David Radok

Biography

Born 1954 in Prague. He is the son of well-known Czech theatre director Alfred Radok. In 1968 he and his parents emigrated to Sweden. After his studies he tried his hand at a number of theatrical professions. He worked as an extra, custodian, scene fitter, and assistant director. In 1980 he made his debut as a director of the production of Menotti’s The Medium at Göteborg Opera. Later he produced there La Bohème, The Abduction from the Seraglio, The Rake’s Progress, From the House of the Dead, Macbeth, etc. David Radok directed a number of operas in the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, he has also acted as a visiting director in Oslo, Helsinki, Stockholm, and in others Swedish theatres. He has some forty-five productions to his credit, including works by early Baroque to contemporary authors. Among them for example, Dido and Aeneas, Iphigenia in Tauris, The Journey to Reims, Rigoletto, La Traviata, Romeo et Juliette, Jenufa, Peter Grimes, Bluebeard and Wozzek. In addition to operas, he also directs drama, for example Euripides’ The Trojans or Bulgakov’s Molière. In the early 1990s David Radok returned to Czechoslovakia. In the Estates Theatre he produced Mozart’s Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute. The production of Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk in the National Theatre in Prague from the last season is Radok’s third encounter with this opera. The previous productions date from 1984 in Göteborg and 1990 in Copenhagen. In 2001 he prepared a production of Berg’s Wozzeck in the co-production of the National Theatre Prague and Opera Göteborg.