Drama Revue 3/2006
Summary

J. Černý: 1956 (Czech Theatre and the Society in 1956)

1956 was the year when the liberating flame came from The Soviet Union after the 20th congress with the reveal of Stalin’s crimes and a short time after the bloody hand of Soviet imperialism stroke revolting Hungary. Our coutry started to be controlled more by the 1st secretary of The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia Antonín Novotný than the president Antonín Zápotocký, the expose of Stalin’s terror was diffused in the campaign against the “cult of Personality”. In the cultural field that meant liquidation of the excesses of Ždanov’s esthetic primitivism. In this phase it meant putting aside the Bolshevik fanatics to lesser posts - the destiny of Zdeněk Míka and Antonín Dvořák - and the installation of intelligent members of the party to the significant functions - e.g. appointment of Otomar Krejča the chief of drama department of National Theatre. There were still the old rules of creation of the repertoire, so called “progressive repertoire”, but they were losing the agit-prop simplicity and started to be drawn nearer to the common norms. The only exception was the drama debut of František Pavlíček (play I Would Like to Come Back), describing the theme of the return of Czech anti - communist immigrants to their homeland, inspired by the amnesty of the president of Republic from 9th May 1955, realized by State Security. On the other side there went on the chicanery of considerable creative personalities as opera director of National Theatre Bohumil Hrdlička or soloist of State Opera in Brno Soňa Červená who both immigrated later.

L. Klosová: Drama Intermezzo of Božena Němcová

In fifties of 19th century during the hard political pressure in Austria well-known author Božena Němcová entered the history, supporting the endeavour of post-revolution Czech middle class for the modern repertoire responding to the parameters of significant foreign stages. Name Němcová is connected with the transtalation of three plays, three dramatic genres, which were favoured by the critics: we’ll find there conversational historical comedy of French type (K. Gutzkow: Das Urbild des Tartuffes, translation 1857, premiere 1859), folk play from country life (Ch. Birch-Pfeiffer: Die Grille according to the story G. Sand: Petite Fadette, translation with J. V. Frič 1857, premiere 1858) and historical romantic drama Ch. E. Chojecki La Florentine, translation about 1858-1859, premiere 1860). Gutzkow’s play was translated only by Němcová herself, but in the dramatization of G. Sand (first on the Czech stage) substantially re-worked original Frič’s translation: localizing it to the North-East Bohemia (the place of her childhood and young years) she maximally concretized the place of the action, costumes and the language which was not usual in that time and so she anticipated the methods of scenic realism of eighties of 19th century. In the older literature Němcová was mentioned as the collaborator of F. L. Rieger in translation of Power and Love, but the discovery of Rieger’s autograph of translation in his legacy and contemporaneous testimonies eliminated such collaboration. Němcová probably only shielded the translation by her name as the author was Polish immigrant in France and Rieger didn’t want to menace his contemporaneous bigger cultural projects. During the constitutional era (1863) the translation was published with his name only.

G. W. Brandt: Banditry Unleash’d or How the Robbers Reached the Stage

The story follows the difficulties that Friedrich Schiller was confronted with when he as a young lad tried to present his first play The Robbers in the professional theatre. The world premiere of The Robbers was produced in January 1782 in the theatre in Mannheim and was directed by the intendant Wolfgang Heribert von Dalberg who also adaptated the text. It is known that the young playwright didn’t agree with that conception.

L. Vodička - P. Janoušek: Czech Drama 1969-1989 (III)

The article is the sequal story about original drama works in the time of so called normalisation 1969 - 1989. The third part deals with Czech drama performed oficially in Czech theatres and all the genre and sub-genre lines of the drama and their development on the background of the historical events.