Otakar Theer: Faëthon

In 1962, when the text of the play by the then almost forgotten poet Otakar Theer was being prepared for production, a significant production was born thanks to the work of dramaturge Jaromír Ptáček and director Miloslav Jareš. Theer's drama has never been staged again since 1917 and was withdrawn from the repertoire of the National Theatre after only three performances, although it was warmly received by the audience in the wartime atmosphere, as F. X. Śalda, "as a call for national political immodesty". What in the play was a tricky problem for theatre makers to solve, on the other hand, promised a welcome opportunity for radio production to make creative use of one of the essential specifics of radio art: sound evocation of dramatic space. The director Miloslav Jareš was then led on his way to search for a sound space that would adequately express the imagery of Theer's verses and the spherical expansiveness of the setting of the second part of the drama, from the neutral acoustic environment of the radio studio to the real space of the Church of St. Barbara in Kutná Hora. The majestic temple nave offered remarkable acoustic effects and Jareš used them in a creative way during the filming.