In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

3Theatre during the Occupation and War Years The period from the full occupation of Czechoslovakia by German forces on March 15, 1939, until the liberation of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet and American forces on May 9, 1945, is often ignored or given scant attention in commentaries on Czech theatre. Yet a number of events and activities relating to the main flow of theatre during those years are worth noting. All plays by Jewish authors and others unacceptable to the Nazi regime, such as political emigrants and most authors from countries at war with Germany, were banned. (Shakespeare and Molière were rare exceptions, occasionally permitted.) Conversely, pressure was applied on all theatres to stage works by acceptable German authors, both classic and contemporary (but not people like Brecht). All Jewish theatre artists, German or Czech, were forbidden to work in theatre. Few or none had publicly identified themselves as Jewish, assimilated as they were in Czech or German theatre activity, but such subordination of their Jewishness was irrelevant in the new Nazi order. Needless to say, a great many Jewish artists, writers , and ordinary citizens fled the country if they could, even before March 15. The Germans took over the second stage of the National Theatre in Prague, the Estates Theatre, in July 1939, an action that could not have surprised the Czechs too much because the theatre had been under German control since it was built in 1783 until it was commandeered by the Czechs after World War I, in 1920. An alternate venue for this branch of the National Theatre was found in a variété theatre in the Karlín section of Prague, less than a mile from the Estates Theatre . The new theatre was renamed the Provisional Theatre, a deliberate echo of the Czech theatre that preceded the National Theatre. The final Czech production in the Estates Theatre was Jirásek’s folk classic The Lantern on July 1, and the [58] m o d e r n c z e c h t h e a t r e first production in the new Provisional Theatre was Smetana’s Bartered Bride in September. The basic routine of theatre performances continued with minimal change, except that all theatre activity was forbidden for a month or two in the fall of 1941 when Hitler’s deputy, Reinhard Heydrich, took over as “Protector” of the Czech lands. A second extended suspension of all theatre occurred between September 1944 and May 1945 because of Germany’s desperate need to conscript labor and conserve resources. Otherwise, few theatres were closed or restricted in the number of performances they could give. In fact, attendance was at an all-time high during the whole period. As more than one observer noted, each performance in each theatre, especially the National Theatre, became an implicit sub rosa tribunal on the German occupation. That Czechs were able to assemble legally in theatres was in itself an attraction, particularly in theatres that had special Czech significance, such as the National Theatre. Moreover, audiences could almost always perceive morale-reinforcing verbal or visual signals in the productions’ incidents , themes, or dialogue. Productions involving any form of tyranny or oppression were always relevant, but with the unspoken understanding that nothing blatant would be permitted, including overt reactions from audiences. Prime examples included even German works: Schiller’s Maid of Orleans, Goethe’s Torquato Tasso, or Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fidelio (which was banned after its 1944 premiere). But Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Richard III, or even Hamlet, Molière’s Tartuffe, and Plautus’ Pseudolos also provided a variety of “messages” confirming the injustice and sense of evil felt by Czechs or offering ways of coping with the daily realities of life outside the theatre (for example, ingenious cunning, as in the Plautus play). At the other extreme were productions like Burian’s Manon Lescaut by the contemporary Czech poet Vítězslav Nezval, which drew Czechs to the theatre for the sheer beauty of Nezval’s use of their language. Other plays by Czech authors offered implicitly patriotic elements or other forms of comfort for the audiences. Director Jan Bor’s original play Zuzana Vojířová focused on a strong Czech protagonist of the Renaissance era and his love of the Czech lands. It opened at the National Theatre in February 1942 and became the single most performed play of the entire wartime era, reaching over one hundred reprises. Other theatrical activity directly involving the...

Share