Title of the article:

SLOVAK THEATRE OF THE 1920S – 1930S IN THE CONTEXT OF EUROPEAN THEATRE

Author(s):

Anna Yu. Peskova

Information about the author/authors

Anna Y. Peskova — PhD in Philology, Senior Researcher, Institute of Slavic Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky Ave, 32A, 119991 Moscow, Russia. E-mail: apeskova@yandex.ru

Section

History of Arts

Year

2020

Volume

Vol. 55

Pages

pp. 220–230

Received

September 11, 2019

Date of publication

March 28, 2020

DOI:

10.37816/2073-9567-2020-55-220-230

Index UDK

792.03

Index BBK

85.333(4Сла)6

Abstract

The paper traces history of the Slovak theater since the Middle Ages, considering its development in terms of the evolution of theatrical art in the entire Central European region and in the context of European theater in general. For various socio-political and cultural reasons, up until 1920, only amateur theater companies existed in Slovakia, whose activities were largely restricted by the government of Austria-Hungary. Upon formation of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1920 the first professional theatre in Slovakia, the Slovak national theatre, is opening in Bratislava. The author focuses on the activities of the first leaders and directors, who shaped the artistic image and concept of the theater, and pays attention to the influence that various foreign directors and theater schools had on the former ones. The author emphasizes the role of Czech theatrical figures (B. Jeřabek and the company of his East Bohemian Theatre, M. Zuna, O. Nedbal, V. Šulc, etc.) in building drama and opera troupes of the Slovak national theater as well as their influence on repertoire and artistic language of the latter. The very cosmopolitan cultural environment of Bratislava, together with the division of dramatic troupe of the theater into Slovak and Czech (1932) inducing dynamism, experimenting and competition among directors and artists who worked there. As a result, the Slovak theatre itself was gradually formed, and the first Slovak theatrical figures were brought up. Eventually, all this allowed young Slovak theater to join a broader context of the European avant-garde theater so that its unmistakably original voice was finally heard all over the world.

Keywords

Slovakia, theatre, history of theatre, Slovak national theatre, interwar period, drama, opera.

References

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2 Lindovská N. a kol. Od rekonštrukcie divadelnej inscenácie ku kultúrnym dejinám? 100 rokov Slovenského národného divadla [From reconstruction of theatrical productions to cultural history? 100 years of Slovak National Theatre]. Bratislava, VEDA Publ., 2015. 338 p. (In Slovak)

3 Mistrík M. a kol. Slovenské divadlo v 20. storočí [Slovak Theatre in 20 century]. Bratislava, VEDA, vydavateľstvo SAV Publ., 1999. 544 p. (In Slovak)

4 Mittelman-Dedinský M. Viktor Šulc: Cesta režiséra [Viktor Shulz: director's path]. Bratislava, Tatran Publ., 1984. 272 p. (In Slovak)

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