We study the life and work of important figures in the field of theatre by researching literature and repertoires, conducting comparative dramaturgical studies, and describing and characterising their work for the theatre. The results of this research are published in studies, monographs, and publication series and as lists and encyclopaedic entries that we create and publish both in print and electronic format. The biographical entries are composed with a view to capturing the overall character of the person who is the subject of the entry and that person’s body of work, and to ensuring that the entry provides the most up-to-date information available, and we also devote attention to the inclusion of illustrations.
We are looking for long-term collaborators for this project. Please contact: petra.jezkova@divadlo.cz.
The online encyclopaedia contains:
entries drawn from the print versions of the dictionaries, which when necessary are updated, and new entries created during work on individual research projects devoted to different themes and periods:
- 19th-century German drama in the Czech lands (the entries are in Czech and German,
- Czech drama 1900–1945,
- Czech drama 1945–1989 (we are currently developing the list of entries),
- we are also publishing new entries on the subject of early theatre in the Czech lands.
The Czech Theatre Encyclopaedia also has an electronic portal called Studies and Materials, which the department set up in order to be able to readily make available monographs and large-scale studies with appendices containing various itemised lists, which are not suited to publication in print periodicals, annotated sources, historic theatre repertoires, and more. This online space provides enough room for publishing handwritten and print materials and iconographic sources and comparative materials. It can also be used for the preliminary and gradual publication of some outcomes of long-term projects and to make them accessible to users or for expert discussions. Among others, access has been provided here to Martin J. Švejda’s monograph ‘Iva Janžurová. Od Skřivánka k Alžbětě II.’ (Iva Janžurová: From The Lark to Elizabeth II) (2017).
In 2017 this project was expanded to include the publication series Nota bene (managed by Petra Ježková), which publishes monographs and critical works (correspondence, diary entries, archival materials) that offer authentic testimony on the life, fate, experiences, dreams and reality of important figures in theatre and the other arts. Works and materials of this genre represent a meaningful addition to the work on preparing the Czech Theatre Encyclopaedia. The first volume in this series was Stůňu touž nemocí. Julius Zeyer a Jan Lier v zrcadle vzájemných dopisů (2017, ed. P. Ježková).
