Blanka and Jiri Zizka at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia, 1979--2000: From the underground to the avenue.
Item
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Title
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Blanka and Jiri Zizka at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia, 1979--2000: From the underground to the avenue.
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Identifier
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AAI3008825
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identifier
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3008825
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Creator
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Ferguson, Marcia Lee.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Daniel Gerould
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Date
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2001
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Theater | Anthropology, Cultural | Literature, Slavic and East European
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Abstract
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Perhaps no contemporary theatre better illustrates the dynamics and potential of American regional theatre than The Wilma Theater of Philadelphia. During the tenure of Artistic Directors Jiri and Blanka Zizka, immigrants from Czechoslovakia who have the led The Wilma, a non-profit alternative theatre, for twenty-one years, the theatre has gained a reputation for challenging, thought-provoking productions of an eclectic mix of plays. The impact of their productions reaches beyond Philadelphia. Their production of Tom Stoppard's 1997 The Invention of Love, for example, prompted Lincoln Center Theater's Andre Bishop to change his mind about the play, including it in Lincoln Center's 2001 season after he initially rejected it. The dissertation examines The Wilma as a cultural entity. In the process the Zizkas' artistic heritage, such as the highly nuanced "doubled" theatrical language they learned in their early theatre work in Prague under Communist censorship, becomes a focus. Theories of theatre that contain considerations of place as a theatrical determinant (such as those of Una Chuadhuri, Marvin Carlson and Erika Fischer-Lichte, among others) are used to provide theoretical frameworks for a discussion of the intersection of their self-imposed exile, history, and practice.;An examination of The Wilma's finances, and of their audiences, grounds this study in the material realities currently shaping American regional theatre. Close readings of particular productions reveal salient elements of the Zizkas' directorial styles, and their fundamental artistic orientations. Their work is examined in production and in rehearsal, and is contextualized by comparisons with comparable theatres and directors.;The Wilma made history in 1996 when it moved into its new building at Broad and Spruce Streets, the first purpose-built theatre to be constructed in Philadelphia in sixty-eight years. The new theatre represents an unusual coalition between an alternative theatre and the mainstream financial forces driving Philadelphia's tentative social and economic renewal. An integral part of an evolving northeastern city, The Wilma Theater stimulates, explores and celebrates the growth and change of the culture in which it participates.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
