Drama Revue 2/2002
Summary

J. Černý: 1954 (Czech Theatre and Society in 1954)

The Repressions still went on (especially forcible collectivization of the village and recourse of so called kulaks), but the theatre activities started to be endangered by decrease of the audience. The Communist Party released the strict class esthetics, it pressed widening of classical repertoire of the theatres, it permitted the musical comedies, cabaret and satirical genres, but it insisted no criticism could touch the party and government. The theatre people connected in their existence with Stalinist dogmatism, started to demand party directives or they themselves intervened against their "reactionary" collegues (J. Pokorny against Prof. Vočadlo). The party started to be parting with its intelectual elité not because of its aiming to liberalism but because of their abiding to consist on initial Stalinist principles.
New original drama was limited to shallow comedy about woman's equality (Šafránek Kudy kam - Where to?). By the staging of Čapek's Loupežník (Robber) Alfred Radok returned to National Theatre, O. Krejča made his debut as a director in National Theatre (Ideální manžel - An Ideal Husband). The director's work of Karel Novák in Pardubice, Miroslav Macháček in České Budějovice (Hamlet) started to be reflected. Staging of Faust by B. Stejskal in Karlovy Vary was also very well received. The conductor V. Talich returned to the concert stage, and dancer M. Kura returned to National Theatre.

J. Bažant: Friedrich Nietzsche in the National Theatre in Prague?

Bohuslav Schnirch's tympanum (1882-1883) above the proscenium arch of the National Theatre in Prague is ostensibly classical in style and iconography, but wholly unclassical in its spirit. Apollo on Schnirch's tympanum stood for morality, reasons, civilization and history. Dionysos stood for unruliness, nature, freedom and mythical timelessness. These irreconcilable rivals, however, do not stand against each other, the goddess of triumph is raising victorious wreaths at Dionysos and Apollo's sides. Neither one nor the other is the winner, but rather both, the ultimate winner is the unity of contradictions, which is so strong because there is no hierarchy among its opposing parts. This contradiction points to Nietzsche, who in this very sense reevaluated not only Dionysos and Apollo, but also our perception of world in general.

M. Havlíčková: Theatre Topography of Royal Town of Brno (Contribution to the history of professional theatre in Brno in the end of 17th and the beginning of 18th century)

The appropriate base for the rise of theatre of so called urban type was laid by municipal authorities as the owner of the space of suitable for theatre business in the royal town of Brno, the seat of regional administration, and in the same time the body which initiated and ordered to found it. The oldest record from 1669 mentioned the group of actors who had been playing there with the agreement of the municipal authorities at the place of so called Salt-storage in the upper part of Panská street. They had also played in the attic of Old tavern in the house on the corner of Panská Str. and Radnicka Str. The theatre productions most often took place in municipal Small Tavern, a part of multi-function large one-floor building later called Reduta which is still situated on the corner of Cabbage fair and Capuchin Square. Before the end of 17th century the conditions for theatre business in Brno changed as Small Tavern had been burnt in 1693 and also both halls in Panská Str. hadn't been any more used for theatre productions. After that there could be found two other localities. It was Salmovsky House in those days known as the House of Noblemen of Kunstat, and Estate Riding- school near the Brno Gate. The Estate Riding-school was much temporary object, but the theatre productions didn't stop in Salmovsky House even after 1733 when the town had to its disposal new theatre building on the lands of previous Small Tavern at the Cabbage Fair. The first season was opened by well-known impresario Angelo Mingotti and his company in autumn 1733. Since that time Brno has owned the building assigned for theatre purpose where they played regularly for the general public.

J. Panenka, T. Součková: The Bartered Bride and Open-air Theatre in Šárka in 1913-1922

The open-air theatre in Šárka (today a part of Prague 6) was founded in 1913 in collaboration of National Theatre and theatre enterpreneur Antonin Fencl. There was built massive wooden construction of the stage with green-rooms and storage into the hill ( No.308) in Liboc over The Devil's Mill, there was dug the pit for the orchestra and set the benches for 9.526 viewers. For standing viewers there were designed almost 8.000 places. In the year of foundation there was staged Smetana's The Bartered Bride (with 600 actors persons taking part) and historical drama Jan Výrava by F. A. Šubert by the company of National theatre. The next year National Theatre and the enterpreneur Fencl parted and the managers of Šárka open-air theatre themselves were managing their own repertoire on the base of individual agreement with single artists and various companies. Without official co-production with National Theatre The Bartered Bride was staged there in 1919-1921. The Stage in Šárka ceased in 1922 and till that time there were played about 15 various plays there.

V. Faltýnek: Jaromír Ptáček (The notes to the topic)

Jaromír Ptáček (*1925) belongs to the main creators of Czech radio play of 60th of 20th century. In the time of 1962-1969 he had written 13 original texts. His first play was Five Impertinent Histories (Pět nemístných historií) in 1962, but the real renewal of radio play as valuable dramatic literature he brought in Look at the Dark Sky (Dívej se k černému nebi). Since that title Ptáček collaborated till 80th with West German Broadcast in Koln u. Rhein (WDR) which presented his plays regularly. In the same time he was engaged as the dramaturgist in radio and he presented in Czechoslovak Radio such authors as I. Aichinger, W. Borchert or Czech authors as I. Vyskočil or V. Havel and many others. In 1962 Ptáček was for a short time also the chief of literary-dramatic department. At this post he inspired the foundation of competitive drama department in radio studio in Brno.
Author's work of J. Ptáček creates innerly connected world of basic motifs and topics where the most characteristic is the theme of man in danger. By the consequent change of the characters of his plays Ptáček succeeds to express the change of social climate of his time. He made individual radio style of the mix of drama and epics which was founded on the base of collage. His acquaintance with modern foreign art he demostrated in his interpretation of existencial topics and by the use of modern literary methods.