Jiří Josek: On the Road to Shakespeare: (Translation Reflections)
Prague: KANT - Karel Kerlický Publishing House for the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, 2019. Prepared by the Institute for the Theory of Stage Design, DAMU. Book series Disk – Malá řada, vol. 19. ISBN 978-80-7331-513-9 (AMU); 978-80-7437-294-0 (Karel Kerlický – KANT)
The key problems associated with translating Shakespeare's work are formulated and organised by Jiří Josek on the basis of rich personal experience. After a brief introduction to the issue of drama translation and a chapter dealing with the tradition of translating W. Shakespeare in the Czech lands, the most extensive part of the monograph is devoted to comparative analysis and reflection on specific examples in which Czech translators of different generations, including his own, considered and continue to consider the question of differences between language systems or formal and contentual equivalences.
Procedures for translating homonymous words in examples of literal and equivalent transpositions, complex metaphors, rhythmic and phonic differences of the original and the translation language, are subject to comparisons. In addition to the dependence of translation on the relationship with the interpretation of characters and works, Jiří Josek deals with translation problems due to differences in the very varying contexts of time, place and culture, comparisons of translations of puns, malapropisms, distorted speech and language parodies during which translators use various degrees and types of substitution. Several specific examples are also devoted to the specifics of translation for different media and in the framework of individual medias, adjustments for spoken speech (dubbing) and translation of subtitles.
Jaroslav Vostrý: Stanislavsky's Discovery of Acting Creativity and its Socio-Cultural Context
Prague: KANT - Karel Kerlický Publishing House for the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, 2018. Prepared by the Institute for the Theory of Stage Design DAMU. Book series Disk – Malá řada, vol. 18. ISBN 978-80-7437-261-2 (KANT); 978-80-7331-492-7 (AMU).
Prof. Jaroslav Vostrý deals with Stanislavsky's conception of acting from a point of view that has not yet received concentrated attention in our theatrology. K. S. Stanislavsky interests him not only as a director, but above all as a teacher who was primarily interested in developing acting creativity. J. Vostrý follows the path taken by Stanislavsky, which leads from the written words of a dramatic text to what these words nourish and what they do not directly express, but often conceal. He places Stanislavsky's conception of acting in the context of the time, but also notes its historical assumptions (especially Diderot's "acting paradox" and the work of Meiningen) and confronts it or connects it with initiatives and discoveries not only in theatres and the performing arts, but also in other areas. According to J. Vostrý, Freud's "discovery" of the unconscious, which inspired K. S. Stanislavsky, is particularly interesting for understanding K. S. Stanislavsky.
Although K. S. Stanislavsky did not write the planned book on subconscious creation ("Help for the Subconscious by the Conscious"), J. Vostrý recognizes in his "system" a number of features that foreshadow it; procedures that can attract the subconscious to participate in conscious creation. The topic of the study of Prof. J. Vostrý is thus Stanislavsky's conception of acting as creation and its connection with the discovery of human creativity, a phenomenon so characteristic of that period of modernity. The study concludes with an important chapter on the relationship between K. S. Stanislavsky and V. E. Mejerchold and a passage that captures the final stage of Stanislavsky's life, fatally marked by the specific conditions imposed on artistic activity during the Stalinist dictatorship.
The author works with a number of authentic materials (including diaries and correspondence) and the work is equipped with an extensive bibliography, a carefully prepared index and a summary in English and German.
Eva Kyselová: One Republic – One Theatre? A Dialogue of Slovak and Czech Drama 1918–1992
Bratislava: Divadelný ústav, 2018. ISBN 978-80-8190-044-0.
The monograph is an extraordinary achievement in the field of research into the relations between Slovak and Czech theatre of the 20th century. The author has achieved the presentation of a thorough look at the complicated relationships between the two theatrical cultures, sought and found points of contact and differences, with emphasis on the fundamental aspects of the development of dramatic direction in Slovakia and the role of Czech theatre makers in this. The monograph in its seven chapters, dealing with seven periods of relations between Czech and Slovak theatre from the establishment of the common Republic, covers changes in the development of these relations and raises questions on the interpretation of Slovak and Czech theatre history and their periodisation that call for further research and discussion. The main topic of the work is the transformation of Slovak drama in the 20th century and an examination of the role played by communication with Czech drama in this context. The basic methodological framework is the search for analogies and differences between the two theatrical cultures in a given period. The interpretation is set in broader historical and political contexts and describes their impact on selected specific theatrical productions and on the work of specific artistic personalities and theatre ensembles.
E. Kyselová's monograph is an original look at the history of dramatic theatre in Czechoslovakia in the 20th century. It captures turning points, the emergence of theatre scenes, key cultural events, dramaturgical lines and major productions and concisely characterizes the work of important personalities. The author does not shy away from the sometimes controversially perceived question of whether Slovak theatre was only a derivative of "more advanced" Czech theatre until a certain time, or whether its development also had its own, immanent sources and motivations. It logically comes to the realization that in the second half of the 1930s, Slovak theatre emancipated and creatively absorbed the impulses of the European avant-garde. When the author focuses on the next stages of development, she acknowledges that in this period, i.e. in the second half of the century, it is no longer possible to talk about the dependence of the "younger brother" on the "older", but that relationships of a completely different quality are formed, and that it is a dialogue between two independent theatrical cultures, for their mutual enrichment. E. Kyselová's interpretation is well-founded, based on carefully studied sources and professional literature; that the author is equipped with a thorough knowledge of the history of Czech and Slovak theatre is clearly demonstrated. Each chapter is preceded by an overview of the most important political and cultural events and events in the theatre field in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The interpretation is systematically expanded and deepened by a careful note-taking device. E. Kyselová's monograph is supplemented by pictorial documentation, a list of literature and sources referred to, a register of names and a summary in English.
Zdenka Švarcová Legend of Komachi: Ono no Komachi - Poems and Poetess in Noh Plays
Prague: KANT Publishing House - Karel Kerlický for the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague; 2018. Prepared by the Institute for the Theory of Stage Design, Faculty of Theatre, AMU. Book series Disk – Velká řada, vol. 41. ISBN 978-80-7437-260-5 (KANT); 978-80-7331-484-2 (AMU).
Leading Czech Japanologist, Prof. Zdenka Švarcová, undertook the repoeming of five medieval Japanese plays and accompanies her translations with an insider's explanation and treatise on the circumstances of the origin of these plays, their form and their central theme - the poet Komachi. The genius poetess Ono no Komachi, living in the 9th century at the Japanese Imperial Court, has been attracting the attention of historians, literary scholars, and above all artists for more than a thousand years, her circumstances and poetry having inspired their own works. Several centuries later, her story also impressed the actor, principal and playwright–librettist Kan’ami and his son–actor, poet and playwright Zeami Motokiyo (1363–1444). They contributed to the development of medieval stage art - the Sarugaku Theatre, later called Noh. They were so fascinated by Mrs. Komachi, the character from the distant past, that they wrote a total of five plays about her, which are still performed today. Zdenka Švarcová, in addition to the deep scientific erudition with which she writes an introductory study, devoted herself to a broader spatiotemporal context. Even insider interpretations and comments on individual plays express the emotional depth of Ono no Komachi's poetic paintings in poetic and core Czech, which draws the reader to a unique experience of poetry. The first chapter, entitled Legend and Reality, theatre and Poetry, is devoted to the origin and development of the "Komachi legend" and its culminating performance in five plays for the Noh theatre. The second and third chapters of this book contain annotated translations of five librettos for the medieval plays of the Noh.
Prof. Zdenka Švarcová, an excellent translator and a leading Czech Japanese scholar, is a member of the European Association for Japanese Studies, the Community of Translators and the Czech-Japanese Society; For her services to Japanese culture and her contribution to the development of friendly relations between Japan and the Czech Republic, she was decorated by the Emperor of Japan in 2010 and received the Order of the Rising Sun.
This exceptional publication by Prof. Z. Švarcová has a list of sources and literature, a register of names and a summary in English and German.
Josef Valenta: Theatre or Life! or The Metaphor of the Theatre as a Means of Cognition
Prague: KANT - Karel Kerlický Publishing House for the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, 2019. Prepared by the Institute for the Theory of Stage Design DAMU. Book series Disk – Malá řada, vol. 20. ISBN 978-80-7437-306-0 (Karel Kerlický - KANT); 978-80-7331-524-5 (AMU).
During its long existence, the theatre has "learned" to perceive, carefully reflect on and explore the world, life, events, situations and human actions. Thus, the question of whether or not the analytical tools by which theatre examines man can be used outside theatre, could not fail to be raised. That is, in the non-artistic study of human behaviour, thinking and experience. Theatre, with its tools of reflection on people and their lives and actions, is successful. The analytical component of theatrical work is obviously an "evolutionary advantage". The playwright's exploration of the essence of what he writes about, and the theatre maker's exploration of the essence of how to transform drama into a stage form, bears certain similarities to the "exploration of the essence" in everyday life and even in research. Theatres, as a means of cognition, thoroughly embraced the science of man in the middle of the 20th century and tried to make this metaphor an instrument of their research. Especially thanks to the names, K. Burke, E. Goffman or V. Turner, the so-called dramaturgical metaphor was established in the methodology of research on social interactions. However, its story does not end there and the topic is still alive today. And this is discussed in a book, the author of which is a teacher in the Department of Educational Drama at DAMU and the Department of Pedagogy at the Faculty of Philosophy, Charles University, which systematically deals with the relationship between pedagogy and paratheatrical systems.
Miloslav Klíma: On Animation: from Different Sides of Contemporary Puppet Theatre
Prague: The Prague Stage in Cooperation with the Research Institute for the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre of the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, AMU Publishing House, 2019. Book series Theatrology, vol. 29. ISBN 978-80-88217-08-4 (Jan Dvořák - Pražská scéna); 978-80-7331-504-7 (AMU).
The current topic, which is alive in - in addition to puppet and unorthodox theatre contexts - also alive in the context if art in general, in film, media and computer programming, is reflected by the team of Prof. Miloslav Klíma from the Research Institute for the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre at DAMU, co-publisher of the title. After Klíma's introductory article, a number of original approaches to the development of animation in modern and contemporary puppet theatre are presented (Kateřina Lešková Dolenská: The Triple Way of Animation; Jiří Havelka: Animated Acting; Marta Ljubková: Animation of the Human Body; Jakub Maksymov: The Paris Project with a Cyborg; Petr Prokop: Mobile Vosto5ka, and numerous others) and the publication concludes with an explanation of the concept of animation and a list of literature on animation.
Zuzana Augustová; Jan Jiřík; Daniela Jobertová (eds.): Horizons of European Drama: Contemporary Theatre Text between Dramatic and Postdramatic Tendencies
Prague: Academy of Performing Arts in Prague at AMU Publishing House in Prague, 2017. 332 pp. Book series Black-Box. ISBN 978-80-7331-410-1.
The collective monograph is the result of a two-year research project by the authorial team of the Department of Theory and Criticism at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, in which the following Czech and foreign theatrologists and theatre artists participated: Dr. Daniela Jobertová, Ph.D., Dr. PhDr. Zuzana Augustová, Ph.D., Martina Schlegelová, Ph.D., Vít Pokorný, Ph.D., Jan Jiřík, Ph.D., Marcela Magdová, Kateřina Bohadlová, Prof. Davide Carnevali (School of Dramatic Art Paolo Grassi, Milan, at Instituto 17, Mexico City), Teresa Kovacs (University of Vienna), Dr. Piotr Olkusz (Institute for Social Culture, Łódź), PhDr. Lenka Jungmannová (Institute for Czech Literature AS CR), Prof. Patrice Pavis (France).
The monograph is in two parts. The Czech studies capture the changes and forms of contemporary writing for theatre in the period from 2000 to 2015 in cultures of Germany and Austria, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia and Italy. It also includes analyses of selected texts, thanks to which are revealed changes the traditional categories of drama underwent at the beginning of the 21st century.
The English-language part of the monograph contains texts that were performed at the international symposium, The Contemporary Theatrical Text between Dramatic and Post-Dramatic Tendencies. It consists of a contribution by the Italian playwright D. Carnevali, a comparison of poetics of E. Jelineková and E. Palmetshofer by T. Kovacsová, an outline of the latest developments in Polish theatre by P. Olkusz, an insight into the Czech context by L. Jungmannová and an extremely inspiring study by French theatrologist P. Pavis, based primarily on the analysis of the production Les Marchands by the important contemporary artist Joěl Pommerat.
The focus of all authors who contributed to the monograph is the current theatrical text and its changes, or changes in its function and position. In today's theatrical practice. The text, which we perceive primarily as a score preceding our own stage work, is often born in parallel with the production; sometimes it is fixed definitively at the end of the rehearsal period, elsewhere it continues to change with each performance. Not only the forms change and multiply, but also the ways in which texts for theatre are created. Therefore, an important aspect to which the authors of the studies relate is the question: what exactly is a text and what is it used for in theatre today?
The monograph offers an overview of contemporary drama in relation to theatre in specific national cultures. It proves that trends in different countries have similar features. The monograph reveals that important impulses for contemporary theatre came from British and German drama, but at the same time it demonstrates how theatrical production is in individual national areas. The monograph provides a useful overview of the drama of the last twenty years and insights into selected dramatic and theatrical cultures. In addition, studies written in Czech are also valuable thanks to detailed links to both available and as yet unpublished Czech translations of the plays.
The monograph contains English summaries, information about the authors (in Czech and English) and a register of names. Each study is equipped with comprehensive notes and a list of domestic and foreign language literature.
Mikhail Chekhov: The Actor's Journey. On Acting Techniques
Translations by Zoja Oubramová, who wrote a study on the life and work of Mikhail Chekhov. Prague: Nakladatelství KANT - Karel Kerlický Publishers for the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, 2017. 256 pp. Book series Disk – Velká řada, vol. 39. ISBN 978-80-7437-241-4 (KANT). ISBN 978-80-7331-449-1 (AMU).
The monograph brings the first comprehensive critical edition of translations of the basic works of the great Russian actor and pedagogue Mikhail Chekhov, updated and carefully revised, and the original study by Mikhail Chekhov: Life and Work. Zoja Oubramová translated and prepared for publication both basic works of this indispensable personality of world theatre and presented them in an extensive, almost fifty-page well-founded study, in many ways a study of discovery, which she provided with an extensive note-taking apparatus.
Mikhail Chekhov, nephew of the writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, was a leading actor of the First Studio of the Moscow Art Theatre 1 and later a leading artistic figure of the studio of the MAT-2 which resulted from it, and was considered by contemporaries to be the greatest actor of his time. However, he is significant today mainly in the field of pedagogy, thanks to the "method", which is formulated, particularly in Chekhov's book, To the Actor.
To this day, M. Chekhov's ideas inspire theatre makers all over the world. Throughout his life, he sought new paths, new acting techniques, a new theatre with a "cleaner, more artistic" approach to creative work. He sought and discovered laws of acting, which are based on imagination and creative inspiration. His "method" was to enable the actor to hear the stimuli and commands of these two basic artistic principles, to render his body and his whole being the most sensitive instrument possible, through which imagination and inspiration could be communicated to the audience. His research has become the most valuable resource for future generations of artists.
Z. Oubramová maps in detail the beginnings of M. Chekhov's acting and its further development, including the complex vicissitudes of life in Russia and in exile (while also relying on resources difficult to access), but above all it reconstructs how his pedagogical activity was formed and changed - from the beginning, when it was based on the "system" of K.S. Stanislavsky, up to the original methodology, captured in his two books - in the biographical, The Actor's Journey and in the book, On Acting Technique. Important and largely revelatory are the passages in which he compares the approaches of K. S. Stanislavsky and M. Čechov, formulated on the basis of Chekhov's notes and other sources, and the gradual crystallization of Chekhov's path to acting technique. An important part is also a pictorial appendix, in which Z. Oubramová makes available valuable illustrative as well as factual material.
The publication contains an editorial note in which the translator documents in detail the sources of citations as well as the sources of the published pictorial material, a carefully prepared register of names and a comprehensive résumé in English and German. The monograph prepared by Zoja Oubramová is a fundamental
part of the collection of professional literature on acting and acting education.
Milan Šotek: A Comedy According to Václav Kliment Klicpera
Prague: KANT - Karel Kerlický Publishing House for the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, 2018. Prepared by the Institute for the Theory of Stage Design DAMU. Book series Disk – Velká řada, vol. 42. ISBN 978-80-7437-262-9 (Karel Kerlický - KANT); 978-80-7331-493-4 (AMU).
Twenty-two completed Czech comedies by V. K. Klicpera (1792–1859) inspired Milan Šotek to write a playful variation of Mlynář's Monkey (premiered on the 25th of May, 2017 at the Estates Theatre, directed by Štěpán Pácl). Based on the individual scenes of Mlynář's Monkey, sixteen chapters were created, in which the author examines the "Klicper reservoir of situations, characters and motifs" and discusses specific issues of Klicper's comedy world, such as language, acting, plot style and many others, but also comedy as such. The talent of writer and playwright M. Šotek is divided between the large-scale theatre play and small forms. In addition to dramaturgical practice in so-called "stone" theatre buildings (Olomouc, Vinohrady Theatre, The National Theatre in Prague), focused on Czech and Central European drama, he devotes himself as an author, lyricist and actor to the popular Cabaret Calembour, which he founded with his classmates from DAMU, Igor Orozovič and Jiří Suchý from Tábor.
Pavel Bár: Karlín Musical Theatre. From Variety to Musical
Prague: Brána, 2016. ISBN 978-80-7243-896-9.
A representative book publication published on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the reopening of the Karlín Musical Theatre. With its text and hitherto mostly unpublished pictorial accompaniment, it presents the rich and complex history of the Karlín theatre from the time of the variety show to the present day. He also devotes himself extensively to the operetta and musical productions of the past seventy seasons of the Karlín Musical Theatre, which were violently interrupted by the catastrophic floods in 2002. In particular, photographs show the subsequent reconstruction of the historic building and events in the last ten years since its reopening. Special attention is also focused on legendary productions (Divotvorný hrnec/The Amazing Pot, My Fair Lady, Polská krev/Polish Blood, Carmen, a.o.) as well as popular creative and acting personalities (Jan Werich, Vlasta Burian, Oldřich Nový, Laďka Kozderková, Karel Fiala and others).
Jaroslav Vostrý, Zuzana Sílová and Pavel Bár (eds.): theatre Director 1945-1950: Jiří Frejka in Vinohrady
Prague: KANT - Karel Kerlický Publishing House for the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, 2016. 316 pp. Prepared by the Research Institute for Dramatic and Stage Production of the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts. Book series Disk – Velká řada, vol. 38. ISBN 978-80-7437-215-5 (KANT). ISBN 978-80-7331-400-2 (AMU).
The monograph, prepared by the Institute for the Theory of Stage Production DAMU, maps the turning point of Czech theatre and, thanks to the breadth of its scope and the depth of analysis and interpretation of Jiří Frejka, a key figure in modern Czech theatre, represents an extraordinary achievement in researching the history of Czech theatre culture. The collective monograph follows the book, Frejka's Hidden on the Stairs: Poetry and Politics (2014). The activities of the great Czech director were chosen as the main subject of the research, but the monograph also facilitates comprehension of an important period in the history of Czech modern theatre and sheds light on some more general issues affecting the relationship between theatre as art and theatre as an institution and medium. This is particularly evident in the studies that make up this monograph, because Frejka appears in them not only as a theatre director, but also as an artistic director, even in a particularly turbulent historical period. The collective monograph presents other results of the research into Jiří Frejka's theatrical work. If the activities of a great Czech director were chosen as the subject of research, it does not mean that it is only a matter of getting to know his artistic legacy. The exceptional qualities of this work lay in its provision of an opportunity to better illuminate the relevant periods in the history of Czech modern theatre and to shed more light on some more general issues regarding the relationship between theatre as art and theatre as an institution and medium of the time. In the studies that make up this book, J. Frejka also appears as a director - even in a particularly turbulent historical period. J. Frejka is a theatrical artist who does not create simply individual productions, but a theatre Institution. Frejka's struggle for this theatre began with an effort to establish the Czechoslovakian Army Theatre: in 1945, this institution was able to provide J. Frejka with the safest background. A new attempt at military shielding was to provide him with protection from intensifying political pressures in 1950 - that is, in an atmosphere of incipient trials supporting the settlement of accounts of all kinds. The transformation of the Municipal Theatres of Prague into the Theatre of the Czechoslovakian Army really did take place in the end, but there was no place for Jiří Frejka himself in such a theatre.
In addition to the register, the monograph also contains the repertoires of the Municipal Theatres of Prague (the Municipal Theatre in Královské Vinohrady and the Municipal Chamber Theatre) in the era of Jiří Frejka 1945–1950.
Jaroslav Vostrý and Zuzana Sílová: Czech Drama and a Czech Hero
Prague: KANT Publishing House - Karel Kerlický for the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, 2017. Prepared by the Institute for the Theory of Stage Design, Faculty of Theatre, AMU. Book series Disk – Velká řada, vol. 40. ISBN 978-80-7437-242-1 (KANT), 978-80-7331-450-7 (AMU).
In the present study, Czech drama works not only in the strict sense of a certain artistic genre, but also points to Czech history understood as drama. The starting point is therefore the belief that a certain sum of dramatic texts represents a distinctive (active) projection of thinking, which is related to a truly unfolding (historical) story. This characteristic has to a lot to do with the symbolizing potency of artistic expression of a certain level. In this sense, even here the issue of the hero is examined in the relationship between the figure of the work of art and the hero "in reality". The basis of the research is the interpretation of dramas that enable such a comparison and which in so doing already prove their validity in the context of Czech culture.
Jan Císař: Man in Certain Circumstances,
2nd, extended edition (the first at AMU). Prague: Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, 2016. 196 pp. ISBN 978-80-7331-382-1.
A fundamental, unique theatrical study, which analyses the form and development of drama theatre in recent decades, in "media circumstances" that are radically different from the circumstances in which theatre as an art form and as a social institution has existed and functioned to date. Prof. Jan Císař, a prominent theatre theorist, historian and critic, pedagogue in the Faculty of Theatre at the Academy of Performing Arts, examines the development of reflection on theatre in this monograph in historical contexts, in both aesthetic and philosophical categories. The book presents a well-founded and at the same time reader-friendly theoretical explanation of the current position of theatre, incorporated into the historical and philosophical context and supplemented by a number of examples from specific productions. Jan Císař examines key categories of theatre theory, such as theatre space, situation and character. He also deals with the current issue of the relationship of theatre with other types of media and the question of the possible competition between them. When the monograph was published in its first version in 2000, it was critically acclaimed for its scope and innovative for its theoretical contribution. The author added a new chapter to the
original edition, After Fifteen Years, devoted, among other things, to current trends in theatre. In addition, the extended edition is supplemented by a register of analysed productions of Czech professional theatre.
Eva Machková: An Outline of the History and Theory of Drama Education
Prague: Academy of Performing Arts in Prague at the AMU Publishing House. 2018. ISBN 978-80-7331-487-3.
The monograph deals with the theory of drama education and all its aspects and contexts. It explains the quintessence of this interdisciplinary field both from the view of pedagogy and from that of theatre studies, and takes into account in detail the connection with psychology, especially with developmental psychology and psychology of the personality and with other disciplines that the drama education touches or draws on. Furthermore, the monograph contains the most systematic treatment of drama education history so far, from medieval and humanistic school theatre, Jesuit plays, Comenius’ schola ludus and children’s theatre in the 19th and the 20th centuries all the way to modern stages of drama in education, mentioning its manifold forms and most important proponents. The outlined history of drama in education includes its development both in the Czech lands and abroad, especially in the Anglo–American cultural space, which is of fundamental importance for the emergence and development of modern drama education. Both parts of the monograph are provided with comprehensive Czech and foreign bibliographies and recommended literature lists and with an index.
Eva Machková: Between Reality and Dream: Chapters from the Poetics of the Plays Based on Fairy Tales
Prague: KANT, 2013. Prepared by the Department of Dramatic and Stage Production at the Faculty of Theatre, AMU. Book series Disk – Velká řada, vol. 23. ISBN 978-80-7437-101-1.
The book, by a leading expert and well-known pedagogue, deals with the problems of fairytale drama for children, specifically plays, which originated between the last quarter of the 19th century and the end of the 1980s. Why is the level of fairytale plays and theatrical texts written for children gradually deteriorating? Why does their level lag behind both children's literature and theatre as such? Professor Eva Machková attempts to answer these questions in a comprehensively conceived work, which has been missing in those on children's theatre dramaturgy up to now. It is aimed primarily at those who can influence the quality of children's theatre today and in the future - students and teachers, ensemble leaders, directors and playwrights. The well-arranged historical and theoretical basis is followed by chapters devoted to individual types of fairytale plays and their issues in relation to staging and the special demands of children. In conclusion, the author convincingly formulates and briefly explains the reasons why, in her opinion, the situation in children's drama is as it is, and suggests where the "path out of poverty" could lead.
Kateřina Šplíchalová Mocová and Vladimír Novák: Problems of Directing and Dramaturgy in a Special Needs Theatre Group (with theatre makers with mental disabilities)
Prague: Research Institute for the Department of Alternative and Puppet theatre of the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts; Pražská scéna, 2016. ISBN 978-80-86102-99-3 (Jan Dvořák – Pražská scéna); 978-80-7331-397-5 (AMU).
The publication focuses on theatrical activities with people with disabilities. It captures and analyses fifteen years of practice of playwright Kateřina Šplíchalová Mocová and director Vladimír Novák of creative work with a special needs group of theatre makers, i.e. integrated theatrical productions by people with mental impairments and theatre professionals. The publication also describes the development of theatrical productions in special needs groups and an examination of the essence of special needs theatre in a societal context: from the first ideas and attempts to the establishment of the Rynholec Festival (as a theatrical integration happening), accreditation of the study specialization, Theatre Production in Special Needs Groups in the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre of the Theatre Faculty of AMU in Prague in 2013, and the development of various follow-up projects and research plans and visions. Last but not least, it recalls the inclusion of "special needs integrated performances" in the Register of Artistic Outputs (RUV).
Miloslav Klíma: On Dramaturgy
Prague: Prague Stage in cooperation with the Research Institute for the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre of the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, AMU Publishing House, 2016. Book series Theatrology, vol. 24. ISBN 978-80-86102-98-6 (Jan Dvořák - Pražská scéna); 978-80-7331-396-8 (AMU).
Prof. Miloslav Klíma's publication makes a valuable contribution to the body of knowledge and study of a field in which - unlike, for example, that of directing or acting - there is no extensive, specialist literature. This is due to the fact that theatrical dramaturgy is a relatively young field, which has gradually shed the label of literary-historical servant and is increasingly asserting itself as a philosophically conceptual factor, at the same time aesthetically creative in programming the theatrical organism and every new production. The publication is a summary of general knowledge and personal experience from rich dramaturgical practice, supplemented by literature for the study of dramaturgy. The author claims he is a true "man of the sixties" (Ivan Vyskočil's term), belonging to a generation that was lucky enough to live through the golden age of Czech theatre in its student years (Na zábradlí theatre, Drama Club, Za branou theatre, Semafor, Mahen's Drama) etc.), including a fundamental touch of modern English theatre and absurd drama. The book is also the story of Czech theatre in the second half of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, the awakening, hopeful 1960s and their violent interruption, a testimony to the dullness of normalization, but also the defiance that failed to overwhelm in certain theatre areas, the possibilities of today's theatre and its new problems.
The book is intended not only for those interested in a deeper knowledge of theatre, but also as a suitable guide for students of theatre dramaturgy and others interested in this field. The esthetician Prof. Bohumil Nuska wrote an introductory analysis of the times.
Lukáš Jiřička: Conquerors of the Acoustic Stage: From Radio Art to Musical Theatre (Goebbels, Neuwirth, Ammer, Oehring)
Prague: NAMU, 2015. ISBN 978-80-7331-375-3.
Lukáš Jiřička shows current trends in the world of musical theatre and experimental radio art through the example of four composer–directors from Germany and Austria. In addition to historical and theoretical insights into the gradual emancipation and development of the radio and musical theatre world, the author presents four active creators - Heiner Goebbels, Olga Neuwirth, Andreas Ammer and Helmut Oehring - whose work covers a wide range of dramaturgical strategies, staging and compositional methods and techniques. The book is complemented by interviews with four central authors, as well as with F. M. Einheit (composer and close collaborator of Helmut Oehring), Hans Burkhard Schlichting (a major radio producer), George Katz (composer, one of the pioneers of electronic new music in the GDR) and Dieter Schnebel (composer and musicologist).
The S Word: Merging Methodologies
Prague 24–26, March 2017
The international conference, The S Word: Merging Methodologies, organized by The Stanislavsky Centre and The University of California--Riverside in cooperation with the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, focused on the personality and work of K. S. Stanislavsky. Its guarantors were Prof. Paul Fryer (Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance), Dr. Jakub Korčák (DAMU) and Prof. Bella Merlin (University of California--Riverside).
The S Word: Merging Methodologies was an exceptional international event. In it, theatrologists and performers from different countries examined the influence of Stanislavsky's work on contemporary theatre: how his methods of acting education were applied, developed, enriched and deepened after his death, how his students worked and work with his legacy, how its methodology has transformed into other approaches and methods, but also in how it has been or may be abused or distorted. The conference dealt with tradition, which began with K. S. Stanislavsky, the contribution of this extraordinary personality, what preceded the concept he developed, what and how they benefited from it and other approaches to acting work.
Introductory papers were presented at the conference by Prof. Anatoly Smelyansky (Moscow Art Theatre School and Harvard University) and Prof. Jan Burian (DAMU, Prague, and director of the National Theatre, Prague). Other experts and artists from Great Britain, the USA, Canada, the Czech Republic, Russia, France, Poland, Australia and Brazil spoke. Among the most valuable contributions were, for example, those of Prof. Sergei Tcherkasski (Российский государственный институт сценических искусств / The Russian State Institute for Performing Arts, St. Petersburg), who reported on his discovery and internationally acclaimed book Acting: Stanislavsky–Boleslavsky–Strasberg: History, Theory and Practice and Andrei Malaev-Babel (Florida State University). Other contributions were devoted, for example, to Sanford Meisner, Mikhail Chekhov, the influence of Stanislavsky's acting education on Brazilian Theatre, Lee Strasberg, Thomas Ostermeier or Serafima Birmanová. The conference also included workshops on yoga and acting, the relationship between Stanislavsky's acting education and E. Barba, Acting with the Inner Partner (a dialogue), Stella Adler and Emotion Memory.
An important part of the conference was the screening of the Russian television film Станиславский и йога / Stanislavsky and Yoga (directed by Andrei Torstensen, screenplay by Sergei Tcherkasski).
The AMU Faculty of Theatre also contributed to the conference program with a production of Barbora Hančilová's play Kamarádi/ Friends, created by students of the DAMU Department of Acting.
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