Jaroslav Ipser

* 1949

  • Jaroslav Ipser: “There in Modřišice there was a classical puppet theatre with marionettes. On the footbridge we had our texts. We used to say: 'Let me see the text.' No one wanted to move away from the text. But, we went to events organised by the district cultural centre. They invited experts, for example in the field of puppet theatre, to teach us something. And there, we saw that the figurine - I say a figurine in the sense of a puppet - the theatre can be done bit differently than just classic marionettes. Gradually we switched to puppets and other kinds of puppets. Meanwhile, four of us graduated from folk conservatory in Hradec Králové in the Drak Theater. We experienced the golden age of Drak Theater: Honza Dvořák, the old man, Mr. Matěj Kopecký." Student from the PNS team: "Why did you actually go to the folk conservatory, when you knew the basics of puppetry or theatrical science?" JI: "Because, I learned something else about that. There were professionals. There were personalities, such as Jakub Krofta, world-renowned director, Honza Dvořák, Zdeněk Říh, Radek Pilař, Mrs. Kostřábová. These were the tops in their field and we learned a lot from them. They managed the conservatory. Then, they became friends of ours.”

  • Jaroslav Ipser (JI): “Censorship. We were lucky that there was not much in the fairy tales. But, I know the groups where the puppets played like Hamlet, Shakespeare. It was fine too, because they did not pay much attention to the puppet theatre. The only thing somebody once remarked to us was that we played Snow White and seven dwarfs, and the whispering of the woods when Snow White gets the apple: 'Watch out, Snow White, the red side is dangerous!' The censor said: 'You would not have to say that, would you?' PNS team (PNS): "And you said it deliberately?" JI: "Oh come on, that was simply in the text. Please, they used anything and said it was attacking the regime." PNS: "Did not you try to sneak the hidden replicas into the texts?" "But, no, it does not even fit into the texts. We are more of the opinion that instead of talking much--let's say it should happen--act out with the puppet, using a minimum of words. Jaroslav Ipser speaks as a puppet using interjection, and that's enough.”

  • " 'Čmukaři' ? Well, we had no name for a long time, but they asked us right in Česká Třebová. And, the girls said: 'Čmukaři.' – 'And what it that?' – 'Well, "čmuk" means a bumble, that's such a regional specialty here. I do not know, if that means anything to you....' And since we were in the Modřišice bus, and we had the caps with those bumbles, when they saw us, they said: 'The smokers are coming.' And, the name´s been left to us.”

  • Full recordings
  • 1

    Turnov, 16.03.2018

    (audio)
    duration: 32:59
    media recorded in project The Stories of Our Neigbours
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Why take your shoes off when the river ford is still far away?

Jaroslav_Ipser_portret.jpg (historic)
Jaroslav Ipser
photo: archiv pamětníka, tým PNS

Jaroslav Ipser was born on the 2nd of December, 1949, in Louny. At the age of three he moved with his mother, Maria, and younger sister, Dagmar, to Turnov to live with his grandparents.Jaroslav’s mother soon became ill and died in 1953, leaving Jaroslav and his sister under the care of their grandparents. Well into his childhood, Jaroslav formed an adoration to puppet shows, and as a student he attended a puppetry group. Between 1965 and 1968, he apprenticed under an electrician and performed with the puppet theatre in the SSM (translator´s note: Socialistic Youth Association). In 1968, he started the compulsory military service. On the 21st August, 1968, he was stationed near Sokolov. The leaders gave orders which complicated the proceeding of occupation armies. Upon returning from the military, he joined the JUTA Turnov as a boiler man and worked there until retirement. In 1974 he became a member of the Amateur set of puppet theater in Modřišice. Jaroslav manged to become the leader of the group, and later the group was known as “Čmukaři.” He used all the possibilities a theatre education had to offer. In 1982, he graduated from the folk conservatory at Drak Theater. Together with Daniel Weiss--with whom Jaroslav formed the central couple of the ensemble--they found success as author’s in theatre. In the following years, both Weiss and Jaroslav officially represented the Czech and Slovak Socialist Republic abroad. Following the opening of the borders in 1990, they have found traveling to be more easy. Čmukaři is still a very successful performance group.