International Women Stage Directors

The Czech Republic

Czech Republic Miřenka Čechová1 The oldest record of women’s participation in cultural events in the Czech region comes from the twelfth century, when Czech language was added to Latin plays or performed by conjurers during “profane” festivities. Although the oldest Czechlanguage drama dates from the fourteenth century, the first plays and performances in modern Czech emerged in the final third of the eighteenth century, when the Czech National Revival raised cultural awareness and helped to solidify the national identity. As a result, the Czech language was restored as the official language of the Czech people, and this led to the founding of the first official theatres in Prague that performed in Czech. Women first gained recognition in the theatre as actors. Beginning with the founding in 1881 of the National Theatre (Národní Divadlo) in Prague, women performers provided a model of morality and nationalism. Historical evidence reveals that women who worked in the theatre as producers, managers, translators, and actors were forced by circumstances to assume the role of directors as well.2 Women’s Rights: Historical Context In the second half of the eighteenth century, women maintained traditional roles as caregivers and housekeepers. They were not allowed to attend secondary school, colleges , or universities and had access only to a private home education and a compulsory primary education, as established in the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1774. Women were also not allowed to actively participate in political or cultural movements or to pursue any type of profession. Among the first women who fought for and gained emancipation from the patriarchal hierarchy was Božena Němcová (c. 1820–1862), one of the most influential Czech authors and an important collector of traditional Czech folklore. She was an inspiration and role model for future generations of Czech women. Women slowly realized the importance of gaining independence from men and began to seek education and professional careers. Karolína Světlá founded the Czech Women’s Production Association in 1871, through which women could acquire a practical education in subjects ranging from business to foreign languages to sewing. Another educational landmark for women was the opening of the Municipal High School for Girls in 1863, where women could get a secondary education, and the American Club of Czech Ladies in 1865, which contained a library and organized lectures by prominent individuals on the subjects of culture, science, and politics. In 1890 the Minerva gymnasium, the first college preparatory high school for girls, was founded, facilitating women’s access to universities. Women actors and writers were also acknowledged and accepted in the second half of the nineteenth century, including authors such as Němcová, Světlá, Eliška Krásnohorská, Sofie Podlipská, and Marie Riegrová-Palacká, who were also the first Czech feminists. The early twentieth century saw improvements in women’s rights and a new presence of women in politics. In 1912 Božena Viková-Kunětická, who began her career as an actor, playwright, and writer, was the first woman in Czech history to achieve a political position, becoming the first female member of parliament and in 1920 a senator. In her novels, she propagated women’s emancipation and feminist ideas. At the end of World War I, the Czechoslovak Republic was established and included equal political, social, and cultural rights for both women and men. Charlotta G. Masaryková, the American wife of the first Czechoslovakian president, T. G. Masaryk , was a strong proponent of the emancipation of women, who gained both full suffrage and the right to higher education in 1920. Little by little, women were able to establish themselves. The Munich Agreement of 1938 destroyed democratic Czechoslovakia and permitted Nazi Germans to occupy large borderline areas. Consequently, Czech inhabitants were driven out and civil liberties were taken away. Married women in public service were involuntarily retired in order to relinquish their positions to people displaced from the borderline areas. The Czech region was changed into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. This act of violence became a prologue to World War II. Young Czech women, men, and Jews were drafted for forced labor and deported to concentration and extermination camps in Germany. During the occupation, thousands of Czech inhabitants were killed. The Communist coup d’etat in 1948 and the subsequent totalitarian régime, which lasted until 1989, completely interrupted the progress of women’s rights. Women with no children were required to undertake physical work. Mothers were financially obligated to begin working soon...