Professor Pavel Drábek

Professor Pavel Drabek

Professor of Drama and Theatre Practice

Faculty and Department

  • Faculty of Arts Cultures and Education
  • School of The Arts

Summary

Pavel join Hull as Professor of Drama and Theatre Practice in 2013. His research centres around collaborative/relational performance practices. His research and teaching range from Shakespeare and early modern drama and theatre in Europe; through scriptwriting for the stage (spoken drama, opera, musical theatre) and radio; drama translation, adaptation, dramaturgy and scenography; to theatre theory.

His prominent publications include:

* Transnational Connections in Early Modern Theatre (Manchester UP, 2020), co-edited with M. A. Katritzky

* The Art of Making Theatre (Bloomsbury, 2022), with Pamela Howard;

* České pokusy o Shakespeara (Czech Attempts at Shakespeare, Větrné mlýny, 2012);

* “‘You have served me well’: The Shakespeare Empire in Central Europe”, Multicultural Shakespeare: Translation, Appropriation and Performance 28 (43), 2024: 83–114;

* “Transnationality: Intercultural Dialogues, Encounters, and the Theatres of Curiosity”, in Yana Meerzon and S. E. Wilmer (ed), Handbook on Theatre and Migration (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023): 639–650;

* “Dramaturgy of the Shakespearean Libretto”, in Christopher R. Wilson and Mervyn Cooke (ed), The Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare and Music (Oxford: OUP, 2022): 761–804;

* La Pícara: The Incredible Story of the Lieutenant Nun | La Pícara ou L’incroyable histoire de la nonne-lieutenant. An English-French edition with Pascale Drouet’s translation (Toulouse: PUM, 2022), with Josh Overton.

Between 2003 and 2015 he set up and led the Ensemble Opera Diversa (www.operadiversa.cz), a Czech professional music and opera company. He has written and translated for the opera, theatre and the radio, mostly collaborating with composer Ondřej Kyas. His rock-theatre Shakespeare adaptation called Zapeklitě! (Hell of a Fix) written for Slovácké divadlo (Czech Republic) opened on 22 June 2024.

Recent outputs

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Book Chapter

English actors in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the time of Ladislaus IV.

Katritzky, M. A., & Drábek, P. (2023). English actors in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the time of Ladislaus IV. In J. Żukowski (Ed.), Triumphant harmony. Władysław IV Theatre (286-313). Warsaw: Arx Regia Publishing

Aktorzy angielscy w Rzeczypospolitej w 1. połowie XVII w.

Katritzky, M. A., & Drabek, P. (2023). Aktorzy angielscy w Rzeczypospolitej w 1. połowie XVII w. In J. Żukowski (Ed.), Triumfalna harmonia. Teatr Władysława IV (287-315). Warsaw, Poland: Zamek Królewski w Warszawie - Muzeum

Journal Article

Playing, Viewing, Touching, Modelling, Mentalizing: Theoretical Reflections on PQ 2023

Drabek, P. (in press). Playing, Viewing, Touching, Modelling, Mentalizing: Theoretical Reflections on PQ 2023. Theatre and performance design, 10(1-2), https://doi.org/10.1080/23322551.2024.2334614

"You Have Served Me Well": The Shakespeare Empire in Central Europe

Drabek, P. (2023). "You Have Served Me Well": The Shakespeare Empire in Central Europe. Multicultural Shakespeare: Translation, Appropriation and Performance, 28(43), 83-114. https://doi.org/10.18778/2083-8530.28.06

Nad psaním portr‚tů doby: Několik historiografických úvah nad Shakespearovou Anglií

Drábek, P. (2023). Nad psaním portrétů doby: Několik historiografických úvah nad Shakespearovou Anglií. Theatralia, 26(2), 265-271. https://doi.org/10.5817/TY2023-2-22

Research interests

Shakespeare

early modern drama in Europe

transnational connections

theatre theory

scrtipwriting

drama translation

opera libretto and music theatre

scenography

Postgraduate supervision

Professor Drábek welcomes postgraduate students researching in the fields of Shakespeare, early modern theatre and drama in Europe, drama translation and adaptation, and opera libretto studies.

Completed PhDs

- Kačer T, New Messengers: Reportage in Late Twentieth-Century British and American Mainstream Drama (2012, Masaryk University)

- Seibertová L, Translations as Original Works of Literature (2017, Masaryk University; supervision completed by Dr Michael Kaylor)

- Bell H, Practice-Based Investigation into Young People's Response to Shakespeare in Performance (2016, University of Hull; as co-supervisor)

- Tang R, Chinese Shakespeare: an Intercultural Study across Three Genres (2016, University of Hull; as co-supervisor)

- Harrison T, 'Guides Not Commanders': Imitation and Contamination of the Classics in the Comedies of Ben Jonson (2017; University of Hull; as co-supervisor)

- Fielding L, An Investigation into the Current Uses of Russian Theatre Director Vsevolod Emilievich Meyerhold's Actor Training System, Biomechanics, in the 21st Century (University of Hull; as co-supervisor)

Current PhD supervisions

- Railton, A, Tracing genre and mode shifts in the early modern period (University of Hull, NECAH scholarship; as principal supervisor; co-supervised with Prof. Lisa Hopkins, Sheffield Hallam University)

- Gilbert, R, Professional wrestling as entertainment, a performance and a business (University of Hull, NECAH scholarship; as principal supervisor; co-supervised with Dr Henry Bell, Sheffield Hallam University)

- Dodds, G, Eros and Thanatos in Classical Greek Tragedy (University of Hull; as co-supervisor)

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