Mark Epstein’s new play Milena is about the journalist Milena Jesenská and her daughter, poet and artist Jana Krejcarová aka Honza. As the first premiere of the season, it will be presented on the big stage this Friday by the Municipal Theater of Mladá Boleslav.
An insight into the lives of two prominent figures of Czech culture was directed by Adéla Laštovková Stodolová. “It will play out a double story full of twists and turns, ups and downs of two women of Czech social and cultural life against the background of Czech history of the 20th century,” promise the creators. The Friday premiere is followed by the nearest reruns on October 29 and November 6.
The play for the theater was written by Marek Epstein, known to the wider public as the screenwriter of the films Brothers or Charlatan. Milena Jesenská, who died in the Ravensbrück concentration camp 80 years ago this year and who was friends with the writer Franz Kafka, will be portrayed by opera singer Dagmar Pecková. It will be her second drama role, since 2020 she has been playing the diva Maria Callas in the production Master Lesson in Mladá Boleslav.
According to the creators, Milena Jesenská and her daughter Jana Krejcarová, who lived from 1928 to 1981, had a lot in common, for example complicated relationships with the environment. “Jesenská and her father, whom she completely rejected for several years, Krejcarová was then unable to take care of her own children and gradually placed them all in children’s homes,” says theater spokesperson Denisa Kábrtová. Both women also died prematurely. Jesenská was murdered by the Nazis in a concentration camp, Krejcarová fell asleep in a car accident.
Lucie Matoušková and Petr Mikeska will play other roles. Kateřina Suchanová took care of the dramaturgy, Petr Zeman created the music, Simona Rybáková and Alexandra Gnidiaková provided the costumes.
Adéla Laštovková Stodolová already directed the production of 1000 faces of Adina in Mladá Boleslav the year before, about the First Republic actress and Mladá Boleslav native Adina Mandlová. Epstein is also the author of the screenplay for the upcoming feature film about Franz Kafka, which is being prepared by director Agnieszka Holland for next year.