Interview: Zuzana Kronerova, the Truth Has to Come Out
Zuzana Kronerova (left) on stage at Bohemian National Hall playing Viera in Eve of Retirement, 2018. Photograph by Elizabeth Andrews.
Thomas Bernhard’s play Eve of Retirement represents not only an artistic masterpiece but also a political and social catharsis for the Slovak nation, whose government collaborated with the Nazi regime during the so-called Slovak state (1939–1945). The production was, thus, characterized as metaphorical realism showing this “evil” and its historical recurrence. We spoke with the lead actress, Zuzana Kronerova, about her role in the production of the Thomas Bernhard’s play, presented at the 2018 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival. Zuzana is a renowned Slovak film, television and stage actress. She has been featured in more than twenty films to date, including the Oscar nominated Ice Mother, which also received a Best Screenplay award at the Tribeca Film Festival 2017.
What is your role in the production?
We premiered the production of Eve of Retirement in the 2005/2006 season. My character is Viera, the sister of Rudolf Höller who during World War II was the deputy commander of the concentration camp in Auschwitz. Due to the false identity he was secured by Himmler, after the war he escaped justice and worked as the president of the court in Germany.
Tell us little about the character of Viera and what is the most challenging or interesting thing about playing her?
Viera is in an incestuous relationship with her brother Rudolf and shares with him a Nazi worldview even though she is really satisfied with her life in the present democratic western Germany. Interesting and demanding at the same time for me is how Viera shifts her positions between the two siblings: she is in opposition to the left-leaning sister Klara but is under the authority of her brother Rudolf, who desires the return of the Nazis.
What is your favorite moment in the show?
It’s at the end, when the celebration of Himmler’s birthday culminates in household of horrors. The drunken Rudolf threatens both sisters with shooting, and then he gets a heart attack. Viera, in the deafening tones of Beethoven’s 5th symphony, takes off Rudolf´s uniform of the SS officer and hides the Nazi symbols so the called doctor cannot see the truth. It’s absurd up to a comical moment.
The cast of Eve of Retirement during talkback with the audience, 2018 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival. Zuzana Kronerova in the center. Photograph by Elizabeth Andrews.
What or who was the inspiration for choosing a career in theater?
Both of my parents were theater (and film) actors, Jozef Kroner and Terezia Hurbanova-Kronerova.
How would you describe the theater industry in Slovakia?
I think theaters in Slovakia offer to their audience a wide range of productions, from high-quality light comedies to the most striking dramas of Slovak and world authors. I would, however, welcome if there was more theater in the capital of the Slovak Republic – Bratislava.
Why do you think an audience should see this play?
Thomas Bernhard is critical and cruelly ironic to the characters of the play Eve of Retirement. I think that we, along with the director, managed to underline their vain desire for ordinary human happiness as well as their human misery.
Why do you think the work aligns strongly with the theme of the Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival?
I think the main reason is that the play by Thomas Bernhard tells us that the truth has to come out and evil has to be punished.
Who are your mentors? Where do you draw on your inspiration to create your character and pursue a career in the arts?
The first mentors were my parents for their hard work and dedication to their profession. They were very humble about the art and their profession. And my unofficial mentors were actors and actresses of their generation.
Inspiration for me is the human being as such. I choose characters who are bored with their fate and are sad and ridiculous. It can be said that my most popular genre or domain is tragicomedy.
How do you think Vaclav Havel still influences theater creation in Europe?
It could be said that Vaclav Havel, as a playwright, follows the big absurd plays by Beckett and Ionesco. For me, however, Havel as a playwright is original and unique, he captured the absurdity of the time we lived in Czechoslovakia with sarcastic humor.
What American theater companies/performers/playwrights do you like?
I fell in love with American playwright Tracy Letts, who is also a great actor. But my greatest desire is to play on the stage with the excellent Al Pacino. At the International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary, I admired his performance in the latest film Paterno.
Eve of Retirement, the 2018 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival, New York City. Photograph by Elizabeth Andrews.