The Divadlo v Kotcích, German Theater an der Kotzen, in English more usually Kotzen Theatre, was a Prague theatre and opera venue on v Kotcích street, which had its heyday 1739-1783 as the first public theatre in Prague and a home of Italian opera.[1] For many seasons it was run by Italian impresarios Santo Lapis, then Giovanni Battista Locatelli, who staged Gluck's Prague Ezio, 1750, and other works.[2] The more correct "Theater an der Kotzen" was often colloquially referred to as the "Kotzentheater," Kotzen being a Slavonic-German term for a market. It closed in 1783 for safety reasons.]It was preceded by Count Sporck's Theatre 1724-1735, and succeeded by Count Nostitz' "Nostitzsches National Theatre," now the Estates Theatre, "Stavovské divadlo," which opened on 21 April 1783. The current National Theatre, "Národní divadlo" did not open until 1881