I was fifteen in 1976. I lived in a country ensnared behind the Iron Curtain. It was a few years after the lost hope of the Prague Spring in 1968 and in the ensuing onset of Normalization, a year before the future president, Vaclav Havel and other signers made public their Charter 77.
Jana Smetánková: Two Queens
Monodrama for one actress about two queens: Mary Stuart and Elizabeth I
Inspired by Stefan Zweig`s Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles
London 1980
1989 was the year of the revolution in former Eastern Bloc countries. That year brought monumental changes to our lives, turning out lives inside out, upside down, there and back and there again. One of the most important things was “I had the freedom to decide whether I wanted to fly to London in a few hours, or by the next day at the latest. It was possible.”
The Queen
in a Miniskirt
I remember it like was yesterday – I was eight years old and my parents took me to my first “real” theater performance. No Kašpárek, no puppets, no strings, or anything like that. Until I was ten we lived in the small town of Beroun, founded in 1295 by King Premysl Otakar II – the king whose domain stretched all the way to the Adriatic.
FAQ
Why did I write the monodrama, Two Queens?
Because when I was seventeen, my grandmother gave me Stefan Zweig’s book Mary Stuart, to read and since that time, the story of Mary Stuart and Elizabeth I is still burning (from reading the book to writing the play took about five years).
Why am I publishing the play thirty years after writing it?
I don’t know really… The last impulse was a promise I made at Westminster Abby and then two sentences by people from the theater whom I respect dearly. Those sentences were: “I must say that you have really surprised me.” and, “Jana, this is as smooth as butter, congratulations!” Then I told myself that I have to do it – and we’ll see.
Why do I love London?
There’s a lot to my love to London: the sea is salty, the sun shining, warming you with every ray, and the water flows downhill all by itself. All of these things are understandable and need no further explanation.
What’s my connection with the theater?
Apart from the usual magic of the theater? And the Two Queens? A publishing house of theater DVDs, a production society and web portal about the theater? Why do I go into such length about the Czech Republic?
Because it is a beautiful country with a rich history and cultural traditions (the Czech King Charles IV was the Holy Roman Emperor in the 14th century), because Prague is the most beautiful city in the world and because until 1989, when there was the Communist regime, everyone saw us as just another colorless part of the Eastern Block and that upset us since we didn’t even want to be there, but nobody asked us.
And also since I wanted you to know what they have in common, i.e. The British “Good Queen Anne”, Madeleine Albright, gel contact lenses, nylon tights, and the song Roll Out The Barrel: we have given all of these (every last one) to the world. Us. Czechs.
Why do I go into such length about the Czech Republic?
Because it is a beautiful country with a rich history and cultural traditions (the Czech King Charles IV was the Holy Roman Emperor in the 14th century), because Prague is the most beautiful city in the world and because until 1989, when there was the Communist regime, everyone saw us as just another colorless part of the Eastern Block and that upset us since we didn’t even want to be there, but nobody asked us. And also since I wanted you to know what they have in common, i.e. The British “Good Queen Anne”, Madeleine Albright, gel contact lenses, nylon tights, and the song Roll Out The Barrel: we have given all of these (every last one) to the world. Us. Czechs.
Czech and Czechs
My translator, Zach Barnes, instilled this idea in my head. It was summertime; we were sitting in one of the many Costa Coffees in Prague. A few days earlier, Andy Murray had won Wimbledon. I very simply said, with a hint of pride, that I was even happier about it since Ivan Lendl was his coach. Zach didn’t get what I meant. Well, it’s probably clear to everyone – Ivan Lendl is Czech.