The theater’s founder, Mr. Petr Kratochvíl, is a well-known actor, writer, and the director of every performance here at Ta Fantastika. He escaped under dramatic circumstances, hunted by the then Secret Police and KGB, from the lawless Communist regime. Having emigrated in 1980 from the former Czechoslovakia to the United States of America, he managed to form his own theater group, Ta Fantastika (“ta” meaning “this” and “Fantastika” meaning “fantasy”), with which he traveled the world.
In November of 1989, Mr. Kratochvíl returned back home to the newly-liberated Czech Republic. Four years later, his well-traveled theater group finally found a permanent residence in the historical center of Prague: the Unitaria Palace.
But Mr. Kratochvíl is not the only caring patron of Ta Fantastika—award-winning singer and Czech mega star Lucie Bílá http://www.luciebila.com/ is co-owner of the theater.
The new Ta Fantastika Theater instantly made a mark not only in the Czech Republic, but also globally. During its first three years of existence, the group visited over 30 countries on three different continents.
Ta Fantastika has had several major successes:
○ First place in the Family Show category
○ Huge acclaim at the Edinburgh festival
○ Only Czech theater that played on Broadway in the ’90s
○ Part of the Florida State Tour Program in the U.S.
Unlike other black-light theaters, Ta Fantastika’s répertoire consists of great classic novels such as Don Quixote, Alice in Wonderland, and The Little Prince, as well as completely original works like Magic Fantasy, Dream, and Garden of Earthly Delights. Each play tells its story through movement, music, black-light effects, mechanical tricks, puppets, and, above all, wide-screen projections that accompany the actors on stage. Amazing visuals, whimsical fantasy, and the poetry of laterna magica all make up the unforgettable world of Ta Fantastika.
Thanks to our lack of language barriers and understandable storytelling, our performances have become highly popular and are in demand worldwide. One of our best shows, Aspects of Alice, has been running for over 28 years with more than 12.000 performances all over the world.