Rare Czechs was published to mark the 15th edition of the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space and maps the major events experienced by the Czech theatre community since the previous edition in 2019. The territory delineated by the individual texts is not limited to the Czech Republic as the site of the Prague Quadrennial, but also encompasses a network of topics and challenges impacting not just the Czech culture sector, but also the global community. The period of 2019 to 2023 undoubtedly represents a turning point. A warning wake-up call concerning climate change and the dwindling of the basic resources necessaey for human survival on planet Earth finally resounded in mass media, only to be drowned out by the SARS-CoV-19 pandemic, which had a major impact on the live arts. Shortly thereafter, we woke up to the oddly familiar geopolitical dichotomy, a Europe once again articulated on a West-East axis as a result of Russian aggression in Ukraine. The Czech Republic lies at the crossroads between North and South, which is evident from the rich cultural history and heritage that has been concentrated to an unusual degree in our rather small country. Nevertheless, the border between East and West has regained its significance and, while it has shifted a few hundred kilimetres to the east of its position in the mid- to late-twentieth century, the Iron Curtain is unfortunately becoming a live concept in our territory once again
