Soubor Lauriger

Lauriger Theater Group was founded in 1993 and practically since its inception it has focused on making Latin religious theater accessible. He has already staged more than fifteen plays and has over 110 performances to his credit. In the early years, the troupe focused on performing medieval plays, in 2000 it turned its attention to Jesuit school theater. For the premiere, he chose Antonio Machek's play Angelus ad aras (1729) with a theme from Jan Nepomuck's childhood, which he radically adapted dramaturgically and translated the abbreviated text into modern Czech. During the staging of Joanna Svoboda's play Amor Doloris rivalis (1728) and the small congratulatory cantata Votum melodicum (1734, with music by Miroslav Herod, SJ), he tried for the first time to apply the basic rules of contemporary stage performance formulated by the Jesuit playwright and pedagogue Francisc Lange. After participating in baroque acting courses organized as part of the Summer School of Ancient Music in Valtice, the decision was made to apply the principles of so-called learned interpretation to Latin material. In this vein, Lauriger first staged two interludes from Arnold Engel's tragedy Costis sive Catharis, Partheno-martyr Alexandrina (1654) Mors et Cupido and Atalanta et Hippomenes, and later an abridged version of the entire play. In 2020, the ensemble presented the play Veritas Prostrata et Erecta (1716) by the most important Czech Jesuit playwright Karel Kolčava for the first time. The interlude about Atalanta is constantly returning to the repertoire, while each new performance charts the never-ending search for an authentic, yet audience-understandable form of a school drama production.