Other "Hamlet" in Puppet Theatre: A Contribution to Central European Theatre Diversity of the 1980s-1990s

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2083-8530.28.14
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Keywords:

Puppet Theatre, Central Europe, Zlatko Bourek, farce, Bunraku, Croatia theatre, aesthetics of ugliness, Shakespeare

Abstract

This study aims to address the stigmatization and reductionism of Central European culture by many scholars and to decentralize it. At the Crossing Borders with Shakespeare Since 1945 conference, the roundtable discussion raised questions about naming and defining “Central Europe” and revealed several discrepancies. However, the discussion lacked cultural, political, and historical context. To address this, the author examines a lesser-known artistic genre, puppet theatre, for answers and comparisons. Zlatko Bourek, a Croatian artist and director, offers a unique perspective on the theatre of the 1980s and serves as an example of the diversity and heterogeneity of Central European cultural expression. Bourek’s work draws from the tradition of Central European puppetry and explores connections between the Iron Curtain and Yugoslavia. His artistic style is exemplified in his adaptation of Tom Stoppard’s play Fifteen-Minute Hamlet, which masterfully condenses the entire plot of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet into a fifteen-minute performance. Bourek’s concept of combining Shakespearean tragedy with farce, presented through Japanese traditional Bunraku theatre, represents an important experiment of the 1980s. The use of syncretism and the aesthetics of ugliness are notable features of this experiment. It is a breakthrough in the perceived history of puppet theatre for adults and an aesthetic experiment in the era of Central European totalitarianism.

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Author Biography

Uroš Trefalt, Masaryk University, Czech Republic

is a theatre and film director, teacher and dramaturge. He holds an M.A. degree in Syncretic Theatre from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Theatre Studies at the Masaryk University in Brno, where his main research topic is international cultural diversity with a focus on puppet and alternative theatre in Central Europe. His main published works include a theoretical book the Basis of Puppet Directing, editorial work on the translation of a comprehensive history of European puppet theatre, and many articles in theatre journals, mainly in Slovenia.

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Published

2023-12-30

How to Cite

Trefalt, U. (2023). Other "Hamlet" in Puppet Theatre: A Contribution to Central European Theatre Diversity of the 1980s-1990s. Multicultural Shakespeare: Translation, Appropriation and Performance, 28(43), 265–275. https://doi.org/10.18778/2083-8530.28.14

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