Black box theater
Among black theater refers to a special form of presentation of the theater game. Its roots lie in the Japanese puppet theater, the Bunraku.
The technical requirements for Black theater is a lined with black velvet stage and also masked players. The fact that black-clad players play against black background, they can remain invisible.
In a sharply defined Lichtgasse be routed so that they are free to move in space and no longer tied to one place of them objects and dolls. So can produce amazing illusions: Stars emerge from the darkness, a circle dances ballet and puppet appear to move independently across the stage. In Black theater is also often an interaction of objects with living actors, mimes, etc. to find. As an effect, the black light (UV light ) can also be used so that white objects or fluorescent light (black light theater).
History
The vaudeville magician Ben Ali Bey ( Max Auzinger ) used in 1885 for the first time the black cabinet, other magicians, such as Omar Pasha, the idea took up and spread them. George Lafaye, a French puppeteer, took over the technique in 1959 for the puppet theater and puppetry around Spejbl and Hurvínek they brought to Prague. The local theater " Laterna Magica" finally made internationally famous in the 1960s, the Black Theatre.
In 1980, Rainer Pawelke within an educational sports theater project the Black Theatre as a stage show with young people and students at the University of Regensburg in front, where he was a lecturer in the Sports Teaching training. Under the name " Dream Factory - a poetic Sports Theatre " and a black theater as an educational project in Germany several tours and in television programs was made known. Pawelke also wrote a book about this: " Black theater in the dream factory ."
Known groups
In Germany Black theater is represented mainly by the 1967/68 was founded in Prague " Velvets theater " now based in Wiesbaden.
In 1958, founded the first group of black theater graduates of the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. From the beginning, this new theater genre has enjoyed success at home and abroad. Due to the fact that this group was led by two strong artistic personalities, it finally came to a split: Jiří Srnec and Hana Lamkova went their separate ways. This now two theater groups performed the technique of black theater to even greater prominence, including through performances at the Edinburgh Festival and Las Vegas shows. 1965 has integrated the technology of the black theater in his web of film projection, multi-screen and live stage action and the Prague Laterna Magica. Shortly after came other groups, such as the Velvets Black & Light Theater and the Theater subscribed F. Kratochvil.
Over time, however, virtually all extant groups have aligned their work more and more towards entertainment by Maximization of technical feasibility. Velvets dedicated to further full-length theatrical productions in the true sense: The work de Saint- Exupéry, Franz Kafka and Michael Ende's "Momo" is also interpreted as operas (such as The Magic Flute, Rusalka, The Tales of Hoffmann ) and own productions, such boundaries lot.
The " Blackwits ", the " Optical figure stage" and the Black Light Theatre Prague ( Image Theatre, Black Light Theatre of Jiri SMEC, HILT - the black light theater of Theodor Hoidekr ) are to be mentioned as further examples.