(11. 4. 1945)
Studied dramaturgy and scriptwriting in the film Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts. Scriptwriter and dramaturge in the Barrandov Film Studios from 1973 to 1979, when he was sacked for political reasons. He then began an important collaboration with the director Ivan Rajmont at the Drama Studio in Ústí nad Labem, where in the 1980s most of his plays, written specifically for this acting company, were premiered. Not all his plays could be produced during President Gustáv Husák's era of "normalisation". From 1988 to 1993 he worked in the Theatre on the Balustrades as author and dramaturge, and from 1991 as artistic head. More recently he has been the author of opinion pieces in the daily press. Karel Steigerwald has written a number of plays for the theatre and radio, and the scripts for several řlms. A satirical and caricaturing exaggeration, parody, and an ironical aloofness are characteristic of his work.
List of plays:
Tatarská pouť, 1979, première 21. 6. 1988 Divadlo Na zábradlí, Prague
Dobové tance, 1980, première 17. 12. 1980 Činoherní studio, Ústí nad Labem
Foxtrot, 1982, première 22. 5. 1982 Činoherní studio, Ústí nad Labem
...a tak tu prosím, kníže, 1982, première 1982 Divadlo v Řeznické, Prague
Neapolská choroba, 1984, première 10. 4. 1988 Činoherní studio, Ústí nad Labem
Jak hlouposti narostly parohy, 1986, première 10. 3. 1986 Divadlo Jiřího Wolkra, Prague
Hoře, hoře, strach, oprátka a jáma, 1990, première 10. 1. 1991 Divadlo Na zábradlí, Prague
První kroky demokrata, 1991, première 1991 Mittelfest, Cividale del Friuli
O pejskovi a mačičke, 1994, première 14. 1. 1994 Národní divadlo, Prague (in co-operation with Ondrej Šulaj)
Nobel, 1994, première 17. 11. 1994 Národní divadlo, Prague
Marta Peschek jde do nebe, 1998
Otčina, 1998, première 18. 5. 1999 PraIské komorní divadlo, Prague
Hraj komedii (Tragédie hereček), 2000, première 20. 10. 2000 Festival "Divadlo", Pilsen (under the title Divadlo jako mor)
Translated plays:
Hoře, hoře, strach, oprátka a jáma, English - Sorrow, Sorrow, Fear, the Rope and the Pit,
German - Leid, Qual und Angst, der Strick und die Grube
První kroky demokrata, English - The First Steps of a Democrat
Neapolská choroba, English - The Neapolitan Disease, Finnish - Le mal de Naples
Hraj komedii, (Tragédie hereaek) Hungarian - Színésznök
Matra Peschek jde do nebe (Marta Pescheks Himmelfahrt) - German