Leterna Magica or the Magic Lantern was on a list that our teacher suggested we all go to. Laterna Magica is a non-verbal theater, so it’s friendly to anyone of any language. The performances are done through dance film and black light theater. Black Light Theater or Black Theater is done through black light illusion, they use darkness and UV lights in contrast with fluorescent costumes. The show we saw was Prague, City of Tales and Legends which was a collection of short stories about the different legends of Prague, some of which we were familiar with, others we weren’t. I, at first, thought it was all one continuous story and flowing plot since some of the characters were similar and was disappointed at the end. I thought it was a tale of man trying to save the woman he loved after making a deal with a demon of Prague and having to traverse through time and seeing all the monsters and magic in Prague. The tales or acts, however are: Stones, Faust’s House, The Mysterious Bridegroom-About Khanina, The Garden Party-A Portrait of Rudolph II, Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel (known as the Maharal), Master Hanuš-The Astronomical Clock, and the Finale-The Flight of Icarus.
The Mysterious Bridegroom is about the master of the river Vlatava and the Jewish merchants daughter that refuses her bridegrooms who she does not love, instead following her love into the river and returning to Prague as a green cat.
The act of Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel (known as Maharal) is at it’s essence the tale of the Golem and it’s creation, originally created to help, but instead terrorizing the city until life was erased from it’s body of clay. Several statues and depictions of the Golem can be found throughout Prague.
Laterna Magica is performed at Národní Divadlo or the Prague National Theater located at Národní 2, 110 00 Praha 1
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