Karel Zmrzlý

Description

Another volume of the Personalities of Czech Scenography series is a monograph on the life and work of the scenographer Karel Zmrzlý (1936-2000). The designer graduated from the Department of Scenography at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts under Professor František Tröstra, and after a year’s engagement at the North Moravian Theatre in Šumperk, he landed in 1963 at the Theatre of the Victorious February in Hradec Králové, where he met director Milan Pásek, with whom he co-created a significant era of Hradec Králové theatre. They then worked together in Brno, at the Mrštík Brothers Theatre and the State Theatre, where they created several unique productions of 20th century operas. Zmrzlý’s oeuvre numbers over 300 productions. With extraordinary sensitivity and erudition, he was able to accommodate the director’s conception, respect the author, create large dramatic spaces and naive scenes. His painterly skills are not only shown by his always carefully crafted designs, but often by his own painting as part of the scenic image. In addition to director Milan Pásek, he has collaborated most often with Miroslav Vildman, Pravoš Nebeský, Pavel Rímský, Jaromír Staňek and Alena Vaňáková.
The author of the professional part is the theatre scholar Helena Albertová. The Czech-English publication includes an extensive inventory of works and particularly rich visual material: scenographic designs and photographs from productions and personal archives. The publication was graphically prepared by Tereza Melenová.