The following text concerns itself with the comprehensive research and design of costumes for The Beggar's Opera by Václav Havel. The author of this thesis presents her historical and theoretical research, the development of her creative concept and final designs. The play was written in the 1970s, when Havel was reacting critically to the current situation in his home country. To make this social criticism up to date, the author imagined doing a production of this play at a cafe in a small town, and sourcing inspiration for the designs of the individual character types from observing modern small town mentality. The text is divided into a theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part concerns itself with the history of the play, studies past productions, and examines Havel's approach to theatre. In the practical part we can follow the development of the design concept, including analyses of the individual characters and the sources of inspiration used. Descriptions of the final designs are supported by images.

My thesis is based on a reflection of Czech absurd theatre and my personal Turkish interpretation for the scenography of this genre. Specifically, this thesis deals with the play Leaving by Vaclav Havel I’m explaining and looking closely at selected elements of absurdist drama which inspired Havel and this play in particular, and has also determined my way of thinking. My goal is to find the inspiration and the processes that have influenced my studies at DAMU and culminated in my final diploma work. The aim is to understand the dramaturgic composition of the vısual elements that need to be present on stage through the proposed scenography and costume design.

Often considered to be apolitical playwrights, Samuel Beckett and Tom Stoppard each dedicated dramatic works to dissident Czech playwright (and later President) Václav Havel in the late 1970s and early 1980s—during his imprisonment for his role in writing and distributing the dissident document Charter 77. These dramatic works, with a few others, collectively mark simultaneous, parallel shifts in Beckett’s and Stoppard’s careers toward uncharacteristically explicit political engagement. This report examines these works—Beckett’s Catastrophe and What Where, and Stoppard’s Every Good Boy Deserves Favor and Professional Foul—through the lens of Havel’s political philosophy, especially as expressed in his 1978 essay “The power of the powerless.” This report argues that Havel’s model of apolitical resistance to injustice, a model he calls “living in truth,” expresses humanist values that these playwrights had long affirmed in their art. Their shared moral vision, along with sympathy for Havel’s plight under a totalitarian regime that distorted language as a tool of oppression, was the catalyst for their new, direct involvement in political matters. The report establishes the historical context of the Soviet-dominated Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, along with relevant biographical and professional narratives for each figure. It then examines closely this selection of Beckett’s and Stoppard’s dramatic works and their shared thematic concerns, and demonstrates how they artistically embody and communicate Havel’s model of “living in truth.” / text

The aim of this thesis is to compare the concept of the civil society and the attitudes towards it, as understood by Vaclav Havel, Vaclav Klaus and Milos Zeman. Furthermore, the thesis examines the evolutions of their attitudes and their particular actions within the organized civil society. The comparison is carried out using available materials and relevant existing works by authors expertizing in the authors' political legacy. The first part introduces basic terms and three crucial phases in the development of Czech civil society. The second part critically analyses the authors' attitude to organized civil society. Comparison findings suggest that their concept of civil society does not concur: their attitude to influential organizations of civil society varies, yet a certain agreement is apparent in their support of voluntary activities of various interest groups.

This thesis examines the concept of active citizenship in conception of Vaclav Havel. It further focuses on the possibilities of the legacy of such distinguished personality of modern history in the area of youth education. The theoretical part of the thesis describes the concepts of active citizenship and totalitarianism, and connects them to the example of communist era in Czechoslovakia. Using qualitative research methods, the empirical section of the thesis analyzes the perception of the concept of active citizenship and how Havel's legacy is perceived by students and the employees of Vaclav Havel Library. The analysis also deals with development of civic approach within the scope of Vaclav Havel Library efforts aiming at citizenship education. Using the method of document analysis, the thesis also deals with Havel's essay The Power of the Powerless, which is by Vaclav Havel Library presented as one of his key works serving as a basis for citizenship education. Key words Citizenship, Active Citizenship, Totalitarianism, Communism, Vaclav Havel, Legacy of Vaclav Havel, Vaclav Havel Library, The Power of the Powerless