Drama Revue 3/2005
Summary

V. Just: Small Theatres as the Movement

There are many half-trues and myths connected with small (fringe) theatres, i.e. theatres of small forms of sixties that highly influenced the image of Czech culture in following decades. The most common myth is that the functioning of small theatres was the art revolt against the dead state of Czech theatre in the second half of fifties. If we look - sine ira et studio - at the facts, this myth falls. Small stages of author's theatre were not revolt, much more the part of wider democratic process - awakening germs of civic society which hit both big and small theatres (and also Czech film). Small stages didn't brought esthetic or politic revolution, they were not discovering new continents of cognition: their very acquisition was on the ontological level. It was not primarely message, but sharing, co-habition, co-acting and co-creating of that time and space. It was not new art direction, but rather widely floating especially amateur civic movement.

H. Schramm: Anxiety, Theatre, Fragment (Michel de Montaigne)

In his philosophical essay H. Schramm follows one of the grand changes brought into the culture by Renaissance: newly felt existencional anxiety of the changing world, included anxiety of the periodically appearing illnesses, which leads to the creation of significant self-observation style of perception which is characteric for the period. As one of the most important sources of this way of thinking he examines Montaigne's Essays from 1580-1588. He finds out that their basic leading motif, during the Renaissance extended and many times re-interpreted view of the world as the stage and people as the players, in interesting way bears on with the point of view from which the period of Renaissance seems as the time when the illness becomes one of the central metaphors of European civilization. The following pages are dedicated to the thoughts comparing these two aspects of Renaissance thinking and apprehension, the inner context of their mutual relation and also suggests how the period could be influenced by discoveries, namely invention of letterpress, that meant completely new form of communication. The initiative antagonism of Montaigne's way of thinking when on one side he pines for anchoring his own identity in unity of soul and body in the universe of nature and forbears all counterfeiting and self-imaging, and on the other side realizing that the body is the seat of destructive emotions and delusive senses, he learns that there does not exist possibility in the frames of social life - except the death - completely free oneself from the paradigma of the role, according to Schramm deduces not only fragmentary composition of essays and its methaphorical gesture, but also represents the perspectives which could introduce new approach into the research of Renaissance culture. We must emphasize that Montaigne's deductions springing from reckoning all possible consequences of these contradictions leading to the conviction about the plurality of reason are actual to these days.

P. Pešková: Chateau Theatres of Wallensteins in Bohemia and Moravia

The Wallensteins belonged to the nobility closely connected with theatre in the end of 18th century and at the beginning of 19th century. Members of this bifurcate Czech house had their own theatres at the Chateau Litomyšl, Mnichovo Hradiště, Duchcov, Třebíč and Kozel and they founded one in their Prague Palace at Malá Strana too. At Litomyšl Chateau the theatre existed already during the ownership of Trautmannsdorfs. The first Wallensteinian theatre was built by earl George Christian of Wallenstein in 1767, but it was burnt. The stage existing till today was constituted in 1797. The oldest reports of the theatre in Mnichovo Hradiště we can find in the accounts of earl Vincent of Wallenstein where the issues for music, comedy and orchestra were listed already in 1784-85. The existing stage was replaced by the new construction in the style of late classicism with completely new decoration equipment in 1833. The initiator of that costly reconstruction was earl Christian of Wallenstein. Alas, we have no the written documents about the foundation of Chateau theatre in Duchcov. But according to the building historical exploration results the theatre hall was probably built already in the first half of 18th century. The active functioning of the theatre isn't supposed until second half of the century during the ownership of earl Joseph Charles of Wallenstein. We have the copy of document about the issues for foundation of theatre for earl Vincent of Walenstein from 1792 connected with the Chateau in Třebíč. The newest theatre stage is chamber theatre at Chateau Kozel near Pilsen which was inspired by earl Christian of Wallenstein and built in 1830.

P. Klein : Meyerchold's Vision of Symbolism (Attempt at Reconstruction of Maeterlinck's Tintagil's Death in Studio in 1905)

The set of Maeterlinck's Tintagil's Death presented by V. E. Meyerchold on the stage of Studio at Povarska Street belongs to the first attempts at enforcing of symbolist plays to the Russian stages. So the text is concipated as the attempt at zooming of the birth of symbolist esthetics at Russian theatre which to some extent predestined the adequate form of theatre interaction to this nascent movement. Detailed reconstruction is mapping not only the preparation of the set but also contexts influencing the final result of early experimental shape of symbolical stage form. Indivisible part of the text there becomes also the opening speech of V. E. Meyerchold, presented during the renovated premiere as indivisible part of production which to certain level clarifies the original director's starting point. It is confirmed also by the elements of other documents (programme manifesto, private correspondence, memoirs, critical reviews) which are completed by picture supplement very valuable especially from today's point of view. All these elements disclose the background of the birth of symbolist scenography.

T. Vokáč: Contemporaneous French Drama II. - Xavier Durringer (From Sad Reality to Glittering Hypperreality and Back through Non-communication and Media)

In the second part of his study about contemporaneous French drama the author undertakes the work of X. Durriger which refers to naturalism of 19th and 20th centuries by its content aims and dramatic form. Durringer likewise concentrates attention on un-important situations and non-essential stories taking place in specific group of individuals in dirty, impersonal environment of poor outskirts of towns. Linking the character of shown environment and almost surgical anatomizing of psychology and physiology of the humans in it he emphasizes in his writing specific, colloquial, often quite scurrilous language of certain group of people especially members of young generation of the beginning of nineties. Durringer's plays are political at the base although we cannot find direct thoughts about politics in the texts. The playwright imperceptibly but happily - sometimes roughly and without scruples, sometimes in lyric or melancholic way or ironically and exagerratingly defines and describes our period and reality. He reveals the basic problems of "forward" Western civilization through the minute and small stories.