David Drábek

David Drábek is a Czech playwright, director and author who has significantly reshaped the landscape of Czech theatre after 1989. While still a student he founded the legendary studio Burning Giraffes, and since then his work has moved freely between absurdity, satire and surreal imagination. He worked as a dramaturge at the Moravian Theatre in Olomouc, later led the experimental stage Burning House, and served as a resident director at Prague’s Minor Theatre. Between 2008 and 2017 he was the artistic director of the Klicpera Theatre in Hradec Králové. His plays (Akvabely, Lizards, Chocolate Eaters – Czech Play of the Year 2011) feature typical “anti-heroes” and explore Czech mentality, materialism and everyday anxieties. Drábek masterfully blends humour, grotesque, social critique and poetic fantasy. His work also spans radio (the controversial play Koule), television (Cabaret from the Caravan) and literature. Critics describe him as “the sharpest satirical voice of his generation” or “an author who can dissect the present with both wit and pain.”