Dušan David Pařízek (1971) ranks among the most successful Czech theatre directors at home and abroad. He was the founder of Pražské komorní divadlo (Prague Chamber Theatre), which under his direction (2002–2012) became the most progressive and profiled theatre scene in the Czech Republic. Its dramaturgy was based on demanding plays by authors such as Schwab, Bernhard, Jelinek, Handke, whose texts Pařížek revisits, e.g. with Zdeněk Adamec + Self-Accusation, a production of Divadlo Na zábradlí, presented at Flora 2022. And ten years earlier, following the demise of Pražské komorní divadlo, the festival offered a profile showing of seven titles in the programme section “Žádná Komedie!” (No Comedy!).
At the beginning of the millennium, Pařízek established himself on the most important German-language stages throughout Europe, such as the Burgtheater and Volkstheater in Vienna, the Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg, Deutsches Theater Berlin, Schauspielhaus Zurich, Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, Theater Bremen, Schauspielhaus Bochum or the prestigious Salzburger Festspiele festival. He is a multiple winner of the Nestroy Theatre Prize and the Critics’ Award of Theater heute magazine.
His work can be seen as a study of relationships within Central European countries and national identities, which, despite their common history, are very diverse and whose national myths need to be revised. This was, for example, the theme of the co-production project of Studio Hrdinů and Theater Bremen, The Case Schweik (at Flora 2017), the acclaimed Moscoviad based on Yuri Andrukhovych’s novel (at Flora 2023), and the diptych All Quiet on the Western Front / Green Corridors (at Flora 2024).

Pařízek’s staging of The Ridiculous Darkness at Vienna’s Burgtheater won the prestigious Theater heute poll and became the best German-language production of the 2014/2015 season. His adaptations at the Volkstheater – The Old Masters (Bernhard) and Self-Accusation (Handke) – have also been highly acclaimed. All three Austrian titles were exclusively shown at the 20th Flora Theatre Festival in 2016 in the profile programme section “Regie: Dušan D. Pařízek, Wien”.

photo Lukáš Horký