Abstract
The study presented deals with the restoration of amateur theatre and puppet companies in Opava and the region of Opava after World War II. The theme is addressed in the context of the cultural policy of the people's democracy of post-war Czechoslovakia and the beginnings of the communist regime after 1948; the emphasis is therefore placed on the institutional background of amateur theatre (state administration, associations, mass organizations), the social function of theatre performances and the transformation of theatre ensembles into a new system of cultural activities management according to the Soviet model at the turn of the 1940s and 1950s.