Featured Location: Welcome to the era of black and white film at the Karel Pippich Theatre

The Karel Pippich Theater in Chrudim is an architecturally significant Constructivist-style building designed by J. Freiwald and J. Böhm and built between 1931 and 1934. So who was Karel Pippich? He was a Doctor of Laws, a famous citizen of Chrudim, a writer, a musician and a poet. During Pippich’s active period, Chrudim was rightly called the “Athens of Eastern Bohemia”.

The sensitively renovated theatre exudes the atmosphere of the time of famous actors Oldřich Nový and Nataša Gollová. Whether you decide to shoot in the lobby, in the audience, on stage, on the balconies, in the foyer, on the small stage, in the orchestra pit, the café, or even in the exhibition gallery, the building offers you an infinite number of interesting angles on First Republic architecture.

And however unlikely it seems, according to the technical plans, there is a total of 304 spaces (including hallways) in the theatre, spread over one underground and three aboveground floors. The largest room is the main auditorium with a seating capacity of 302 people in an area of 195 m2, with the stage covering an additional 190 m2. The relatively large space also offers an auxiliary stage (111 m2) and a foyer (158 m2). On the second floor, there is an interesting historical space that could be used, for example, as a café. On the third floor there’s an exhibition gallery. Filmmakers will be happy to know that the electrical wiring throughout the property has been recently upgraded.

In the immediate vicinity of the theatre there is a small park, an old water channel, as well as the Chrudim historical city centre featuring three museums (the Regional Museum in Chrudim – only in Czech, the Chrudim Puppetry Museum, and the Museum of Baroque Sculpture – only in Czech), whose listed buildings are also available for filming. The theatre has been a listed Czech cultural monument since 1958 and is part of the city’s historic preservation zone.

Building manager Martin Dytrt, director of the Chrudimská beseda (Chrudim Education Organization) Municipal Cultural Center, is ready to accommodate interested parties: “As the theatre is a listed cultural monument, it was reconstructed in accordance with its original appearance during the First Republic (post-World War 1 period). It even has a First Republic-era café. It is ideally suited for period film shoots. Interested filmmakers can also arrange to use other buildings under the management of the Chrudimská beseda, such as the museum building with its richly decorated concert hall.

Lucie Ondráčková of the East Bohemia Film Office adds:“Chrudim is easily accessible from Prague, about a 90-minute drive along the Hradec Kralove highway.” Parking is also not a problem. Larger vehicles can park along the water channel in front of the theatre – three buses can fit here easily. There are also parking lots in front of and behind the theatre for cars.