Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2007 - 56

Although there are surviving Baroque theatres with their scenery
and machinery intact in various European countries, the Czech
Republic has not only the most theatres, but also the widest
variety of theatres. They range from the family theatres at Kozel
and Zˇ elby to the small court theatres at Litomyslˇ and Mnichovo
Hradistˇ eˇ to the elaborate court theatre at Cˇ esk y´ Krumlov. The
theatre at Cˇ esk y´ Krumlov, like the theatre at Drottningholm, has
scenery and machinery for the complete Baroque scene change
and also a number of other spectacular effects.
Although the castle at Cˇ esk y´ Krumlov was relatively difficult to visit until the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, it has since
become a major tourist destination and tours of the theatre are
available. A building adjacent to the theatre, the Renaissance
House, has been converted into a theatre museum where much
of the original scenery, costumes, and a few of the original machines are on display.
Information gleaned from archival and archeological
research is resulting in new discoveries about the theatre and
its use. For example, it was recently discovered that counterweights falling in vertical shafts had been used to assist the operation of some machines. In addition, occasional productions
are mounted at the theatre using the Baroque scenery and machinery to test various theories regarding Baroque stagecraft.

HISTORY OF THE CHATEAU AND THEATRE
The town and castle of Cˇ esk y´ Krumlov are located in rural
southern Bohemia in what is now the Czech Republic. Although
the first recorded reference to the castle dates from 1253, its
theatrical history began in the last part of the seventeenth century when the Eggenberg family owned the castle. Theatrical
performances in the castle began as early as 1666 on temporary stages in the ball-court and, later, in the Deer Hall.
In 1675 Prince Johann Christian, Prince of Eggenberg,
Duke of Krumlov, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, etc., arranged for the establishment of a court theatre in the Deer Hall
(now the Hall of Masks) at the Krumlov castle (Pömerl 1993,
20). Little is known about this theatre although it had sixteen
settings painted by Johann Martin Schaumberger of Salzberg.
These settings were later augmented with additional settings by
the court painter Heinrich de Veerle.
Because there was the possibility of a visit by the Imperial
Court to Cˇ esk y´ Krumlov, Johann Christian began the construction of a theatre building across the deep gully separating the
castle proper from the gardens in 1680. The area was accessible by a wooden bridge and is now spanned by the Cloak
Bridge. The construction and alterations to the theatre continued for several years. In 1686 the stage in the Deer Hall was
abandoned and the acting company, which had been formed in
the 1670s, moved to the new theatre (Pömerl 1993, 24). The
Eggenberg theatre company essentially went out of existence
in 1691, but occasional performances by the students in the
Jesuit Gymnasium and castle employees continued for a while
(Záloha 1993, 41). In 1710 the last Krumlov Eggenberg Prince

died followed by his widow in 1719 and Castle Krumlov passed
to the Schwarzenberg princes.
The condition of the theatre had deteriorated and there
are no records of performances during the early Schwarzenberg years, although some theatre activity took place in the
Gold Hall in the castle. Several proposals for repairing the
theatre were made to the prince, but nothing was done until
1765 when a major reconstruction began. Although the inventor of the stage machinery is unknown, it was built and installed
by a Viennese stage carpenter, Lorenzo Mak, who apparently
modeled it on the machinery in a larger theatre in Vienna. The
Imperial and Royal Theatre painters Johann Wetschel and Leo
Merkel were hired to create the stage decorations and paint
the auditorium (Záloha 1993, 44-45). The arrival of the newly
married Crown Prince Jan and his bride occasioned the first
performance in the new theatre on 24 July 1768; it consisted of
an opera, Dove e amore, e gelosia by Giuseppe Scarlatti, and a
pantomime (Záloha 1993, 49).
Most of the performances in the new theatre were by the
prince's family, relatives and friends. Since the Schwarzenbergs
had several chateaus or castles in Bohemia, the prince was normally in residence at Krumlov only two or three months of the
year. By the beginning of the nineteenth century as the Schwarzenbergs began to stay at the castle less frequently the theatre
again fell into disuse except for a few amateur productions and it
finally was closed in 1897 for safety reasons (Záloha 1993, 53).
Beginning in 1958 the South Bohemia Theatre used the
Krumlov theatre for festival productions for a short period
of time each year, but without the use of the stage machinery. The stage machinery was repaired and began to be used
in 1961 (Jerie 1993, 116). Following a performance for the
Prague Quadrennial in 1967, the theatre was again closed for
a planned reconstruction of the entire building. Unfortunately
the reconstruction did not include a systematic inventory of the
various elements of the theatre. As a result a number of items
were destroyed in the process. Copies of the backdrops and
borders were made to allow them to be changed in the same
manner as was done in the eighteenth century.
The reconstruction work lasted on and off until 1993
when the theatre was reopened. The restoration is continuing
as the staff discovers new information about the missing elements in the archives and through the archeology of the theatre.
The stage and auditorium have been converted from candles to
electric candles and in 1999 tours of the theatre began.

DESCRIPTION OF THE THEATRE
The Auditorium (fig. 1)
A passage above the Cloak Bridge leads from the Masquerade
Hall in the main castle to the Prince's box in the theatre; this
box is flanked by a single level of narrow side galleries. The
auditorium floor contains ten rows of benches; these benches
increase in height as they get further from the stage. The auditorium has been fully restored and is now lit with electric
THEATRE
SPRING

2007

DESIGN

TECHNOLOGY

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2007