Playwright, actor and teacher Ivan Vyskočil died at the age of 94 (pictured on October 20, 2009). Belonging to the most unique figures of Czech culture, he founded, for example, the Theater Na zábradlí.
Prague – Playwright, actor, writer and pedagogue Ivan Vyskočil died today at the age of 94. This was announced on Facebook by the vice-rector of the Academy of Performing Arts (AMU) in Prague, Jan Hančil. Vyskočil was one of the most unique figures of Czech culture and essential personalities of Czech post-war theatre.
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In 1958, together with Jiří Suchý and others, he launched the legendary text-appeals in Prague's Reduta. He invented and made this term famous. He was also a co-founder of the Theater Na zábradlí, in which he worked as an actor, playwright, director and artistic director. He participated as an author in five original premieres. After leaving this theater, he returned to Reduta in 1963, where he became the artistic director of Salon Reduta and founded Nedivadlo, in which he played up to ten roles at once.
At the time of normalization, Vyskočil fell out of favor, publishing and cooperation with foreign countries were banned. He was forced to leave both Reduta and Nedivadlo. Together with his theater partners, he traveled around small stages throughout the country. In addition, he taught art in a folk school. He remained involved in teaching even after the fall of communism.
Vyskočil headed the department of dramatic acting at DAMU, in 1992 he was appointed professor of acting and creative writing. In 1994, he accepted a separate department, which he called the department of author's theater and pedagogy. Later, this department was renamed to the department of creative work and pedagogy, Vyskočil led it until 2003.
Vyskočil was born in Prague on April 27, 1929 in a family of bookbinders. He was a graduate of acting and directing at DAMU (1952), where his teachers included Karel Höger, Otomar Krejča and Jiří Frejka. Later he also studied psychology and pedagogy at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague (1957). He worked as an external educator in correctional and psychiatric institutions, and joined the theater in the late 1950s. In the years 1957 to 1959, he was the first psychology teacher at DAMU.
He was also the author of a number of theater and radio plays, hosted some programs, wrote collections of short stories and also starred in several films, for example O slavnosti a hostech, The seller of humor, Where, gentlemen, where are you going, Faun's very late afternoon, Gentle barbarian, King Ubu or Nice moments without guarantee.
He received several awards for his work, in 2010 he received a special award from the College of Awards Thalia for an extraordinary contribution to the theater.
