Competition 2011

Ralf Urbanczyk

The short answer to your question is Osvobozené divadlo and its main protagonists were Jan Werich and Jiří Voskovec.

Arriving at that short answer took me a lot longer than you might think. In the end the main clue that helped in my search was the word “revue” which often cropped up among the hints you threw us. So what made it so difficult to find the answer to this year’s competition question?

Primarily it is the time factor. The theatre was set up in 1926, Voskovec and Werich joined the ensemble a year later and it was closed down in 1938. This period is so distant that few Radio Prague listeners are likely to remember it. Moreover, Jiří Voskovec’s emigration made it impossible to revive the theatre after the war.

In its time Prague’s Liberated Theatre was the centre of avant-garde art. It not only produced a number of famous Czech actors, but thanks to its innovative approach it won recognition abroad. Its role and significance is obviously well-known to Czechs, but I would venture to say that abroad only a handful of true connoisseurs of Czech art history are aware of it existence.

I can safely say that everything I know about the Liberated Theatre and its protagonists today I learnt in the past few weeks. Researching the history of this theatre house and its significance for the development of Czech theatre was truly fascinating. The songs you played reflect the talent and creativity of its ensemble. Eighty years on they are still inspiring.

I was particularly fascinated by a selection of video recordings of Voskovec and Werich that I found on the Internet. What most impressed me was a song called “Proti vetru” (Against the tide) from 1938, which emerged on the eve of the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia and WWII. Hearing the actors and a mixed choir of Czechoslovak and German children sing about peace and solidarity among nations offers a unique and unusual testimony of that period.

And that is what will make Osvobozené divadlo stick in my mind: I will remember it for its intelligent yet razor-sharp criticism of criminal regimes and the sketched alternate possibilities. All this is presented in a highly entertaining format. My curiosity was peaked by a number of plays, among them The executioner and the Fool, Caesar and the Donkey and the Shadow which reflect on the problems of the time, particularly fascism in Germany.

Radio Prague’s 2011 competition opened up a whole new chapter of Czech art history for me.

Ralf Urbanczyk, Germany

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