|
IV. In the second quarter of the 19th century
There were more then 200 puppeteers working in the
territory of the Czech lands. For more some it was just a means of making
a living, while others formed a deeper relation to the profession and the
lifestyle which went with it. For the most part they were members of larger
dispersed families, in which the father successively handed his successors
not only equipment and experience but also a strong passion for puppets.
The important puppeteering family of the Maizners, who were all
dedicated to puppet theatre in a direct line until the 60s of this century,
worked mostly in the east of Bohemia. They were puppeteers with a high level
of self-confidence, link to tradition and patriotic sympathies. It is thanks
to them that some of the very oldest puppet scripts have survived along with
a collection of very valuable puppets from the workshop woodcarving family of
the Suchardas. The most important member of another puppet family, mostly
operating in central Bohemia was František Vinický (1797-1854). His
activities earned him esteem from all side, and in 1836 he was the only
puppeteer to be officially invited to perform at the folk celebrations during
the coronation of Ferdinand V. Clearly the most noteworthy personality of the
first half of the 19th century was Mat?j Kopecký (1775-1847). He grew
up in Mirotice in southern Bohemia from where he se out with his father Jan
on a puppet tour of southern Bohemia Although only receiving a slight education,
he had a unique opportunity to absorb the years of experience acquired by the
puppeteers of that day. He received his first licence in 1797, but soon after
was conscripted to the Austrian army and made to fight in the Napoleonic wars.
After leaving the army, he tried to make a living as a shopkeeper, road-mender,
and watch-maker before returning to puppetry for good in 1820. He was 45 years
old, he had no property, and of the 14 children born to him 8 had died at a
young age. He was however a mature personality, who was not broken by the
extremely tough conditions of his life, as is shown by the degree to which
he established himself. His sons played puppet theatre firstly by his side
and later by themselves: Jan (1804-52), Josef (1807-56), Václav (1815-71)
and Antonín (1821-85). Although a thousand of spectators saw Mat?j Kopecký´s
puppet shows, although his activity fell into the period of the national
revival, in which theatre played such a significant role, despite the way
that he played and the way his playing was accepted by the public, only a
handful of second-hand reminiscences remain of him. For the executive section
of the Czech patriotic intelligencia, who dreamed of theatre as a cathedral of
art representing national advancement, puppet theatre played by poor wandering
puppeteers wasn´t of great interest. Interest in Mat?j Kopecký only started to
grow after his death. In 1851 Karel Roth in Lumír wrote: "Especially old Kopecký,
recently deceased, stood out above all of his colleagues with his great sense
of justice and immense high-spirit". Indeed only from later acclaim can we
presume that he was among the leading figures of Czech puppetry, as he himself
signified, and although we doubt his claim that he was on familiar terms with
leading revivalists J. Dobrovský and V. Thám, it follows from the claim, that
he at least associated himself with the basic currents of thought of his age.
The enduring popularity of "old Kopecký" across a wide section of society was
later reinforced by a two volume edition of Comedies and Plays of Mat?j
Kopecký composed by his son Václav in 1862 (unfortunately the documentary
value of this first edition of a broad selection of Czech plays was impeached
by the work of the editors in Vilímek publishing house.) The growing cult of
Mat?j Kopecký was also supported by the drawings of artist Mikoláš Aleš, a
native of Mirotice, who also apparently created a fictitious portrait of
Kopecký in the likeness of his son Václav. The legend of Mat?j grew, and
invention and myth soon outweighed the concrete facts. By the end of the
century the picture of Mat?j had been transformed into the image of an heroic
puppeteer - a builder of the nation, as suited the uncritical, fervently
nationalistic conceptions of the day. Current historians of puppetry think
of Kopecký as foremostly a representative of a whole range of Czech puppeteers
of the national revival, and his image in the national subconscious as having
a mostly symbolic significance. Take away the crutch of the various
legends and he encapsulates the significance of the puppeteers of that period
who, while working in the Czech countryside which was distinctively influenced
by the tradition of baroque culture (artistic, musical, and theatrical),
supplied a theatrical form which was harmonious with that tradition. This
is true of not only the creation of the puppets and the sets, but the production
style, which used the puppets to emphasise the symbolic nature of the theatre.
While in the main run of productions Czech puppeteers basically remained
faithful to the baroque style, with the rest of their repertoire they managed
to gradually make their audience familiar with the theatre of the day, which
was promoting the ideas of the enlightenment and the national revival. This
significance is not even reduced by the fact that their productions were often
inartistic and naive. The death of Mat?j Kopecký in 1847 effectively brings
the most significant phase of Czech folk puppetry of the 19th century to a
symbolic close.
By the end of the 19th century the development of Czech folk puppetry gradually
came to an end. Its stagnation was distinctly influenced by an overall stylistic
change taking place in art and in the theatre. The death of romanticism and the
onset of realism, whose main postulates could hardly be satisfied by the puppet
theatre, resulted in a decided loss of contact with developments the other
theatrical arts.
(Author: Alice Dubská, Czech Puppet Theatre over the Centuries)
|
