Tom Stoppard accepts a honorary PhD from JAMU 7. 5. 2007
Tom Stoppard, the leading British playwright with Czech roots, accepted a doctorate honoris causa from the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno (JAMU) at a ceremony at the Goose on the String Theatre in Brno on May 4.
"I grew up far away from here, but I knew that I am originally from Moravia and that this was both my parents motherland," said Stoppard adding that he appreciates the honour from the Brno Drama school also because of the fact his father lived in the city and studied there to become a doctor.
Tom Stoppard dedicated his acceptance speech to the memory of his father who died during the World War II. He went on to reflect on arts, especially on theatre. "I think theatre is first of all about enjoyment. It can also be other things, but I don't think it has a duty to be them," he said.
The Dean of the Theatre Faculty of JAMU Josef Kovalčuk said Stoppard deservedly received the honour for both the language and the style refinement of his writing, for the many sidedness and topicality of his work, for his plays Arcadia and Rock‘n‘Roll and for the support the playwright had given to the Czech dissidents during the "normalization" period in Czechoslovakia.