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The Aréna Theater is one of the oldest theaters in Bratislava. It was founded in 1828 on the Petržalka bank of the Danube, near the historic public park. Initially, it served as a summer theater - an uncovered amphitheater, hence the name Arena.

Arena Theater

The Aréna Theater is one of the oldest theaters in Bratislava. It was founded in 1828 on the Petržalka bank of the Danube, near the historic public park. Initially, it served as a summer theater - an uncovered amphitheater, hence the name Arena.

The Aréna Theater is historically the oldest theater building, which is still an active theater stage. Its tradition is one of the oldest theaters in Bratislava. It was founded in 1828 on the Petržalka bank of the Danube, near the historic public park. Initially, it served as a summer theater - an uncovered amphitheater, so it was named the Arena.

In 1898, a new building was built in its place, the appearance of which has remained almost unchanged from that time to the present day. From the establishment of the theater until the end of the Second World War, a number of Hungarian, Austrian and German theater companies performed at the Aréna Theater. One of them was the still popular Viennese theater Theater an der Wien , which has been performing here regularly since 1921.

The Aréna Theater is also connected with the artistic beginnings of a world-renowned theatrical personality - MAX REINHARDT (1873-1943) - a theater director and stage magician who played several seasons at the Aréna Theater and impressed the audience with many roles, especially as Franz Moor in Schiller's Bandits .

In 1994, the Slovak mime MILAN SLÁDEK founded the Foundation for the Restoration of the Aréna Theater, and the following year the partial restoration necessary for the operation of the theater began. The first premiere was Grand Pierot, and other productions soon followed: King Ubu, The Marriage of Figaro, Carmen, The Trinity Opera. From 1996 to 2002, the Kaukliar International Pantomime Festival was held here regularly .

In 2002 , after the theater transferred to the founding competence of the Bratislava self-governing region, the well-known Slovak actor JURAJ KUKURA was appointed director. He brought a new concept of the multi-genre scene, which is dominated by theater - contemporary and classical drama with regard to the topicality of the theme, author's projects, musicals and fairy tales . The first theatrical production of the new era was the play You (2003), by the contemporary Russian author Olga Muchinova, directed by Marian Amsler.

In addition to theatrical performances, in 2003-2008 the Aréna Theater organized all-night polymusical programs directed by Jozef Bednárik , in which leading Slovak and foreign artists performed - Jewish Night (2003), Austrian Night (2004), German Night (2005), Swiss Night (2005). 2007) and Italian Night (2008). During one night, visitors to the theater had the opportunity to get to know the culture of geographically close but culturally different countries, along with their traditions, customs, languages and, last but not least, gastronomy.

THEATER ARENA TODAY
Music is represented in the Aréna Theater by very popular jazz concerts, which have been held for the tenth season under the name JAZZ IN THE ARENA . Regular concerts have become the most prestigious music event, which establishes domestic musicians in a pan-European and global context and involves the Slovak jazz scene in a network of major European concert productions. During the ten-year history of the project, we managed to bring Slovak jazz from pub clubs to a large stage and gradually fulfill the ambition, which, according to Martin Valihor, is: "To make Jazz in the Arena a great event that connects Slovak musicians with European music stages."

MET OPERA LIVE HD - live broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera in New York, presented by the Arena Theater in high definition, bring the audience a unique experience of the most important opera house. The most successful productions with a star cast appear on the screen - Anna Netrebko, Maria Zifchak, Marlis Petersen, Nina Stemme, Jonas Kaufmann, Marco Berti and many others.

Since 2003, the Aréna Theater has been organizing a unique project every year, together with Comenius University: THE CHILDREN'S UNIVERSITY OF COMENIUS . During the summer holidays, hundreds of children from all over Slovakia aged 9 to 14 have the opportunity to study in the same way as university students (they will receive indices at matriculation and graduate diplomas at graduation). The topics of regular weekly lectures are based on the professional orientation of professors, but are adapted to the age and interests of children. An interesting accompanying program is also prepared for students: workshops, trips, excursions and cultural events. Lectures are also published in the form of a book publication, including documentary photographs and engaging illustrations.

Since October 2015, the ULTIMATIVE CINEMA ARENA has brought two gems of domestic and world cinematography in unprecedented Blue-ray and HD quality to the screen of the Aréna Theater every fourth Thursday of the month.

Through Legendary Television Mondays , viewers recall the times of famous Bratislava productions, full of unforgettable acting performances, and the younger ones get to know an important part of our cultural past. Individual productions are presented in connection with the memory of jubilant actors who are the pillars of Slovak art (Ctibor FILČÍK, Ivan MISTRÍK, Gustáv VALACH, Hana MELIČKOVÁ, Mikuláš HUBA, Viliam ZÁBORSKÝ, Martin GREGOR, František DIBARBORA and others).

The section The Most Beautiful Films of Our Lives presents the most beautiful of the world's filmmaking. These are films full of emotions, with which the viewer flies and dreams, films from the past but also the present, which belong to the golden fund of cinematography. The world-famous stories and destinies of the heroes in the form of acting stars come to life on the screen: Robert REDFORD, Paul NEWMAN, Jean-Paul BELMONDO, Jane FONDA, Audrey HEPBURN, Marilyn MONROE and others.

We consider the ultimate Kino Aréna to be a cultural and social event that will raise awareness of domestic, European and world film production and will currently respond to events in the world.

THEATER IN THE THEATER ARENA
The Aréna Theater belongs to one of the most significant theatrical as well as multicultural stages in Slovakia. Since 2002, when the current director Juraj Kukura was appointed to the position, this theater has been profiled as a stage for contemporary art .

One of the theater's first greatest successes is associated with the production of Edward Albee's play Goat or Who's Sylvia? , directed by Martin Čičvák , who won two prestigious Dosky 2004 awards ( Juraj Kukura for Best Actor and Emília Vášáryová for Best Actor). Both protagonists also won the annual Literary Fund Award. A year later, DOS's favorite was the author's production of Tiso in the title role with Marián Labud, directed by Rastislav Ballek .

Since 2002, the Aréna Theater has profiled itself as a theater of current topics, critical views, modern form and historical-political context.

One of the basic lines of the Aréna Theater is to initiate the creation of original Slovak plays commissioned by the theater.

In this way, games formed by the so-called CIVIC CYCLE . Its first part is the " Totalitarian Trilogy " featuring the plays of Tiso, Dr. Gustáv Husák and Communism.

The civic cycle continues with the play Kukura , to which Pavel Kohout assigned the free subtitle "Capitalism". In 2012, the production was invited to the main program of the festival New Drama, Touches and Connections, Divadelná Nitra, to the prestigious Pilsen Theater Festival and to the international festival Divadelní Svět Brno. The author of the text, Martin Čičvák, won the Literary Fund Award, was nominated for the Tatra Bank Award, and the production received nominations for three Dosky awards. The fifth part of the open cycle is the Holocaust by Viliam Klimáček, directed by Rastislav Ballek (2012).

An exceptional project was the production Rent , with the musical accompaniment of a live band, but also other musical productions - Sinful Dance, Rocky Horror Show (directed by the legendary Jozef Bednárik) and the famous operetta Gejza Dusík Under a Foreign Flag.

The Aréna Theater also remembers the children's spectator, for whom in the past it prepared productions Smelý zajko, Červená čiapočka, Three Pigs and the current repertoire includes two original fairy tales with songs - Aladdin's Magic Lamp and Cinderella , both directed by Gabriel Tóth.

A specific space is the chamber theater stage LOFT, which is located on the floor of the Arena Theater and currently offers four live titles - Cyber Cyrano, Ujo Vankúšik, Ráno po and Persona , in which the young generation of actors is introduced in stories about relationships in today's society.

The productions of the Aréna Theater annually represent contemporary Slovak theatrical productions at many domestic and international festivals (New Drama, Touches and Connections, Brno Theater World, The Best of Slovak Theater in Zvolen and others).

Additional information

Transport: By foot, By bike, By car, By train, By bus
Parking: Free parking nearby, Paid parking nearby

Accepted payments: Cash, Credit card
Languages: Slovak

Suitable for: Childrens, Families with childrens, Elderly, Handicapped, Young, Adults
Season: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter
Updated on: 17.3.2020
Source: Divadlo Aréna

Opening hours

Weather

monday - sunday:
14:00 - 18:00
Alebo do začiatku predstavenia.


Contact

Phone: +421 26 720 2557
Website: divadloarena.sk
Arena Theater
Viedenská cesta 10
851 01  Bratislava-Petržalka
Region: Bratislavský
District: Bratislava V
Area: Bratislava
 48.135847, 17.114251

Viedenská cesta 10
851 01  Bratislava-Petržalka

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