Madame Bovary

Date:	December 25, 2025 \| 17:00 (Thu)
Venue:	Estates Theatre - Prague Opera tickets
Duration:	approx. 3 hours
Intermission:	Yes (20 minutes)
Status:	Available

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A timeless story about the dullness of common life, dreamed fantasies, and omnipresent advertisement for happiness

In Czech, surtitles in English

Naive Ema is dying to experience the exciting life and eternal love she only knowns from romance novels. But her dreams and rosy visions clash with the boring reality of her marriage to a prudent and caring country doctor. Ordinariness and banality suffocate her, random love encounters bring temporary excitement but cannot satisfy her fantasies. She is constantly haunted by the desire for all that’s new, better, and greater, but the glittering ideal world that lures her eventually brings her down in the crash with the ruthless reality. Permanent dissatisfaction and desire for a better life that seems at hand and purchasable on credit remains highly topical to date.

Madame Bovary conceived as an iconic story of lust, bliss, and intoxication; as a tragedy caused by the power of disillusionment that is stronger than the will to live; as the immortal power of romantic fantasies and cruel unattainability of satisfaction. Madame Bovary is staged at the Estates Theatre almost a hundred years after the previous production, directed by Jiří Frejka with Olga Scheinpflugová in the title role in 1938.

Important:

The purchased tickets cannot be returned or exchanged
No discounts are provided
Theatre is a cultural institution. Please respect the common principles of appropriate behaviour and clothing
Two 20 min. intermissions
The program may be subject to change
The price includes service fee of 3,7 € (100,- CZK)

Venue photo gallery

Estates Theatre - Prague Opera tickets

Address:	Ovocný trh 1 , Praha 1
Capacity:	589
Type:	Theatre
Winter heating:	Yes
Wheelchair access:	Yes

The Estates Theatre is one of the most beautiful historical theatre buildings in Europe

The Estates Theatre is deeply linked with the name of W. A. Mozart. Besides other of his works, it was the venue of world premieres of two Mozart operas: Don Giovanni (on 29 October 1787 – conducted by the composer himself) and La clemenza di Tito (1791, to mark the coronation of Leopold II). Enjoy the festive atmosphere of this beautiful theatre in which W. A. Mozart received enthusiastic ovations after conducting his operas. The Estates Theatre is in operation continuously since 1783. It was built by enlightened and patriotically minded Count Nostitz Rieneck, who thus aimed to enhance the cultural life of Prague inhabitans.

His idea, that a generally accessible theatre is a moral institution demonstrating the cultural level of the nation, was in compliance with the spirit of the late 18th century, the Age of Enlightenment, and the project of theatre was extremely important for Prague of that time. Although presenting plays in German language at first, the theatre soon started staging also Czech plays. In 1798 the Theatre was bought by the Czech Estates, hence its today´s name.

The Estates Theatre is inseparably linked with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The composer has visited Prague couple of times to compose and give concerts here, and in 1787 he presented his opera The Marriage of Figaro in the Estates Theatre.

Under the impression of its enthusiastic reception Mozart composed the Don Giovanni opera for Prague, and personally conducted its world premiere in the Estates Theatre. The opera was an immense success and that is how Don Giovanni and the Estates Theatre have entered the history...

The Estates Theatre was one of the locations in the famous film Amadeus by Miloš Forman. Although the name of Mozart shines the most brightly in the history of the theatre, the Estates Theatre allured many other distinct artists of Europe-wide significance.

Carl Maria von Weber was a musical director of the Theatre; the violin virtuoso Niccolo Paganini gave a concert here; Arthur Rubinstein, Carl Goldmark and Gustav Mahler conducted at the theatre. Other famous personalities are i.e. the actors W. A. Iffland, F. Raimund, J. N. Nestroy, W. Scholze, I. Aldrige and many others.

The Estates Theatre was extremely important for the Czech theatre. From the pioneers such as the Thám brothers, to V. K. Klicpera, J. K. Tyl, J. J. Kollár, etc., the generations of leading creators and artists presented their plays here. The first Czech modern opera, Škroup’s The Tinker, was presented here in 1826.

The play Fidlovačka by J. K. Tyl and F. Škroup, premiered here, includes the song “Kde domov můj” (Where is My Home), which would later become the Czech national anthem. In the Estates Theatre you can see opera, drama and ballet performances.

How to get there:

Accessibility by public transport:
metro A ( green line) or B (yellow line) - Můstek station
Nearest car parking:
Millenium Plaza, V Celnici 10, Prague 1, or Palladium or Kotva shopping malls on Náměstí Republiky