Black Light Theatre - History

History

The 'black box trick' of using performers dressed in black in a dark playing space has been in use for millennia, starting with the jugglers performing for the emperor in ancient China. Japan developed this technique in its Bunraku Theatre by having puppeteers wear black in order to place complete emphasis on the puppet. In modern theatre the black box trick has been adopted up by Russian director Stanislavski, film director George Melies, and various French avantgarde directors of the 1950s. Among these directors, George Lafaille became an earlier pioneer of black cabinet. But all these directors used the simple trick of black cabinet just for few moments during their performances mostly to make something on the stage disappear. However the true father of Black Light Theatre, author of the principe of black cabinet as is used nowadays (placement of spot lights, placement of uv lights, selection of black velvet as the best material to absorb residual light on the scene...) and even author of the name "Black Light Theatre" and so the creator of the 1st Black Light Theatre in the World is Mr. Jiri Srnec. The very first performance of the ensemble, which had already brought international attention, took place in 1959 in Vienna. The real debut for the ensemble, however, was its participation in the Theatre Festival in Edinburgh in 1962. The performance, held in a sold-out festival arena was awarded by tumultuous ovation, which opened the way for Jiří Srnec Black Light Theatre to the world stages. Many more performances in Europe, America, Australia, Africa, and Asia followed. By now, the theatre organized about 300 international tours and participated in 77 theatre festivals. Under the artistic leadership of Jiří Srnec, the ensemble was applauded both by the audience and the critics. After international acclaim gained by Srnec Theatre in the late 80s another groups using the technique of black box appeared. By the late 1980s Prague's National Black Light Theatre company was taking the unique Black Light Theatre style on tour throughout Europe. Today many Czech Black Light Theatre companies take their most popular shows on world tours. However original is only one which has been acknowledged by the Czech President – on 28 October 2011 Jiří Srnec, the founder of the Black Light Theatre, was awarded the highest state decoration (Credit of the State in the Field of Culture and Arts Medal). Srnec Theatre belongs among the most important representatives of the Czech art in the world.