Jakub Škorpil
SUCH LOSS OF (NEW) BLOOD
Daniela Špinar leaves National Theatre in Prague
TO LEAVE BEFORE EXHAUSTION TAKES OVER
interview with former chief dramaturgist of Drama company of National Theatre Marta Ljubková
Jakub Škorpil
LAST DROPS
2021/2022 season at Drama company of National Theatre
Maxim Gorky: Vassa Zheleznovova, directed by Jan Frič, Národní divadlo, 2021; Ondřej Novotný: The Father Watches Over the Daughter, directed J.Frič, Národní divadlo, 2022; Eliška Říhová: Farewell Party, directed by E.Říhová, Národní divadlo, 2022; František Hrubín: Beauty and Beast, directed by Daniela Špinar, Národní divadlo, 2022; William Shakespeare: Much Ado about Nothing, directed by D.Špinar, Národní divadlo, 2022
Mark Lipoveckij
PERFORMING VIOLENCE AND RUSSISM
Pavel Janoušek
TO BE DIANIŠKAZED
on changes in poetics of Tomáš Dianiška’s dramatic texts
Lukáš Dubský
EXPANSION FROM GERMANY
four /+1/ times Jaroslav Rudiš
Jaroslav Rudiš: Anschluss, directed by Josef Doležal, Činoherní studio Ústí nad Labem, 2021; J.Rudiš: Anschluss, directed by Alexander Riemenschneider, Staatschauspiel Dresden, 2021; Petr Pýcha, J.Rudiš: Christmass in the Dessert, directed by Natália Deáková, Divadlo J.K.Tyla Plzeň, 2021; J.Rudiš, Katarína Kašpárková Koišová: Winterberg’s Last Journey, directed by Jiří Honzírek, Divadlo Feste, 2022; J.Rudiš, Jaromír 99, Adam Skala: Alois Nebel, directed by A.Skala, Divadlo F.X.Šaldy Liberec, 2022
Marek Lollok
CZECH CLASSICS TODAY
Čapek and Havel at ND Brno
Karel Čapek: Mother, directed by Štěpán Pácl, Národní divadlo Brno, 2022; Václav Havel: Increased Difficulty of Concentration, directed by Martin Glaser, Národní divadlo Brno, 2022
Radmila Hrdinová
BET ON FAIRY TALE NAIVETY
SKUTR leaves Divadlo v Dlouhé with Magic Flute
Emanuel Schikaneder, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Magic Flute, directed by SKUTR, Divadlo v Dlouhé, 2022
Pavla Bergmannová
THE AWAKENING OF MEMORY AND CONSCIENCE LANDSCAPES
two chronicles by Janka Ryšánek Schmiedtová
Karin Lednická: The Slanting Church, directed by Janka Ryšánek Schmiedtová, Divadlo Petra Bezruče Ostrave, 2022; Alois and Vilém Mrštík: A Year in a Village, directed by J.Ryšánek Schmiedtová, Moravské divadlo Olomouc, 2022
Barbora Etlíková
A LIGHT SMILE ON THE FACE, IN THE HEART DEEP WOE
Discoland at Divadlo Na zábradlí
Petr Erbes, Boris Jedinák and comp.: Discoland, directed by P.Erbes and B.Jedinák, Divadlo Na zábradlí, 2022
Zuzana Timčíková
VOICEAS OF YOUNG GENERATION
centralized and non-dramatic New Drama Festival
Petr Lomnický: Hunger, choreography Stanislava Vlčeková, directed by Jozef Vlk, Debris Company, 2021; Lenka Garajová: Accompanists, directed by Šimon Ferstl, Divadlo Petra Mankoveckého, 2022; Playfield, directed by Veronika Maľgot, NUDE, 2021
Iva Mikulová
WHERE DO THE BORDERS OF THE BRNO THEATRE WORLD BEGIN AND END?
DAVID MAMET: HENRY JOHNSON
OUTSIDE THE BOX 3: Anna PRSTKOVÁ
Marika Smreková
WHAT IS ECOLOGICAL ART AND WHAT IS ITS SOCIAL ASPECT?
other perspectives
LUKÁŠ&BELIS: DISASTERS 4 Shadow
The main focus of this issue is on the Drama company of the National Theatre Prague. In a more general reflection entitled “Such Loss of (New) Blood” Jakub Škorpil deals with changes brought about by seven years of leadership by Daniel Špinar (subsequently Daniela Špinar) and reasons why the director left together with a substantial part of her team a year before it was planned. In a comprehensive essay “The Last Drops” he then looks at four productions (The Father Watches Over the Daughter by Ondřej Novotný, Eliška Říhová’s Farewell Party, Beauty and the Beast by František Hrubín, and Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing) staged by the National Theatre Prague Drama Company in 2021/22 season, thus in the period when the departure of the former director had been announced. The former chief dramaturgist of the Drama company, Marta Ljubková, reflects on the same period in the interview “To Leave Before Exhaustion Takes Over”. Romana Štorková Maliti has selected and translated two chapters from the book Performing Violence (2009) by Russian literary critic Mark Lipovetsky. This is a continuation of the series of essays from previous SAD issues that aim to create a picture of Russian mentality in context of actual political situation. It is complemented with an excerpt from a recent interview Lipovetsky gave to Radio Liberty, discussing among other things the explanation and defence of the term “russism”.
The section entitled “Drama(tists)” is dedicated to two of the authors whose works are staged most frequently in contemporary Czech theatre. Pavel Janoušek traces the entire creative career of the actor and playwright Tomáš Dianiška and identifies the basic principles of his work (“To Be Dianiškazed”); Lukáš Dubský writes about four titles (Anschluss, Christmas in the Desert, Winterberg’s Last Journey, and Alois Nebel) that originated within a short period based on dramas or adaptations of Jaroslav Rudiš’s prose works (“Expansion from Germany”). The reviews of this issue are mostly of actual domestic titles. The National Theatre Brno rehearsed two plays from the canon of modern Czech classics: Čapek’s Mother and Havel’s Increased Difficulty of Concentration. Marek Lollok writes about both in his essay “Czech Classics Today”. Radmila Hrdinová’s essay “Bet on Fairy Tale Naivety” looks at a drama production of Mozart’s Magic Flute staged at the Theatre in Dlouhá Street by the duo SKUTR, who will take over from Daniela Špinar in the management of the Drama company of the National Theatre from the new season. Pavla Bergmannová looks back at two chronicle opuses by Janka Ryšánek Schmiedtová: The Slanting Church (on the basis of Karin Lednická’s bestselling novel) at the Petr Bezruč Theatre of Ostrava and A Year in a Village by the Mrštík brothers at the Moravian Theatre Olomouc (“The Awakening of Memory and Conscience Landscapes”). Barbora Etlíková looks at the successful production Discoland at the Divadlo Na zábradlí (Theatre on the Balustrade) going back to the transformational 1990s on the basis of contemporary witnesses’ testimonies and recollection on legendary and notorious dance/strip club Discoland Sylvie (“A Light Smile on the Face, In the Heart Deep Woe”). The section “Festival Voices… and Borders” considers two big spring festivals. Zuzana Timčíková writes about the Bratislava presentation New Drama (“Voices of the Young Generation”) and pays particular attention to productions of Hunger (Debris Company), Accompanists (Peter Mankovecký Theatre), and the project Playfield (company NUDE). Iva Mikulová sums up her impressions from Brno in her essay “Where do the Borders of the Brno Theatre World Begin and End?”, commenting not only on the dramaturgy but also on the accompanying programme and particularly the debates backed up by the festival itself.
David Mamet’s new play Henry Johnson, translated by Ester Žantovská, is printed in the coloured paper section together with poetry by the director Anna Prstková (Outside the Box series) and the final instalment of Marika Smreková’s reflections, entitled “What is Ecological Art and What is Its Social Aspect?”. The comic strip Disasters continues with a new instalment Shadow, drawn by Silvie Belis on the basis of Karel Lukáš’s rhymes.