Theatre director Karel Novák (1916–1968)

In her work, the author focuses on the artistic activities of theatre director Karel Novák (1916–1968), whose work has been unjustly overlooked in the context of the work of directors in 1950s and 1960s Czechoslovakia (e.g., O. Krejča, A. Radok or O. Ornest). Like many other directors of the totalitarian period, Karel Novák was repeatedly relegated to regional theatres, where, despite censorship and restrictions, he promoted challenging dramaturgy and staged great poetic allegories built on acting performances (e.g., B. Bohdanová, I. Racek). In his directorial work, he profiled himself in two distinct directions of artistic expression: poetic dramas with strong stories and socio-critical satirical commentaries on contemporary life. His career concluded with a significant era at the E. F. Burian Theatre in the 1960s.