Modern Czech Theatre: Reflector and Conscience of a Nation (Studies in Theatre History and Culture) - Hardcover

Burian, Jarka

9780877457114: Modern Czech Theatre: Reflector and Conscience of a Nation (Studies in Theatre History and Culture)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0877457115 ISBN 13: 9780877457114

Publisher: Univ of Iowa Pr, 2000

The story of Czech theatre in the twentieth century involves generations of mesmerizing players and memorable productions. Beyond these artistic considerations, however, lies a larger story: a theatre that has resonated with the intense concerns of its audiences acquires a significance and a force beyond anything created by striking individual talents or random stage hits. Amid the variety of performances during the past hundred years, that basic and provocative reality has been repeatedly demonstrated, as Jarka Burian reveals in his extraordinary history of the dramatic world of Czech theatre.

Following a brief historical background, Burian provides a chronological series of perspectives and observations on the evolving nature of Czech theatre productions during this century in relation to their similarly evolving social and political contexts. Once Czecho-slovak independence was achieved in 1918, a repeated interplay of theatre with political realities became the norm, sometimes stifling the creative urge but often producing even greater artistry. When playwright Vaclav Havel became president in 1990, this was but the latest and most celebrated example of the vital engagement between stage and society that has been a repeated condition of Czech theatre for the past two hundred years.

Underlying all questions of the Czech theatre's relevance to its audience is the historically and culturally shaped relationship between the two. In Jarka Burian's skillful hands, it also becomes an extremely important touchstone for understanding the history of modern theatre within western culture.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

Jarka Burian taught for nearly forty years in the Department of English and, later, the Department of Theatre at the University of Albany; he is now professor emeritus.

From Library Journal:

This history traces the development of Czech theater since the advent of realism in the late 1800s. Burian (theater, Univ. of Albany) is a Czech migr who has periodically gone back following the invasion of Prague in 1968 to study theater. He focuses on theaters, directors, designers, and playwrights as they struggle to make Czech theater a force in European drama and a voice of democracy against the forces of fascism and communism. Czech political and artistic lives are more intimately connected than in other cultures. A few major figures are in the foreground of this study: designer Joseph Svoboda, playwrights Josef and Karel Capek, and, of course, Vaclav Havel, who embodies the artistic/political union of our time. Behind these figures are a great many secondary artists of high quality whose reputations have not traveled as well to the rest of Europe. Hard going for lay readers, this book is recommended for academic libraries and theater collections.DThomas E. Luddy, Salem State Coll., MA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.