Director Jiri Zizka Has Died

Jiri Zizka, co-founder of The Wilma Theater, has died, according to a report on the theater’s website. Zizka was 58 years old.

Zizka was born in Prague and became co-artistic director, with his wife Blanka ZIzka, of the Wilma, in 1981. He directed more than 70 productions for the company during his tenure, most recently Vaclav Havel’s Leaving, Terry Johnson’s Hysteria, and Roy Smiles’ Schmucks. Among his other credits at the theater are his Barrymore Award nominated stagings of Big Love, The Tin Pan Alley Rag, The PIllowman, and Outrage.

In New York, he directed David Straithairn in Havel’s Temptation at the Public Theater in 1989. He also directed a feature film of Havel’s Largo Desolato, adapted by Tom Stoppard, which starred F. Murray Abraham, for PBS’s Great Performances. In addition, he wrote and directed the Emmy nominated film Inquest of Love.