A View into the Archive 17 – The Theatre Program

During the second half of the 20 th century, typographic work became a regular part of the creative oeuvres of many Czech artists. Commissions for a book, publicity materials, a film or theatre poster or other subjects could, for many artists facing political pressure, form a unique chance for artistic realization as well as a source of well-paying work. Regarding theatre programs, we can find not only the work of the leading Czech artists with a reputation for typographic design (Libor Fára, Milan Grygar, Aleš Lamr, Zdenek Seydl, Joska Skalník, Jan Solpera, Jiří Rathouský et al.) but also instances of the equally interesting treatments applied by artists whose typographic engagements are less known or less frequent. The strongly evidenced creative hand of each individual artist is inscribed on the overall design concept of the theatre programs (typefaces, illustrations, cover treatment), which in turn had their impact on the historical shaping of the theatres’ separate visual identities.

Often, the graphic form of theater programs was prepared by figures from the theatrical profession—stage or costume designers. Or conversely, certain prominent artists also created work in the stage disciplines themselves (Adolf Born, Libor Fára, Zdenek Seydl). At times, the name listed in the program colophon is the only evidence that a specific designer worked on it, or in turn it can be the one clue revealing the artists’ cooperation with a specific theatre. Unfortunately, in too many instances, no typographic designer is in the document.

In the present exhibition, the theater programs are divided based on the given theatre, each one of which was chosen in the aim of illustrating the extensive diversity and high quality of Czech typography in these years. Many of these design treatments  reveal knowledge of the latest international artistic tendencies and their development over time. The exhibition is the outcome of  a deeper look into the theatre-program holdings of  the Archive of Fine Arts, which are an exceptional collection on their own. The exhibition was created in cooperation with the National Theatre.