editorial

byzantine theatre and drama

Alena Sarkissian
Ignatios’ Verses on Adam and Early Biblical Drama
Matouš Jaluška
Memory and Seeing: Some Aspects of the Christian
Radka Fialová
Byzantine „drama“ Christus patiens
Markéta Kulhánková
Karagiozis: Between Ottoman Mahalla and the Greek Suburb

german-speaking theatre in czech lands

Jitka Ludvová
Alexander Moissi and Prague (Biographical Documents)
Monika Dočkalová
Theatre Manager Adolf Franckel. Resources for the German-speaking Theatre in Brno, 1866–1875
Jiří Kopecký
Theatre Managers in Olomouc and German Opera, 1830–1878
Jana Tunková
Rudolf Rittner in Olomouc. The Beginnings of Leading German Actor’s Career at the Royal Municipal Theatre in Olomouc

interview

Beware of the Jabberwock, my son… An Interview with Zdeněk Hořínek, Theatre Reviewer, Theorist, Dramaturge, Educator, and Actor (Martin J. Švejda)

to the history of twentieth-century czech theatre

Pavel Janoušek
Memory of History and Courage to the Past
Libor Vodička
Troubles with History (Vladimír Just: Divadlo v totalitním systému: Příběhu českého divadla 1945–1989 nejen v datech a souvislostech.)
Vladimír Just & František Knopp
Unfair Magic with Jana Machalická’s Digits (ad Jana Machalická, DR 2011, no 2)

reviews

František Knopp
Posthumously Recognized Theatre Work (Eva Uhlířová: Vůle k tvorbě.)
Josef Förster
Systematic Survey of Jesuit Theatre School (Magdaléna Jacková: Divadlo jako škola zbožnosti a ctnosti.)
Nina Malíková
Ground-breaking Discovery for the Puppet Theatre History (Alice Dubská: Cesty loutkářů Brátů a Pratte Evropou 18. a 19. století: Příspěvek k historii evropského loutkářství.)

new book releases

reports

Tatjana Lazorčáková
Seminar in Prague (Perspectives, Projects, Research, and Collaboration in Czech Theatre Historiography)
Tatjana Lazorčáková
Czech Association for Theatre Studies 2011–2012 (Annual Report)

timeline

documents

Verses on Adam

Summary

The first issue of 2012’s Divadelní revue (Czech Theatre Review) brings forward three thematic sections. The first section addresses issues related to the history of Byzantine theatre. Alena Sarkissian analyses the dramatic qualities of the composition Verses on Adam, supposedly authored by Ignatios Diakonos, and compares it to other early dramatic compositions on biblical themes. The comparison leads to the discussion of the beginnings of the so-called biblical drama in European culture. Matouš Jaluška’s essay also elaborates on Verses on Adam, while discussing it against the backdrop of the anonymous English composition The Descent of Jesus Christ into Hell. The essay demonstrates the mutual complementarity of these texts, which can be interpreted as stations on the journey leading towards the fully Christian rendering of the tragic and the comic, and thus pointing out towards Dante’s Divine Comedy. Radka Fialová examines the only preserved Byzantine dramatic text of considerable length, The Suffering Christ. Fialová discusses the dramatic features of the text and its relation to the conventions of the genre of the Ancient Greek tragedy, an imitation of which The Suffering Christ proclaims itself to be. Furthermore, the article characterizes the intertextual nature of the play, which is an example of so-called cento: a textual mosaic combining various extant literary genres. Markéta Kulhánková’s essay focuses on the basic principles of the Greek shadow theatre Karagiozis, which is connected with the Byzantine theme territorially rather than historically. Kulhánková characterizes Karagiozis and highlights its differences from its Turkish precursor. Her article attempts to identify Karagiozis’ ancient roots, as well as its development from the earliest times to the present. The Byzantine theme accompanies Matouš Jaluška’s translation of Verses on Adam.
The second thematic section discusses the frequently overlooked topics of German-speaking theatre in the Czech lands, to which Divadelní revue pays systematic attention. Jitka Ludvová’s and Jana Tunková’s biographical studies map the activities of prominent German-speaking actors of the late 19th and early 20th century, Alexander Moissi and Rudolf Rittner. J. Ludvová focuses on a short period between September 1901 and November 1903 Alexandr Moissi spent in Prague as a member of Angelo Neumann’s company. Her article includes documentary material, such as a translation of a biographical sketch “Moissi’s Prager Jahre", a list of Moissis’s theatre roles in Prague between 1901–1903, and a list of his guest appearences between 1912–1934. J. Tunková introduces Rudolf Rittner’s short residency at the Olomouc Royal Municipal Theatre in the 1889–1890 season. The article is accompanied with a list of Rittner’s roles in Olomouc. Monika Dočkalová’s and Jiří Kopecký’s articles elaborate on the specific topic of Moravian theatre managers. Dočkalová surveys the activities of Adolf Franckel, theatre director and manager who was in charge of Royal Municipal National Theatre (Königlichstädtisches National Theater) in Brno between 1866 and 1870, Emergency Theatre (Noththeater in der Reitschule) in 1870, and The Interims Theatre in Brno (Interimstheater) between 1870 and 1875. J. Kopecký’s article analyses the most prolific period of German opera repertoire at the Olomouc Royal Municipal Theatre (Königliches städtisches Theater) and its gradual decline.
The third section called “to the history of twentieth-century czech theatre" returns to the methodological issues connected with the current state of Czech theatre historiography, which was discussed in the Divadelní revue 22, 2011, no 2. In this issue, Pavel Janoušek ponders on the nature and approaches of historical analysis and raises serious questions regarding the various concepts of (theatre) history/History. Libor Vodička contributes to the debate with his review of Vladimír Just and František Knopp’s book Divadlo v totalitním systému: Příběh českého divadla 1945–1989 nejen v datech a souvislostech (Theatre in Totalitarian System: The Story of Czech Theatre, 1945–1989 not only in Dates and Contexts). The section concludes Vladimír Just and František Knopp’s response to Jana Machalická’s review of Divadlo v totalitním systému.
The issue contains three reviews of recently published books and an interview with Zdeněk Hořínek, theatre reviewer, theorist, dramaturge, educator, and actor.

Alena Sarkissian
Ignatios’ Verses on Adam and Early Biblical Drama

The article analyses the dramatic qualities of the composition Verses on Adam, supposedly authored by Ignatios Diakonos, and compares it to other early dramatic compositions on biblical themes. The comparison leads to the discussion of the beginnings of the so-called biblical drama in European culture. Verses on Adam are put into the context of later experiments with drama during the Byzantine renaissance of the 12th century.

Matouš Jaluška
Memory and Seeing: Some Aspects of the Christian Tragic

Both Verses on Adam, written by the Byzantine prelate Ignatius Diakon and retelling the story of the Fall of Man, and the anonymous English composition The Descent of Jesus Christ into Hell, describing the liberation of the patriarchs from the posthumous incarceration, represent the crucial aspects of medieval theatre in its oldest documentable forms. The objective of the presented study is to demonstrate the mutual complementarity of these texts, which can be interpreted as stations on the journey leading towards the fully Christian rendering of the tragic and the comic, and thus pointing out towards Dante’s Devine Comedy. The tragic aspect of the Sin, and the comic aspect of Salvation, occupy a firm position in the cultural memory of the medieval Christendom. Both the phenomena act together during the reenactments of the Easter events of Crucifixion and Salvation, which constiutute the fundamental platform of the medieval dramatic and theatrical culture as such. The visual perception of the drama, or liturgy, consequently becomes a direct and sanctified instrument for constructing the shared cultural memory.

Radka Fialová
Byzantine “drama" Christos paschón

The Suffering Christ is the only preserved dramatic text of considerable length (2610 lines) from the Byzantine period. It dramatizes the Passion story. Even though in manuscripts it is usually ascribed to the church father Gregory of Nazianzus, most theatre historians assume that it was composed some time during the Comnenian Renaissance in the 11th and 12th centuries. Fialová discusses the dramatic features of the text and its relation to the conventions of the genre of the Ancient Greek tragedy, an imitation of which The Suffering Christ proclaims itself to be. The dramatic potential of this text, and the possibilities of its production were violated especially by the fact that it is an example of the so-called cento: a textual mosaic combining various extant literary genres, in this case a large number of quotations from the works of ancient tragedians, namely those by Euripides. The result is an intertextual play, in which the protagonists of the Passion story cover characters know from ancient mythology.

Markéta Kulhánková
Karagiozis: Between Ottoman Mahalla and the Greek Suburb

The aim of the study is to introduce the basic principles of the Greek shadow theatre, known by the name of its central character, Karagiozis, and to highlight it differences from its Turkish precursor. The introduction discusses the relation of the Greeks towards their shadow theatre, and attempts to identify its ancient roots (Eleusian mysteries, Aristophanes, mimus). The following part provides the basic historical outline of the development of Karagiozis from the earliest times to the present, and describes the basic characteristic features of the Karagiozis performances, as well as the circumstances under which they were developed and carried out, including the technical aspects of theatre and the methodological principles of puppetry. The central figures of these performances are characterized and compared to their Turkish counterparts. The final part of the study discusses the repertoire of the shadow theatre and its three main genres: comedies, folktale plays and heroic plays.

Jitka Ludvová
Alexander Moissi and Prague (Biographical Documents)

The biographical study maps the activites of the actor Alexander Moissi in Prague between September 1901 and November 1903, when he was a member of the company of the director Angelo Neumann. Moissi’s family background and his world in Prague theatres are described, including his later returns as a guest. The article includes documentary material, such as a translation of a biographical sketch “Moissi’s Prager Jahre" (In Prager Theaterbuch, Gesammelte Aufsätze und Dichtungen. Ed. Hanne Fischer. Prag: Gustav Fanta Nachfolger, 1930), a list of Moissi’s theatre roles in Prague between 1901–1903, and a list of his guest appearances between 1912–1934.