Petty Men (premiere)
The Summer Shakespeare Festival Ostrava presents an international performance. The play is performed in English with Czech subtitles. The venue is Komorní scéna Aréna (www.divadloarena.cz). Performance date: 4th of August, 2026 at 18:00.
About Petty Men
In the dressing room of an unnamed West End theatre two understudies decide to outperform the show relay of the production of ‘Julius Caesar’. What starts as an attempt to combat their boredom brings their friendship to a crisis point and dangerously blurs the lines between the real world and Shakespeare’s Rome. Questions and themes around friendship, ambition, sacrifices we make for an imagined future life, disappointment and betrayal all come to a head. Our inspirations for the project include ‘Waiting for Godot’ and ‘Withnail & I’.
About Buzz Studios
Buzz Studios is a theatre company named after Buzz Goodbody, the first female director at the Royal Shakespeare Company. It is committed to making accessible but rebellious stagings of classical theatre, alongside occasional commissions of new writing.
Its most recent production, ‘Petty Men’, won the prestigious ESFN Selection and will be presented in six European countries in the summer of 2026.
About the Summer Shakespeare Festival Ostrava
The Summer Shakespeare Festival is a well-known theatre festival that was established (beside Prague and Brno) in Ostrava in 2008. It is one of the biggest theatre festivals in the Czech Republic, in Ostrava visited regularly by more than 18 thousand spectators. The original idea of the festival was initiated by former Czech president Vaclav Havel and the first play was presented in 1990 at the Prague castle. The Ostrava festival is traditionally organized at the Silesian - Moravian Castle, which, along with the performances cast by well known actors, adds a unique atmosphere of romance that the viewer will not experience anywhere else. In addition to the popular Czech and Slovak productions, the festival has provided the local audience with a very exclusive experience, such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, Delhi, London or Krakow theatre performances. The Summer Shakespeare Festival is an unfor- gettable cultural experience.