Anatomie národních hrdinů : Osvobozené divadlo uprostřed nacionalistických svárů
The anatomy of national heroes : the Liberated Theatre caught up in nationalist disputes

Summary/Abstract: Art can be understood as one of the voices of the public debate. Liberated theatre [Osvobozené divadlo] emerged in the context of the artistic activities of the international left-wing avant-garde. This premise predetermines the theatre's opponents as right-wing nationalists. When it premiered in the Liberated Theatre, the play The Executioner and the Fool [Kat a blázen] – it caricatured the political practice of contemporary fascist states in the form of a revue. However, what could be considered new was the question of the construction of the national myth. While the left and centre papers regarded the play as a local satire and appreciated its anti-fascist edge, the right-wing papers were irritated by the cynicism and ironization of patriotism as such. Ten days after the premiere, on the 30th of October 1934, a demonstration took place in the theatre; the periodicals published by the Tempo concern, owned by right-wing politician Jiří Stříbrný interpreted it as a spontaneous protest. Nevertheless, police records show that the demonstrators, ultra-right-leaning university students, were linked to the recently founded association of right-wing parties, National Unification, which included the National League led by Jiří Stříbrný. It was the first of the demonstrations connected to the so-called insignia dispute between Czech and German university officials and students over the ownership of university insignia. The second wave of protests, instigated by a right-wing newspaper campaign at the end of November, already showed the protesters' different social backgrounds. The Liberated Theatre served as a target belonging to internationally oriented leftist institutions. The protests no longer had anything to do with the play The Executioner and the Fool. Still, the Liberated Theatre finished the season at the U Nováků Palace, yet with significant financial loss, and the theatre faced the threat of termination. Eventually, the renamed "Bound" Theatre [Spoutané divadlo] opened the 1935/1936 season in the small Rokoko hall with The Rag Ballad [Balada z hadrů].

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