Theatre Faculty

Theatre Faculty The Janaček Academy of the Performing Arts was founded in 1947, with the musicologist Ludvik Kundera as its first Rector. In the late 1950s the division of JAMU into separate departements was cancelled by government order. Some thirty years later it was restored again. In 1990 the fi rst postrevolution Rector, Alena Štěpánková-Veselá, restarted both the Theatre and Music Faculties. The formation of the Theatre Faculty was then handed over to Josef Kovalčuk, who became its Dean and whose name is written acroos the last two decades of its history. Among others, the Theatre faculty is the result of the continuing endeavours of Alois Hajda, Bořivoj Srba, Miloš Hynšt, Petr Oslzlý, Josef Karlík, Antonín Přidal, Peter Scherhaufer, Pavel Švanda, Ivo Osolsobě, Václav Cejpek, Miroslav Plešák, Arnošt Goldfl am, Zoja Mikotová and Nika Brettschneider. In addition to the original two departments, which is to say Dramatic Acting and Dramatic Direction, step by step were added Theatrical Dramaturgy, Scenography, Musical Acting, Theatre Management, Stage Technology, Theatre and Education, Clownery and Film Creation, Radio and Television Dramaturgy and Scriptwriting, Drama Education for the Deaf, Audiovisual Creation and Theatre and Dance Pedagogy. The Theatre Faculty took possession of the building on Mozart Street (Mozartová). The Marta Studio underwent major reconstruction, and with the growth of the number of diverse departments, JAMU drew in a multitude of talented students and fascinating instructors in the range of disciplines available. At present over 370 students can be found at JAMU‘s Theatre Faculty, and the last twenty years have seen nearly a thousand graduates launch careers on the world stage, treading the boards across this country and the whole of Europe, and carving niches in art and society alike.