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If you can’t quite grasp how these grisly instruments work, the helpful illustrations should make their operation painfully clear. More than 60 implements of pain from all over Europe are on display, accompanied by explanations in several languages.

Subtitled “a Small Story From the Great Time of the Beatles”, this non-verbal show uses film projection, music, dance and puppetry to present “a loosely poetical black-theatrical production of the animated film Yellow Submarine ”. It is, if nothing else, a unique synthesis of various Czech theatre genres. Must be seen to be believed, whether you’re a Beatles fan or not.

Bohemia’s great figures all come together in one happy community here, with lifelike waxwork representations of Franz Kafka, Rudolf II and The Good Soldier Švejk, making for a wonderful stroll through Czech history. The presence of Bill Clinton, Elton John, Tina Turner and other modern icons is a little more difficult to fathom.

Mozart premiered his opera Don Giovanni at Prague’s Estates Theatre in 1787. Of the two marionette homages to the city’s favourite opera, the better production takes place at the National Marionette Theatre. The technique of the puppeteers is so masterful, you’ll leave looking for strings attached to passers-by. A true Prague experience (see Stavovské divadlo).

In case the torture museum wasn’t enough to make your skin crawl, this creepy mini-zoo has more than 100 live little beasts for your amusement. Although the tiny monsters are not native to Bohemia, you’ll be shaking out your bedsheets for the rest of your stay.

An exhibition in a slightly different sense, this is one show definitely not for the kids. The museum traces the history of gratifying instruments from their origins to the modern day. While not entirely without cultural merit, the overall package is rather bizarre. There is, predictably, a gift shop.

Each summer evening, the fountain’s 50 pumps, 3,000 water jets and more than 1,200 lights put on a dizzying display of hydro-mechanic choreography. The musical accompaniment ranges from classical to heavy metal to Disney tunes. Recent productions have included live folk dance troupes and a melodrama based on James Bond plots (see Výstavište).

Mozart’s comic opera adapts well to the grotesque puppets and the techniques of marionette theatre. It’s high art and, despite the efforts of the expert puppeteers, the illusion is a bit hard to maintain, but patient opera fans will enjoy the novelty.

Take an eternal tale of humanity’s search for meaning in the cycle of life, death and rebirth, add a century of Czech marionette tradition and a fuzzy soundtrack, and mix well. Watching the bemused audience is almost as much fun as the action on stage.

The Czech love of operetta knows no limits, except perhaps the number of performers willing to take part in the latest rock opera at locations around town. It began with Romany and Juliette , proceeded to Dracula and is still going strong with a romping Monte Cristo . Check The Prague Post for performance times (see The Prague Post).