Alfréd Radok

Born 1914. He worked in Divadlo 5. kvetna (5th of May Theatre) between 1945 and 1948; and later for the Czech State Film. He worked as the stage director of the National Theatre in Prague in the years 1948 to 1949; 154 to 1959; and 1966 to 1968 (formally till 1972).

In the period between 1956 and 1959; Radok took part in the generation of Laterna magika as its stage director and art chief. He lived and worked as a director in Sweden since 1968. The National Theatre canceled his so called "unpaid vacation" in 1972 and he was declared emigrant.

Radok's work belongs to the top of the Czech stage direction of the 20th century. He aimed at a complex employment of all stage sections to reach the most effective atmosphere; often using the elements of expressive bizarreness.

Though described as "formalist" in fifties; each of his performances was a real piece of creative art. Died 1976 in Vienna.

Literature

• Alfréd Radok, "Inscenační postupy Laterny magiky", Divadlo, Vol. 12, No. 7, September 1961, pp 525-534. (Czech)
• Vít Havránek, "Laterna Magika, Polyekran, Kinoautomat", in Future Cinema. The Cinematic Imaginary after Film, ZKM and The MIT Press, 2003.
• Eva Stehlíková (ed.), Alfréd Radok mezi filmem a divadlem, Akademie múzických umění and Národní filmový archiv, Prague, 2007, 335 pp. (Czech) [1] Review
• Svatopluk Malý, Vznik, rozvoj a ústup multivizuálních programů, Akademie múzických umění, Prague, 2010. (Czech) [2] Review