Divadelní revue (Czech Theatre Review) 2013 · no 2

vol. 24 · December 2013 · no 2

Summary

The second issue of 2013’s Theatre Review brings forward two thematic sections, which address issues related to (1) the Russian theatre, and (2) the history and position of the Prague­based Estates Theatre in the wider Central­European context. In their joint essay “ Ivan Bilibin and Nikolaj Benois: Czechoslovak sojourns (Russian stage designers in cooperation with Prague and Brno),“ Julie Jančárková a Věra Velemanová examine the interwar period in Czechoslovakia, which marked a powerful wave of artistic endeavours the protagonists of which were immigrants from Russia. The article namely focuses on two Russian visual artists – I. J. Bilibin and N. A. Benois – who created in mid 1930s memorable stage designs for several opera productions at the National Theatres in Prague and Brno. The article discusses the troubled life stories of both artists, spent mostly in emigration, and mainly their significant contribution to the development of the Czech opera set design. Gunnar and Linda Lenzs’ article analyzes the ways in which the Russian revolutionary culture reflects the American model of modernity. It focuses on the play by Alexei Tolstoi The Rebellion of Machines, which is a loose adaptation of Čapek’s drama R. U. R. The authors challenge the widely spread idea that Tolstoi’s play represents a thematic and semantic transfer from the philosophical level to the socialistic one, in the consequence of which the philosophical depth of Čapek’s play gets significantly reduced. In her essay “Stanislavski Resurrected. On the Spiritual Roots of his Work“ Martina Musilová discusses spiritual aspects reflected in the ideological orientation of MCHT (Moscow Artistic Theatre) and its mystical and symbolistic dramaturgy of the beginning of the century. Musilová emphasizes a key role of Tolstoi movement, advocated by L. A. Sulerzhistski. The Russian theatre bloc is accompanied with two papers that examine a relationship between Stanislavski and Polish theatre. Kristian Lupa’s “The Beginning of Process” discusses a processual character of Stanislavski’s method, and Beata Guczalska demonstrates the Polish theatre history of the 20th century against the backdrop of Stanislavski’s influence on Polish theatre practitioners. Roman Ibrahim analyzes his new translation of Anton Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard into Czech. In his memoirist essay, Petr Oslzlý, a dramaturge of the Goose on the String Theatre, traces reciprocal relationships between the Brno­‐based theatre group and Russian theatre artists. A special bloc prepared by Helena Glancová presents her translations of Natalja Anatoljevna Krymovova’s reflections of Russian theatre. The Russian section concludes a selection of articles about the Russian theatre, written by Czech theatre reviewer Josef Kodíček. The second section dedicated to the Estates Theatre consists of five papers originally presented at the conference “230 of the Estates Theatre: Creative Potential of the Theatre in the Central­ ‐European Context” organized by the Arts and Theatre Institute between April 18–21, 2013: Jan Císař discusses institutional background of the Estates Theatre; Adolf Scherl focuses on the dramaturgy of the Estates Theatre between 1783–1848, namely the line created by the plays written by German playwrights of the “Sturm und Drang” movement; Frank Ziegler maps Carl Maria von Weber’s first season at the Estates Theatre while analyzing reflections of his work presented in the Allgemeiner Deutscher Theater‐Anzeiger; Petra Ježková looks at the dramaturgy of the Estates Theatre of the 1920s and 1930s from the both aesthetic and commercial perspective. Ježková’s paper accompanies Karel Hugo Hilar’s 1921 article on the chambre play dramaturgy of the Estates Theatre. Elisabeth Großegger’s “Myth of Burgtheater. A Story Which Produced Identity” explores the discursive formation of Burgtheater as a cultural institution. The section closes Helena Pinkerová’s paper on the castle theatre run by the Nostitz family in Měšice by Prague. Věra Velemanová’s interview with the Russian theatre scholar and art historian Georgij Kovalenko completes the thematic section dedicated to the Russian theatre. The issue contains three reviews of recently published books, two of which explore the legacy of Russian modernist and avant­garde theatre. In the section of documents we publish Martina Novozámská’s report “Theatre Photographies from the First Half of the 1860s” which is accompanied with a number of unpublished photographs, documenting Prague Shakespearean Celebrations of 1864.

editorial

Julie Jančárková & Věra Velemanová
Ivan Bilibin and Nikolij Benois: Czechoslovakian Sojourns (Russian Stage Designers in Co-operation with Prague and Brno) [article]

Gunnar Lenz & Linda Lenz
Tolstoi, Čapek and the Cult of Machines [article]

Martina Musilová
Stanislavski Resurrected. On the Spiritual Roots of his Work [article]

Krystian Lupa
The Beginning of Process [conference paper]

Beata Guczalska
Stanislavski and Polish Theatre – Today [conference paper]

Robert Ibrahim
A Few Notes on the New Translation of Chekhov’s Three Sisters [letter]

Petr Oslzlý
Meeting and Sharing. Russian Theatre Practitioners and Goose on the String Theatre [letter]

Helena Glancová
Natalja Anatoljevna Krymovová and Czech Theatre [letter]

Natalja A. Krymovová
Russian Classics in Prague (1967) [document]
Director in the Changing World (1989) [document]
Chekhov on the World Market (1992) [document]

Michal Kosák & Jan Pospíšil
To the Future Anthology of Josef Kodíček’s Texts on Theatre [letter]

Josef Kodíček
Interview with Josef Kodíček (1928) [document]
Olga Vladimirovna Gzovská (1912) [document]
Muscovites: Dostoyevski’s The Brothers Karamazov (1921) [document]
Muscovites: Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard (1921) [document]
Tairov and Meyerhold (1930) [document]

Honza Petružela & Martin Pšenička
Bibliography of Texts by Russian Authors and Texts on Russian Theatre Published in the Theatre Review (1989–2013) [document]

estates theatre

Jan Císař
The Estates Theatre in the Central-European Context [conference paper]

Adolf Scherl
„Sturm und Drang“ Playwrights on the Stage of the Estates Theatre Between 1783–1848 [conference paper]

Frank Ziegler
Daniel Gottlieb Quandt and his Allgemeiner Deutscher Theater-Anzeiger as a Witness of Carl Maria von Weber‘s First Prague Season in the Role of Musical Director [conference paper]

Petra Ježková
Box Office or Art. Dramaturgical Priorities of the Estates Theatre Between 1920–1940 [conference paper]

Karel Hugo Hilar
Chamber Plays [document]

Elisabeth Großeggerová
The Myth of Burgtheater. A Story Which Produced Identity [conference paper]

Helena Pinkerová
The Castle Theatre of Nostitz Family in Měšice by Prague. A Contribution to the History of Aristocratic Castle Theatres in the Czech Lands [conference paper]

interview

In the Net of Graceful Disciplines. Interview with a Russian theatre scholar and art historian Georgij Kovalenko (Věra Velemanová)

reviews

Věra Ptáčková
New Report on the Russian Avant-Garde (Georgij Kovalenko. Teatr Very Muchiny.) [review]

Alena Sarkissian
Tragedy as Political Genre of Theatre (Jaroslav Daneš. Politické aspekty řecké tragédie / Political aspects of Greek tragedy.) [review]

Jan Hyvnar
Seven Viewpoints on the Still Stimulating Russian Theatre (Nadežda Lindovská. Od Antona Čechova po Michaila Čechova: Pohľady do dejín ruského divadla a drámy.) [review]

new book releases

timeline

documents

Martina Novozámská
Theatre Photographies from the First Half of the 1860s (with regard to the 1864 Shakespearean Celebrations) [letter]


Resumes of peer-reviewed articles

Julie Jančárková – Věra Velemanová
Ivan Bilibin and Nikolaj Benois: Czechoslovak sojourns (Russian stage designers in cooperation with Prague and Brno)
Besides the rapid, liberated development of the domestic cultural scene, the interwar period in Czechoslovakia witnessed a powerful wave of artistic endeavours the protagonists of which were immigrants from Russia – be it those who found their new home in the country or those who only worked in Czechoslovakia as occasional guests. In mid 1930s, Russian visual artists I. J. Bilibin and N. A. Benois created memorable stage designs for several opera productions at the National theatres in Prague and Brno, which were close to their background – these were operas by Russian authors, such as Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tale of Tsar Saltan and The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and A. Borodin’s Prince Igor. The article discusses the troubled life stories of both the artists, spent mostly in emigration, and mainly their significant contribution to the development of the Czech culture of staging operas during the interwar period.

Gunnar Lenz – Linda Lenz
Tolstoi, Čapek and the Cult of machines
The article discusses the ways in which the Russian revolutionary culture reflects the American model of modernity. It focuses on the play by Alexei Tolstoi The Rebellion of Machines, which is a loose adaptation of Čapek’s drama R. U. R. The authors challenge the widely spread idea that Tolstoi’s play represents a thematic and semantic transfer from the philosophical level to the socialistic one, in the consequence of which the philosophical depth of Čapek’s play gets significantly reduced. The Rebellion of Machines is interpreted on the background of Tolstoi’s attempt to leave a mark in the context of the Soviet revolutionary culture. From this perspective his strategy of rewriting is seen as an axiological conversion, as a result of which the play does not only assume the socialistic implications, but its concept of the artificial man is reevaluated. Čapek’s basically feared robot is transformed by Tolstoi into a symbol of the new socialistic culture.

Martina Musilová
Stanislavski resurrected. On the Spiritual Roots of his Work
The article discusses the spiritual roots of the work of K. S. Stanislavski, which were reflected in the ideological orientation of MCHAT (Moscow Artistic Theatre) and its dramaturgy, while focusing specifically in Stanislavski’s system of acting. Besides Wagner’s idea of theatre-as--temple the decisive role during the formative years of MCHAT was played by the Tolstoi movement, advocated by L. A. Sulerzhistski. The symbolistic, mystical dramaturgy of the beginning of the 20th century is typical of the reflections of the notions of the subconscious, conscious and superconscious, as used by Stanislavski, The yoga teaching and the texts by the American yoga master Ramacharaky influenced the formation of the concepts such as circle of attention, concentration, public solitude, emanation and imanation. The philosophical texts by V. Solovyov are considered crucial for the understanding of the concept of “I am” („Я есмь“), and the related concepts of acting as experience and “supertask” (“sverkhzadacha”).