Divadelní revue (Czech Theatre Review) vol. 33 · 2022 · no 1


Summary

The first issue of 2022's Theatre Review opens with Miroslav Lukáš and Christian Neuhuber's analysis Eggenberg Comedians in Český Krumlov Church Registers: On the Status of Professional German-Speaking Actors in the 17th Century. Theatre scholars examine a set of parish register books from the second half of the 17th century and the beginning of the following century from Český Krumlov [1677–1705], where the names of members of the acting company working in the service of Prince Johann Christian of Eggenberg (1641–1710) appear. The records reveal the civil everyday life of the acting company, the social status of its members and the professional network at the time when the German-speaking professional theatre sought to achieve a greater institutionalization and legal protection. Within the broader context, it also examines other unpublished register entries from Strasbourg, Innsbruck, Graz and Vienna.
In her essay Documentary Gesamtkunstwerk, or Can Lenin Sing? Opera Ten Days that Shook the World in the Prague National Theatre, Czech musicologist Tereza Havelková discusses the 1972 Czech production of an opera by the Ukrainian composer Mark Karminsky based on John Reed's account of the October Revolution. The analysis primarily focuses on the question of what ideas about the political potential of contemporary opera informed the work and its production and by what means it was fulfilled. The study looks at the official period reception of the Prague production, which accentuated the “documentary” character of the representation and promoted the opera as “modern” or even “experimental”. It concludes that the opera works with a totalizing artistic conception that draws on the holistic visions of Bertold Brecht and Sergei Eisenstein as well as the legacy of the Soviet opera project of the 1930s and 1940s with all its Wagnerian ambitions. As a significant act of propaganda in the first years of “normalization”, the Prague production of Ten Days contributes to the understanding of the relationship between aesthetics and politics guided by a strong totalizing impulse.
Mirek Němec prepared a translation of and commentary on Karel Kraus' 1924 text with the lapidary title Sudetenland. Based on several theatrical scandals, the fiery author provides an insight into the internal German conflict and the definition of the ideological boundaries of the German minority in the Czech borderland fourteen years before the outbreak of WWII. The interview with the Olomouc-based theatre scholar and professor Tatjana Lazorčáková was prepared by Lukáš Kubina.
In the review section you will find texts about the anthology of Czech unofficial drama from communist totality and an assessment of the monograph dedicated to Max Reinhardt as a Central European director.
The issue contains the first Czech translation of Seneca's Troades by Daniela Čadková who also wrote an introductory commentary to it.
From editorial news: we are preparing the transition of Theatre Review to the Open Access mode thanks to which the content of the journal will be freely available in the Arts and Theatre Institute online repository. We will inform you about its launch. The printed version will continue to be published. Martin Pšenička, who has been fully devoting himself to his position as the head of the Prague Department of Theater Studies, is leaving the editorial team after twelve years, but remains in close working contact with the journal.

essays

Miroslav Lukáš & Christian Neuhuber
Eggenberg Comedians in Český Krumlov Church Registers: On the Status of Professional German-Speaking Actors in the 17th Century [peer-reviewed article]

Tereza Havelková
Documentary Gesamtkunstwerk, or Can Lenin Sing? Opera Ten Days that Shook the World in the Prague National Theatre [peer-reviewed article]

essay

Mirek Němec
Theatre Scandals around Karl Kraus in Czechoslovakia [essay]

Karl Kraus
Sudety [1924] [document]

interview

A set of coincidences and impulsive decisions guided me to theatre studies: Interview with the theatre scholar and professor Tatjana Lazorčáková (Lukáš Kubina)

review

Tatjana Lazorčáková
Taboo Space of Czech Drama in Totalitarian Conditions (Lenka Jungmannová [ed.]: Neoficiální drama z komunistické totality)

Berenika Zemanová
Central European Max Reinhardt (Miloš Mistrík [ed.]: Max Reinhardt a Bratislava / und Pressburg)

reports

Jitka Ludvová
Inheritors of Kasperlian Comedy (Kasperls komische Erben, University of Graz)

new book relases

(January—June 2022)

documents

Daniela Čadková
Commentary on the first Czech translation of Seneca’s Troades [essay]

Lucius Annaeus SenecaTroades [drama]


Miroslav Lukáš & Christian Neuhuber
Eggenberg Comedians in Český Krumlov Church Registers: On the Status of Professional German-Speaking Actors in the 17th Century.
The study analyzes a set of parish register books from the second half of the 17th century and the beginning of the following century from Český Krumlov [1677–1705], where the names of members of the acting company working in the service of Prince Johann Christian of Eggenberg (1641–1710) appear. The records reveal the civil everyday life of the acting company, the social status of its members and the professional network at the time when the German-speaking professional theatre sought to achieve a greater institutionalization and legal protection. Within the broader context, it also examines other unpublished register entries from Strasbourg, Innsbruck, Graz and Vienna.
Contact: Miroslav Lukáš | ORCID 0000-0001-8518-5961 | Kabinet pro studium českého divadla, Institut umění – Divadelní ústav | miroslav.lukas[at]idu.cz
Contact: Christian Neuhuber | ORCID 0000-0002-6280-7374 | Franz-Nabl-Institut für Literaturforschung, Universität Graz | christian.neuhuber[at]uni-graz.at

Tereza Havelková
Documentary Gesamtkunstwerk, or Can Lenin Sing? Opera Ten Days that Shook the World in the Prague National Theatre.
The study discusses the 1972 Czech production of an opera by the Ukrainian composer Mark Karminsky based on John Reed's account of the October Revolution. The analysis primarily focuses on the question of what ideas about the political potential of contemporary opera informed the work and its production and by what means it was fulfilled. The study looks at the official period reception of the Prague production, which accentuated the “documentary” character of the representation and promoted the opera as “modern” or even “experimental”. It concludes that the opera works with a totalizing artistic conception that draws on the holistic visions of Bertold Brecht and Sergei Eisenstein as well as the legacy of the Soviet opera project of the 1930s and 1940s with all its Wagnerian ambitions. As a significant act of propaganda in the first years of “normalization”, the Prague production of Ten Days contributes to the understanding of the relationship between aesthetics and politics guided by a strong totalizing impulse.
Contact: Tereza Havelková | ORCID: 0000-0003-0176-6182 | Institute of musicology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague | tereza.havelkova[at]ff.cuni.cz