Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre

The Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre began with a chance discovery in the dusty attic of the Jan Hus Church on East 74th Street. In 1990, founder Vít Hořejš, an immigrant from Prague, was performing a small show at the church when he learned about a long-lost collection of antique marionettes hidden above the sanctuary. He uncovered two dozen large puppets and nearly fifty smaller ones, some dating back nearly two centuries. These wooden figures, once used by immigrant families to preserve their culture in a new land, became the foundation for a troupe that would go on to revitalize the tradition of Czech puppetry in the United States.