Czech group offers 'take-away' theatre amid COVID lockdown

The coronavirus pandemic may have shut Czech theatres for now but some Prague residents hungry for entertainment have found that watching a live performance can be as easy as grabbing a takeaway.

Prague troupe Cirk La Putyka has opened a “Culture Window” at a Prague marketplace building where an audience of up to four outside can watch a five-minute live show of music, acrobatics and dancing inside, while still observing social distancing rules.

The window, which opened on Tuesday for two nights of performances, draws its inspiration from pick-up windows for food orders at restaurants that have also been forced to shut dining spaces due to tighter restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

“This performance is for live culture addicts. They will get a dose of live culture here,” Cirk La Putyka director Rostislav Novak said.

The show starts after theatre staff lead the spectators to the window and a gong sounds to open the curtain.

Tickets for the bite-sized performances - offered for free although people are asked to donate to the group - quickly disappeared after going up on the group’s website.

Those lucky to get tickets said it was a reminder of what people are missing in this time of lockdown restrictions.

“It is impossible to compare a live performance to television,” said one attendee, Kristyna Fendrychova. “You feel the difference and a person really misses it.”