Theatrum Neolatinum. Latin Theatre in the Bohemian Lands. New Editorial Project in the Context of Early Modern School Theatre Research
Abstract
Plays created as a part of the educational process are a significant European phenomenon, which influenced the developpment of both education and theatre. Edition of these dramatic texts is vital for the research of school theatre; however, it is always conditioned by the preserved material.
The Bohemian lands offer unique manuscript corpuses of the ordinary dramatic texts, performed of every year by individual college classes. Nevertheless, none of these plays have been made accessible in the form of a critical edition.
This study presents a new editorial project Theatrum Neolatinum, which is trying to amend this omission. Two volumes have been published so far: St.
John of Nepomuk on Jesuit School Stage presents texts and synopses of plays concerning this particular saint, and The Gentlest Pallas presents a selection of plays intended for the grammmatical classes of Jesuit colleges, with emphasis on thematic analysis.