Centre of Documentary and Social-Specific Theatre

Established by Archa Theatre, Prague in 2022. The Centre creates conditions for original work in the field of performing arts. The Centre connects artists who, with the help of theatrical imagery, are focused on the current problems of contemporary society.

The Centre of Documentary and Social-Specific Theatre was established in the Archa Theatre in 2022. The centre covers and connects the current artistic and educational activities of the Archa Theatre.

"The Archa Theatre opens up space for the development of scenic art that deals with authentic sources. We have been promoting the type of theatre that the professional public calls documentary or social-specific since 2003, when we began our long-term work in refugee camps in the Czech Republic. Over the years, theatre people have created a way of working that invites real people, representatives of a certain group, into the creative process," says Jana Svobodová, theatre director and pioneer of documentary theater in the Czech Republic.

The Centre of Documentary and Social-Specific Theatre is currently working on the following projects:

international cooperation

Eight Short Compositions on the Lives of Ukrainians for a Western Audience

Jana Svobodová/Anastasiia Kosodii and Col.

education

International Summer School of Documentary Theatre 2023

25 August – 7 September 2023, Archa Theatre, Prague, Czech Republic

international cooperation

Those Who Speak For Themselves

This project by the Archa Theatre combines theatrical production and education in the field of documentary theatre and theatre in a social context.

documentary theatre performance

Those Who Speak For Themselves

The Only Story Is Yours / concept, screenplay & director: Jana Svobodová

education

Democracy Through Theatre

A project aimed at connecting theatre and democratic education. It focuses on decision-making processes in collective creative activity, the ability to perceive contemporary creation and tolerance, and openness to the unknown.

AKCENT Festival

International Festival of Documentary Theatre presented annually since 2010.

international cooperation

What’SAP – Exchange of Social Art Practices

The What’SAP project is a 2-year international project co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. It is based on the exchange of the methodologies between the four project partners from Hungary, the Czech Republic, Serbia, and France. / 2021 – 2022

methodological manual

Social-specific Theatre in Practice

A practical handbook by Jana Svobodová – Social-Specific Theatre in Practice / Involving “Real People” Into the Process of Theatre Creation – is available online!

international cooperation

Perché non io? / Why Not Me?

Jana Svobodová & coll. / Teatro NEST, Fondazione Campania dei Festival, Neapol, Archa Theatre

education

International Summer School of Theatre in Social Context 2022

22 August - 4 September 2022, Archa Theatre, Prague, Czech Republic

Programme of the AKCENT festival

AKCENT was founded 13 years ago to give the Czech audience an overview of what documentary theatre can be. Over all these years we have presented the biggest stars of theatre that celebrates authenticity. Most often these are the personal stories of the creators, or the people the artists reach out to. As curators and dramaturgs, we have always been interested in what theatrical language any given artist chooses to use so that the moment of authenticity can be preserved in the artificial environment of the theatre.

Rimini Protokoll, Lola Arias, Milo Rau, Wim Vandekeybus, Wen Hui and Living Dance Studio, SheShe Pop, Forced Entertainment, the world's top theatre artists who have greatly influenced and continue to influence the Czech scene.

AKCENT has been around for 13 years, every fall, even the covid one, which was held online and the centerpiece of which was a huge conference featuring many of the stars named above, called "No More Kissing." It was a time when we weren't allowed to hug, shake hands, much less kiss both cheeks several times as a sign of greeting.

We debated what a world would look like in which people didn't touch each other in a sign of closeness. The year is 2023, the 13th edition of AKCENT is here. It's a theatre that invites you to be close, to meet, to have a personal contact. It invites us to dare to say things the way we really feel. Each of the productions we will see this year says to us:
Be yourself! This is very much needed nowadays!
Take your time, come and be yourself!

Jana Svobodová, artistic director of the AKCENT festival