Author: Jakub Mikulecký
Paisii Hilendarski university of Plovdiv
Published in: Slavyanski dialozi, XI, 2014, 15
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to interpret general aspects of Egon Bondyʼs one-act plays written especially for Radim Vašinkaʼs nonconformist Prague theatre “Orpheus” in the late sixties. The paper focuses on general context of Czech drama from this period and compares it with the Bondyʼs nonconformist plays which are full of cruelty, violence and erotic scenes. This confrontation could prove an unusual role of Bondyʼs plays in context of Czech unofficial drama because there is certain connection between Bondyʼs dramatic language and the contemporary western In-Yer-Face Theatre and also the avant-garde concepts of Antonin Artoudʼs Theatre of Cruelty. The article focuses and analyses in detail three of Bondyʼs one-act plays: Návštěva expertů (The Working Visit), Ministryně výživy (Missis Minister of Alimentation) and Nic jsem si nemyslel (I didnʼt mean anything).
Keywords: Egon Bondy, Czech literature, Czech underground, unofficial Czech drama