Czech Surrealistic Drama

This anthology presents a selection of Surrealist dramatic texts from the 1920s up to the present day. For the first time, a single publication brings together now canonical works with unknown or previously unpublished texts, texts by authors commonly associated with Surrealism (Vítězslav Nezval, Vratislav Effenberger, Jan Švankmajer) with plays by authors better known from other creative areas (Karel Šebek, Ladislav Novák, Jiří Suchý). The publication shows that even though writing for the theatre was never at the centre of interest of the Czech Surrealists, their attention was constantly drawn to it. The collection is introduced by an extensive study that characterises the basic constants of Surrealist poetics while mapping the historical fluidity of the relationship between Surrealism and drama.