Modern Czech Theatre: Reflector and Conscience of a Nation (Studies Theatre Hist & Culture)

The story of Czech theatre in the 20th 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 100 years, that basic and provocative reality has been repeatedly demonstrated, as Jarka Burian reveals in his history of the dramatic world of Czech theatre.

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
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