Branko Gavella

He began writing theatre reviews the following year, published in the local German-language daily Agramer Tagblatt, for which he contributed from 1910 to 1918.

[3] In 1914 Gavella began directing at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb (HNK) and in the 1930s his essays on theatre theory were published in several cultural magazines, including the short-lived literary magazine Danas edited by Miroslav Krleža (which was launched in January 1934 in Belgrade and had only five issues before being banned by Yugoslav authorities in May 1934).

His tenure at HNK was also marked by his emphasis on performing plays written by Croatian authors (such as Marin Držić, Ivan Gundulić, Tituš Brezovački, Miroslav Krleža and Milan Begović) along with world-renowned authors (like William Shakespeare, Luigi Pirandello and Richard Wagner).

After World War II Gavella spent several years directing in Bratislava, Ostrava and Ljubljana before returning to Zagreb once again in 1949.

[7] During his career Gavella directed around 270 plays, operas and operettas,[1] and authored a number of essays about Croatian playwrights and poets such as Držić, Mažuranić, Šenoa, Vojnović and Krleža.