Plzeň: Vagaday's project of the Puppet Museum; will open next year

Plzeň - Plzeň has completed the Puppet Museum project, which will open next tourist season. The restored three-story building in Republic Square will be transformed into a modern interactive live exhibition mapping the history and present of puppet artistry in Plzeň. The ground floor will be dedicated to traveling puppet companies and the initial permanent theaters in Plzeň. The first floor will feature Spejbl, Hurvínek, and other characters created by Josef Skupa, while the second floor will showcase puppets from the famous productions of the Alfa Theater. Project implementers shared this information with journalists today.
    The museum will include a small theater stage and a stylish café inspired by the apartment of Josef Skupa, furnished in the functionalist style of the 1920s. Visitors will be guided through all floors of the exhibition by a comic about the history of puppet artistry in Plzeň, created by animated film author Pavel Koucký. "After more than a hundred years, our puppet collection will be accessible. It has focused on puppetry creation, not only puppets but also posters and puppet plays," stated František Frýda from the West Bohemian Museum in Plzeň, which will operate the museum.
    Among the interesting features will be traveling theaters, as well as Karel Novák's theater with flat puppets from the second half of the 19th century, along with a unique study by Jiří Trnka. In one of the rooms, visitors will see Škodovo Theater, which the project authors created based on historical photographs. "The oldest puppets we will animate are from significant woodcarvers from the first third of the 19th century," said curator Daniel Bechný.
    In the floor dedicated to Skupa, there will also be a replica of the legendary Revolutionary Kašpárek. "His successor, which is in the National Museum in Prague, will also be present," Bechný added. Puppets on one of the stages will perform specific plays that the audience can choose by pressing a display. Touch panels will provide detailed information, profiles of the most prominent puppeteers, and there will be projections of historical Skupa plays featuring Spejbl.
    "Visitors will also become acquainted with types of puppets, production technology, and will see puppets in life-size," added Tomáš Froyda, director of Alfa Theater, which is the investor of the exhibition part. According to him, the museum achieves world-class quality. According to the architects, the project is unique in the Czech Republic because the exhibitions were designed first, to which the reconstruction was then adapted. "This makes the museum modern and functional," said architect Vlastimil Vagaday.
    The puppet museum has been discussed in Plzeň for more than ten years. Repairs to building number 23 in Republic Square, which were delayed by the discovery of woodworm, began last year. The opening of the building is planned for June next year. The total cost of construction is approximately 60 million crowns. This is being financed by Plzeň, which, together with the Plzeň Region, is implementing the project.