Master of Fine Arts Monika Švábová

* 1946

  • “There had to be an opening night of Shaffer´s Black Comedy and we were voting whether we would play or we wouldn´t play. I will not say the names of those who ran away, of those who didn´t vote. There were all kind of people. I voted that we shouldn´t play, of course. And Pavel has been the main persona of the evening. In the end there was an opening nigh but before it all begun we sang the national anthem and Pavel gave an important, quintessential speech of his. But for the whole night he ended up in the Secret Police´s custody and for a month the theatre would not give an performance, there were only those discussion evenings .And it was wonderful... In 1989 the whole nation could breathe freely again, being like a one big family.”

  • "When Sváťa Papež left, Honza Gross left in protest. After that his wife has been working here a the radio station for a long time. I don´t know if he is still alive... I think he was a tram driver for some time and then he went to the theater in Karlovy vary. And after 1989 he came back again. But the truth is that he was collaborator, he joined the Secret Police. Maybe that he could return. He has confessed that he did. And I do remember that as my Pavel was a very brave director. Ater the 1989 he was the artistic director for twenty years. First there was Honza Burian, then there was Pavel. Even before them there was Ota Ševčík, then there was Honza Burian and then Pavel. At one point Pavel organised the meeting of the dramatic company – and it was not so big, maybe twenty two people, twenty five people at most – and he told them that he knew that three of them had been collaborating. And to make it clear, they should justify their actions or just speak their mind. And the people had spoken up."

  • “It´s quite interesting anyway... I couldn´t understand it as father has never been a party member yet we were going to Dobříš. He was strongly apolitical yet we all went to college. As father would spend his time among the painters, among the Hollar people, among such sort of people, and as he was a famous man they accepted his.. I remember he was a member of the ministry of culture´s committee and he would always say: 'There is this Polášek, he is a commie but he is such a nice person, he wouldn´t harm anyone.' These are the things I remember. Maybe it was because my parents were not into politics. But I know my father forbade me to join the Pioneers. Neither me nor my brother have been Pioneers. Then I would ask them – I don´t know whether it really happened or not – I almost finished the elementary school at the time, if I could be a Pioneer so I would be allowed to study at a high school. And I would blame them. I told them: 'Every kid is a Pioneer. Why can´t´ I be one of them?'”

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    Plzeň, 12.06.2019

    (audio)
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In every good play you will find great ideas of univsersal validity

Monika Švábová in 1964
Monika Švábová in 1964
zdroj: Archiv pamětnice

Monika Švábová was born in Praha on March 10th 1946 to the family of an important painter and printmaker Jaroslav Šváb; her mother came from a bourgeois family. On holidays she would often go to the chateau Dobříš with her parents, the headquarters of the Association of Czechoslovak Writers, her family have also been in close contact with the Havel family. At the elementary school Monika has been already attending the ballet preparatory school of the National Theatre in Praha. After her A levels she was a guest performer at the Vinohrady Theatre, during and after her studies she also performed at the Vinohrady Theatre. From 1966 to 1968 she studied at DAMU. After graduating in 1968 she joined J. K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň where she in time became on of the prime personas of the theatre. In 1974 she married the actor Pavel Pavlovský, who was one the theatre´s leading personas during the Velvet Revolution. At the theatre stage they staged quite a lot of parts in which thez portrayed husband and wife. She acted in both classic and modern repertoire of the theatre, also starring in minor film roles. In 2018 she opened her 50th season in Pilsen, making her unique in the history of both the Pilsen and the Czech theater history. In the course of her lengthy residency she played more than 160 roles. She was awarded the Czech Literary Fund Prize and Vendelín Budil Prize, In 2018 she was introduced in the hall of fame of the Pilsen county representative.