Johan Doctor Faust

A reconstruction of a famous 19th-century puppet play about a sorcerer who sold his soul to the devil in pursuit of knowledge and prosperity. The complete text, written by Prof. Dr. Jindřich Veselý based on Antonín Lagron's Faust and other folk puppet traditions, is performed in full.

Handa Gote recreates the performance from the second half of the 19th century with meticulous care - using a complete set of large puppets crafted with period-authentic techniques based on original figures from the traditional puppet-making families of Karfiol, Maizner, and Novák. They recreate the lighting and sound design of the era and have learned the performance in the characteristic vocal style of actors from that time, known as "pimprláčtina". This is fundamentally an archaeological reconstruction of folk entertainment from roughly 150 years ago - an era before the internet, television, and widespread electrification.

Prepared by: Robert Smolík, Tomáš Procházka, Jan Dörner, Veronika Švábová, František Antonín Skála, Radka Mizerová, Jakub Hybler, Jonáš Svatoš, Jan Brejcha.

Production: Maria Cavina, Jedefrau.org.

Part of the Malá inventura Karlovy Vary 2026 festival. Organized by: Malá inventura, VZBUĎME VARY, and Divadlo Dagmar.