Actor, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, lyricist and theater director Jan Werich has already become a respected national icon during his lifetime. The artist, who entered the public consciousness mainly as half of the V + W authors and actors, died 40 years ago, on October 31, 1980. Werich was perceived primarily as a clown, a wise clown fighting human nonsense, whose views many considered authoritative.
A whirlwind of fun in the Liberated Theater
“I love looking at the auditorium when people stagger like a barge in a whirlwind of fun.” he confessed once. This view often came to him from the stage of the Liberated Theater, where he excelled alongside Jiří Voskovec. It was similar at the turn of the 50’s and 60’s in the Theater of Satire and in the ABC Theater, where he continued the V + W tradition with Miroslav Horníček. He fought human stupidity even in the conditions of the communist regime, he was able to argue promptly and aptly with the power that afflicted not only him but also the whole nation.
“The war on human nonsense cannot be won, but it cannot be escaped because nonsense would flood the world,” he said. The primary ambition of the V + W pairs was to entertain viewers, the uncertainty of the economic crisis and the growing danger of fascism in the early 1930s. but it brought them to political satire, which first seeped into the ancient play of Caesar (1932), and other plays came in this category, such as Donkey and Shadow (1933), Kat and the Fool (1934), and Ballad of the Rags (1935), which belonged to to the bravest anti-fascist games of the time.
Liberated theater, ban and emigration
Jan Werich was born on February 6, 1905 in Prague-Smíchov. After high school, just as Voskovec began studying law, in 1926, thanks to Voskovec, he found himself among the avant-garde artists in the Devětsil association. A year later, their first joint play, Vest pocket revue, premiered on the stage of the Liberated Theater.
Werich and Voskovec performed in masks, taking on the role of clowns, who get involved in theatrical characters, or comment on various non-theatrical events in front of the curtain. They held leftist views and made fun of petty bourgeoisie and “ferns”. They did not hide their inspiration from American comedians, Charlie Chaplin was close to them. This inspiration was also evident in their film roles from the 1930s, which were mostly adaptations of the successful plays of the Liberated Theater. Films by director Martin Frič Powder and petrol, Money or life, Hey rup! and The World Belongs to Us contributed to the emergence of a new genre of Czech political film comedy.
The era of the Liberated Theater ended with its ban in November 1938, and Werich and Voskovec and their court composer Jaroslav Ježek left for America before Nazism. Here they subsisted mainly by playing for compatriots. They also became famous for their anti-Nazi programs for the Voice of America radio station.
After the war and returning to their homeland, they tried unsuccessfully to restore the theater, but Voskovec definitely went into exile in June 1948. The V + W last met in 1974 in Vienna, but they kept in touch through letters, which were later published in books.
Císařův Pekař, Pekařův císař, Fimfárum i Švejk
Werich’s post-war work was strongly influenced by the communist regime, yet he made several acclaimed films and television productions. He was also the principal of the Satire Theater (later ABC). The films Císařův Pekař, Pekařův císař (1951) and the fairy tale Once Upon a Time (1954) belong to the golden fund of Czech cinematography, although some perceive them as contemporary agitates. He won a significant double role in Vojtěch Jasný’s film When a Cat Comes (1963). Since 1953, Werich has also persuaded Hašek Švejk on the radio. He became more and more a writer, and his collection of fairy tales Fimfárum (1960) and the travelogue Italian Holidays (1960) were among the most successful. In 1963 he was awarded the title of National Artist.
In June 1968, Werich signed the manifesto Two Thousand Words, which meant the end of the theater for him, but his name also disappeared from television, and books ceased to be published. He got the last opportunity in front of the camera in several episodes of the series about Mr. Tau (1970-72). At that time, he was already in trouble, he divided his time between the hospital, a house in Prague’s Kampa and a cottage in Velhartice. Werich’s signature under the so-called antichart in January 1977, condemning the declaration of Charter 77, is still a matter of speculation.
A dignified farewell in Lucerne
Anticharta’s signature – whether conscious or unconscious – had one bright side: he was allowed a dignified farewell to the podium. The twice-bursting hall of the Prague Lantern was able to laugh live with an old clown for the last time in the spring of 1977. Jan Werich died on October 31, 1980, shortly before that his wife Zdeněk also died. I am buried in the Olšany cemeteries in Žižkov. In June 2017, a museum dedicated to Jan Werich was opened in Kampa.
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