Týn nad Vltavou revolving auditorium

Throughout the summer season, the “Revolver” offers theater performances by the local drama society Vltavan and visiting companies.

The revolving auditorium was built in 1983 in nearby Týn nad Vltavou, in the town park on the site of the defunct Týn Castle, not far from the town center. It was built at the edge of the town center in the park, on the site of the medieval castle destroyed in the 17th century. The construction of the auditorium was initiated and performed by the amateur drama society Vltavan, which has existed in Týn since 1855 with brief breaks.

The present-day revolving auditorium in Bedřichovy Park, no doubt inspired by the Český Krumlov revolver, was built by the amateurs themselves to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the reopened National Theater in Prague. “The second revolving auditorium in then Czechoslovakia and the third in the world” was built cooperatively – apparently without an architectural design – in July and August 1983. The structure rests on wheels from an armored personnel carrier and is rotated by two electric motors. The first performance that took place around the new auditorium was Tyl’s Strakonice Bagpiper in September 1983.

In 2006 architects Jiří Střítecký and Martin Krupauer introduced the design for a new auditorium to replace the existing structure after its lifetime expires. The main innovation is the backward-tilting mobile roof with a shell of waterproof fabric on six wooden segmented beams. The extended roof, a lightweight contrast to the auditorium structure, looks like an open clam shell in the spectators’ viewing direction. According to the designers, the structure is meant to represent a cosmic body enchanted beneath the ground on which the auditorium stands. However, funding for the new theater is not yet secured.

The auditorium is a low circular platform about 10 m in diameter with a wooden floor covering the revolving device. Eight rows of benches over a segmented footprint, interrupted by an aisle at the sides, rise from the rear two-thirds of its area. The space in front of them is vacant and can be used for acting. The center of the last row supports the technician’s booth with a lighting bridge superstructure. The wooden casing of the auditorium as well as the benches are painted brown.

The auditorium holds 220-242 spectators. In comparison with the Český Krumlov revolver, forcibly set in the most exposed part of a historic garden, the rustic structure of the Týn auditorium – also thanks to its smaller dimensions – is much better integrated into the surrounding park. Each summer, Vltavan and visiting companies regularly stage about thirty performances.