A Constant Struggle for Freedom : Edward Albee in
Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic

C 2023

A Constant Struggle for Freedom : Edward Albee in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic

KAČER, Tomáš

Basic information

Original name

A Constant Struggle for Freedom : Edward Albee in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic

Authors

KAČER, Tomáš (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution)

Edition

Leiden, Albee Abroad, p. 15-35, 21 pp. New Perspectives in Edward Albee Studies, Volume: 5, 2023

Publisher

Brill

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Kapitola resp. kapitoly v odborné knize

Field of Study

60206 Specific literatures

Country of publisher

Netherlands

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Publication form

electronic version available online

References:

URL

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14210/23:00131258

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

ISBN

978-90-04-54412-3

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004544130_003

Keywords in English

Edward Albee; Czechoslovakia; absurdism; censorship

Abstract

V originále

Czech productions of Edward Albee’s dramas have been a drama in themselves, revealingly aligned with crucial phases in the country’s political history. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was first staged in Czechoslovakia in 1963, coinciding with the author’s visit to the country during rehearsals. Albee’s instant popularity among audiences ran parallel to an intense critical dispute over the nature of his writing. While one group of critics argued that the play was realist and critical of American values and thus prevented potential censorship, another welcomed Albee as a representative of the fresh, young, and progressive absurdist strain of theater reflecting a general thawing of the Communist regime in the country at the time. A second phase in Albee’s reception began with the Czech production of A Delicate Balance in 1969. That play, understood as a commentary on the 1968 Soviet invasion that effectively ended the Prague Spring, marked Albee as a problematic author for Czechoslovak censorship, a stigma that lasted until the end of the Communist regime in 1989. In the phase unfolding since then, Czech productions of Albee have seen continuous struggles over interpretation. The Czech “director’s theater” staging tradition led to a disregard of stage directions, prescribed scenography, and actors’ ages, thus shifting the plays’ message significantly. Through case studies of several landmark productions in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic, this chapter presents a history of Czech Albee productions and criticism as a constant struggle for freedom of various kinds: of interpretation, speech, and artistic expression.

Links

MUNI/A/1054/2022, interní kód MU

Name: Paradigms, strategies and developments - Anglophone literary and cultural studies III

Investor: Masaryk University, Paradigms, strategies and developments - Anglophone literary and cultural studies III

Citovat

KAČER, Tomáš. A Constant Struggle for Freedom : Edward Albee in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic. Online. In Santana, Esther. Albee Abroad. Leiden: Brill, 2023, p. 15-35. New Perspectives in Edward Albee Studies, Volume: 5. ISBN 978-90-04-54412-3. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004544130_003.

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   address = {Leiden},
   booktitle = {Albee Abroad},
   doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004544130_003},
   editor = {Santana, Esther},
   keywords = {Edward Albee; Czechoslovakia; absurdism; censorship},
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   language = {eng},
   location = {Leiden},
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   pages = {15-35},
   publisher = {Brill},
   title = {A Constant Struggle for Freedom : Edward Albee in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic},
   url = {https://brill.com/display/title/64724?language=en},
   year = {2023}
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N2  - Czech productions of Edward Albee’s dramas have been a drama in themselves, revealingly aligned with crucial phases in the country’s political history. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was first staged in Czechoslovakia in 1963, coinciding with the author’s visit to the country during rehearsals. Albee’s instant popularity among audiences ran parallel to an intense critical dispute over the nature of his writing. While one group of critics argued that the play was realist and critical of American values and thus prevented potential censorship, another welcomed Albee as a representative of the fresh, young, and progressive absurdist strain of theater reflecting a general thawing of the Communist regime in the country at the time. A second phase in Albee’s reception began with the Czech production of A Delicate Balance in 1969. That play, understood as a commentary on the 1968 Soviet invasion that effectively ended the Prague Spring, marked Albee as a problematic author for Czechoslovak censorship, a stigma that lasted until the end of the Communist regime in 1989. In the phase unfolding since then, Czech productions of Albee have seen continuous struggles over interpretation. The Czech “director’s theater” staging tradition led to a disregard of stage directions, prescribed scenography, and actors’ ages, thus shifting the plays’ message significantly. Through case studies of several landmark productions in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic, this chapter presents a history of Czech Albee productions and criticism as a constant struggle for freedom of various kinds: of interpretation, speech, and artistic expression.
ER  -

KAČER, Tomáš. A Constant Struggle for Freedom : Edward Albee in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic. Online. In Santana, Esther. \textit{Albee Abroad}. Leiden: Brill, 2023, p.~15-35. New Perspectives in Edward Albee Studies, Volume: 5. ISBN~978-90-04-54412-3. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004544130\_{}003.

Detailed Information on Publication Record