Theatre as a Place of Spiritual Contemplation. Greek Tragedy at the National Theatre of Prague during Nazi Occupation (1939–1945)

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F67985955%3A_____%2F25%3A00605047" target="_blank" >RIV/67985955:_____/25:00605047 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004695306_003" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004695306_003</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004695306_003" target="_blank" >10.1163/9789004695306_003</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Theatre as a Place of Spiritual Contemplation. Greek Tragedy at the National Theatre of Prague during Nazi Occupation (1939–1945)

Original language description

The chapter presents the approach of the first scene in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, the Prague National Theatre, to the classical drama, esp. tragedy, during the time of Nazi occupation (1939–1945). The role of ancient tragedy in the dramaturgy of the theatre will be discussed, together with the concepts that the directors (Karel Dostal and Aleš Podhorský) conceived and applied in their individual productions. It must have been an almost superhuman task to establish such a demanding repertoire as the ensemble did in the difficult times of harsh political repression, while maintaining the honourable tradition, historical relevance, and aesthetic paradigm that the Prague National Theatre represented at the 5me. The dramaturgs handled the situation with surprising skill and dignity. Classical drama and tragedy, in particular, had had a solid position in the repertoire of the first Czech stage over the preceding decades, and the dramaturgs succeeded in drawing upon this tradition, even staging such a politically loaded play as An.gone. Dostal’s production, however, went beyond the concealed political commentary typical of the time, while aligning the most topical questions of the day with those of the original play. The historical analysis of the production suggests that Dostal managed to set pressing contemporary issues into the ethical and general religious framework of the Sophoclean tragedy in a highly aesthetic way. Another production discussed in the paper, Ion (staged in 1944), appears to have been an equally remarkable choice in relation to the current political situation. Innocent as the play might seem at the first glance, with its theme of a plan to murder a ruler, it was chosen to be staged, only a year after the killing of Reinhard Heydrich, as a poignant yet unprovable commentary on that political deed. It will be argued that the popularity of the idyllically stylized production was perhaps caused by the ability of the audience to read the political undertones.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

C - Chapter in a specialist book

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

60202 - Specific languages

Project

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Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Book/collection name

Re-embodying and Rethinking Greek and Roman Drama in Modern Times

ISBN

978-90-04-69528-3

Number of pages of the result

29

Pages from-to

26-54

Number of pages of the book

357

Publisher name

Brill

Place of publication

Leiden

UT code for WoS chapter

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