It commemorates the most famous native of Sázava, actor, writer, playwright and lyricist Jiří Voskovec (1905-1981), who, together with Jan Werich and Jaroslav Ježek, was one of the prominent personalities of the legendary Liberated Theatre in the 1920s and 1930s.
The exposition, which is the work of architect Jan Špaček, is based on the unusual use of the combination of yellow and red, which we know from many theatre posters of the Liberated Theatre. The individual panels depict the history of the Voskovec family, his student years, the glorious era of the Liberated Theatre and the Voskovecs' stay in the United States. A number of original artifacts donated by family sources round out the exhibit. There is also a screening room with films of the Liberated Theatre and reproduced songs with music by Jaroslav Ježek.
Jiří Voskovec was born on 19 June 1905 in Sázava in Černé Budy, in the cottage of his grandfather, the painter Soběslav Hyppollit Pinkas, where he spent many happy moments. His native Sázava was deeply engraved in his heart. Eventually, it was here, during a holiday stay with Jan Werich as a student, that the germ of their famous play Vest Pocket revue was born. Jiří Voskovec spent the second half of his life in the United States and never returned to Sázava. Jan Werich bought the cottage in the 1960s in the hope that Jiří Voskovec would return, but after his death it was sold into private hands.
The important native is also commemorated by a memorial plaque in the form of a fallen poster by the academic sculptor Laco Sorokáč, placed on the pavement of the square in Sázava, which bears Voskovec's and Werich's name.
The memorial hall is part of the Cultural and Information Centre.
Photo by Adéla Richterová