Petr Lébl

Petr Lébl (16 May 1965 – 12 December 1999) was a Czech theatre director, scenographer, actor, designer and artistic director of the Theatre on the Balustrade. Lébl is considered one of the most significant personalities of the 20th century Czech theatre.

Beginnings Lébl was born on 16 May 1965 in Prague. He devoted himself to theatre from an early age. At the age of 15 he became a member of the amateur theatre group DOPRAPO (the group was later renamed to Jak se vám jelo and JELO), with which he performed in his first play, Kolotoč splněných přání. He studied at high-school specializing in graphic arts, and later used his experience in this area on theatre stages.

In 1982, as a high-school student, Lébl attempted to create scenic variations on the theme of the novel Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut. The same year, he contacted Vonnegut by letter and received a reply. In 1985 Lébl adapted Slapstick as a theatre play. He directed the play and also performed in the lead role. Coincidentally, Vonnegut visited Prague at that time and attended the performance of Slapstick. According to the Czech translator of Slapstick, Jaroslav Kořán, Vonnegut was deeply impressed by the adaptation and wrote a dedication "to my sister Petr" to the Czech translation of the book. When Lébl asked him why he wrote "to my sister", Vonnegut answered that he already has one brother. In 1986 he began to study directing and scenography at the Faculty of Theatre, however, he didn't finish his studies.

Professional career

From 1992 up to his death in 1999, Lébl worked as a theatre professional. His first professional theatre experience was a direction in the Theatre Labyrint (1992). A year later, in 1993, he became the artistic director of the Theatre on the Balustrade.

Petr Lébl was known as a sensitive and complicated personality. According to testimonies provided by his colleagues, he suffered from depression and often spoke openly about his suicidal tendencies. He left a short message on the door of his office: "I'm on the stage". He was 34.

In a message found after his death, Lébl assigned Czech publicist Radka Denemarková to write a book about him. She worked on it for eight years in Lébl's abandoned flat.

In 2009, Lébl was voted the most significant Czech theatre personality of the 1989-2009 period in the poll of the Czech magazine Reflex.

Works

Theatre direction Lébl as a director of the theatre group JELO

Horečka (Slapstick) (1985) – Kurt Vonnegut Tauridus (1986) Polepšovna (The Reform School) (1986) – Christian Morgenstern Had (The Snake) (1987) – Mircea Eliade Mata Hari (1988) Proměna (The Metamorphosis) (1988) – Franz Kafka Zpěvačka Josefína (Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk) (1989) – Franz Kafka Wesele (1989) – Stanisław Wyspiański Výběrčí (1990)– Milan Uhde

Lébl as a guest of the Theatre Labyrint

Vojcev (1992) – Egon Tobiáš; Fernando Krapp mi napsal dopis (Ferdinand Krapp wrote me a letter) (1992) – Tankred Dorst

Lébl as a guest of the Theatre on the Balustrade

Pokojíček (1993) – Jan Antonín Pitínský

Lébl as a director of the Theatre on the Balustrade

Služky (The Maids) (1993) – Jean Genet Naši naši furianti (Our Our Swaggerers) (1994) – Ladislav Stroupežnický Racek (The Seagull) – Anton Chekhov (Alfréd Radok Award) Revizor (The Government Inspector) (1995) – Nikolai Gogol Hrdina západu (The Playboy of the Western World) (1995) – John Millington Synge Cabaret - musical (1995) Ivanov – Anton Chekhov (Alfréd Radok Award) Matka (Mother) (1997) – Jan Antonín Pitínský Wesele (1998); Kočičí hra (Catsplay) (1998) – István Örkény Plukovník Pták (1998) – Christo Bojčev Strýček Váňa (Uncle Vanya) (1999) – Anton Chekhov

Lébl as a guest Cyrano de Bergerac - Edmond Rostand – Habima Theatre (Israeli National Theatre) (Tel Aviv, Israel) – 1997 Braniboři v Čechách (The Brandenburgers in Bohemia) – Bedřich Smetana – National Theatre (Prague) – 1998

Television Studio Kroměříž (1992–93)