern Bohemia.

The new Gorilla Pavilion finally opens at Prague Zoo on Sept. 28. Special events will take place all day, with an African market, tasting of fruits (and edible insects), workshops for children, dance performances, and more. Construction on the zoo's largest pavilion began in 2019.

Several government buildings will be open on Sept. 28 to mark the St. Wenceslas national holiday. The Government Office (Strakova akademie) will show off its historical and working spaces, the Ministry of Finance will open for the fifth time in its history and allow people to print their own commemorative certificates, the Ministry of Culture invites you to Nostický palác to see its historical rooms as well as a cultural program, and the Prague Hygiene Station on Rytířská Street will open for tours for the first time.

The new psychological thriller Don't Worry Darling runs at Edison Filmhub on Sept. 26 as part of the Movie Barf series, followed by a Q&A with Format.cz founder and editor Lukáš Bejček.

The 2004 comedy Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind has a showing at kino Aero on Sept. 29 as part of the cinema's ongoing Legends series. The film finds Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet caught up in a sci-fi romance in the near future.

The English-language black comedy Triangle of Sadness, which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year, has a preview screening at kino Světozor on Sept. 28, followed by an online Q&A with director Ruben Östlund. The cast features Woody Harrelson as well as Harris Dickinson and the late Charlbi Dean.

The Film and Architecture Festival at kino Světozor from Sept. 29 to Oct. 4 features recent films about urban trends ranging from a retirement community in the U.S. to making a new opera house in Paris. Most have English subtitles. The films are part of the larger Day of Architecture festival, the runs from Sept. 30 to Oct. 6.

The annual Prague Fringe Festival runs from Sept. 26 to Oct. 1 at five venues in Malá Strana. One-hour plays and performances, all English-friendly, will take place with a mix of visiting and local performers. Many troupes who have been at previous Fringes are back with new shows. See our story here.

Velvet Comedy has four different events intended to spur some laughter. Monday Open Mic at Ty kávo on Sept. 26, Velvet Comedy Show at Czech Inn Bar on Sept. 27, Kontakt Comedy Night on Sept. 29, and Velvet Friday: Stand-Up Show at Pracovna on Sept. 30.

See the classic 19th-century Czech drama Maryša with English supertitles on Sept. 26 at the National Theatre. The plot is based on the true story of a woman who was forced into a marriage against her will.

The long-running multimedia show The Wonderful Circus has its final performances at the New Stage of the National Theatre, with shows on Sept. 26–28. The show premiered in 1977 and has played almost 6,500 not only in Prague but worldwide. The reason the show is closing is that the New Stage will soon be renovated, and the new space will no longer be unsuitable.

Vincent Macaigne's play I am a Country is staged with English and French supertitles at the Estates Theatre on Sept. 30. The modern play deals with politics in an imaginary country.

Historically themed street markets with wine, mead, food, and burčák to celebrate St. Wenceslas will be at náměstí Republiky as of Sept. 26 and Wenceslas Square as of Sept. 27. Both will run to Oct. 9. An entertainment program will take place at náměstí Republiky on Sept. 28. A larger program at Wenceslas Square has been canceled due to security reasons.

On Sept. 27, 1955, the first self-service store (samoobsluha) opened in Czechoslovakia. It sold heath care goods and was located at Česká 8 in Brno.

Prince Václav, better known now as St. Wenceslas, was murdered in Stará Boleslav by his brother Boleslav I and his companions on Sept. 28 in the year 929 or 935. (Historians disagree on the year.) The day is a national holiday, and stores over 200 square meters (with some exceptions) must remain closed.

The five-day work week was introduced in Czechoslovakia on Sept. 29, 1968.

The Czechoslovak government on Sept. 30, 1938, accepted the Munich Pact and ceded the Sudetenland to the Third Reich.

The annual Lunchmeat Festival runs from Sept. 26 to Oct. 1 at four venues across Prague. The annual international festival, which began in 2010, is dedicated to advanced electronic music and new media art.

Retro swing band Ondřej Havelka & jeho Melody Makers will take you back in time at Lucerna Music Bar on Sept. 28. there will be some seating, but most of the area will be set aside for dancing.

German instrumental psychedelic band Ultrafon featuring Volkmar Miedtke will be at Punctum - Krásovka on Sept. 29. The band mixes analog electronics, rock, dub, jazz, and contemporary influences. Miedtke has performed with the band Dunaj and was in the group Klar.

The three-day National Memory Festival (Festival Paměti národa) features concerts as well as lectures and discussions, mostly in Czech. It's at Strahov Stadium from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1.

Three danceable pop acts will take the stage at Palác Akropolis on Sept. 30. Méta Monde, the Valentines, and We Are Domi. The latter act represented Czechia in Eurovision. The show is part of the Pulz concert series.