The founder of Laterna magika, and one of the most prominent Czech and European theatre-makers, staged dramas, operas and operettas, and also devoted to film. He worked at the Fifth of May Theatre (1945–48), the National Theatre (1954–59 and 1965–68) and the Municipal Theatres of Prague (1960–65). From 1956 to 1959, he served as artistic director of Laterna magika. In 1968, he and his family emigrated to Gothenburg, Sweden, where he created a number of productions at the Folkteater. He also directed performances in Munich, Belgium, Berlin, Vienna and Bergen. He died in Vienna, where he had come to stage Václav Havel’s one-act plays.