Pavel Pavlovský

* 1944

  • "I didn't play in [Schaffer's] Black Comedy, but suddenly the phone rang that something was going on, [so] we called a drama meeting. I remember it as if it were today. It was upstairs in the rehearsal room at the Chamber Theater. There was a discussion about it and it was possible to vote on whether to strike or not. There was a vote, and unfortunately I did not close my eyes at the time, so I know who voted for and who voted against. Those voting yes were far from clear. They prevailed, but very closely. To this day, one does not like to remember who was against it. And the strange thing is that some of the people who were against at the time then became passionate revolutionaries. But only when everything was clear. So it was voted on. It was evening and [when] the people came to the premiere, we [as] the whole ensemble [performed] in front of the curtain. Those who played there and those who did not play there. [Then] I read a statement [in which] there were [also] sharp expressions like 'enough of the political despotism'. It was read [and] then the anthem was sung. And again, we put the audience to vote if they still want to watch the premiere, or if we start a strike right now. They wanted to see [the play] when they got there. That's how it happened, and we were on strike since the next day. And only after then we went to schools, because the college students in the dormitories didn't know about it, [and so] we went to the student canteen. So, we told them about it there and of course they joined immediately. So, it went on a full tilt."

  • "I was in Prague. And suddenly some gentlemen came [and supposedly]: 'Come with us.' So we went to the Bartolomejska street. We sat there and talked and talked. [In the style]: 'How are you, what are you doing ...' They asked such silly questions. 'And what about your dad, uncle, and everyone?’ I sat there for about two hours, and it didn't matter why I was there. They didn't want anything from me either. They basically asked about nonsense. And then I don't know what came to my mind [when] they asked about those relatives, so I said I have the uncle, that's Jiří Pavlovský, and then I have another uncle and he's an ambassador in Finland now. And they said, 'Yes?' And I said, 'Sure.' And so it all ended and I walked home from the Bartolomejska street. Monika [at that time] lived in Dřevná Street near Palacký Bridge and the Finnish embassy was in that house. And I went and a guy followed me. And he saw that I was going to the house of the Finnish embassy. I had to fool them terribly when I told them that my uncle was an ambassador there, and then I [actually] went to the Finnish embassy. But there really was a Pavlovsky there, but it was no favor at all! It was a coincidence. I have no idea what it occurred to me to make fun of them, so I said it like that there. And then I confirmed it by entering the house where the Finnish embassy is."

  • "The commander of the first sequence was named General Pavlovskij. And we took a radio car there, and I wrote such a statement. There was a Ruthenian, a [college] graduate, who simultaneously translated it into Russian. And the radio transmitter was so terribly powerful that when the Russians had some transistors running there, it got into them. So, they listened to our statement, [where] we urged them to leave. So, they suddenly drove there - they drove an armored car and looked for where the "radio station" was and chased us all over the airport. [And] that was such a war of mine. They didn't find us. We then ran away from the airport, so maybe we avoided a very awkward situation if they found it in us."

  • "And one fine day I slept at home again. Suddenly the phone rang. And my father-in-law who was working in Skoda said, 'Paul, get up and hurry to the barracks, the Russians are here.' He was such a joker, so I thought, 'That's a good joke, how he wakes me up.' 'However, I turned on the radio and there was the news already. So, I said to myself, 'Jesus Christ.' So, I hurried to get the bus. [It] went all the way up, that was nice. However, the mysterious name Bohuntie was [written] on the sign and the Bohuntie station was also written on the timetable - suddenly here in the Czech Republic. But [as it turned out, the name] Bohuntie was the code name [for] the airport. When I was a soldier, the bus drove up to those barracks. So, I came there and there was a big riot. It was a great experience. Because when it all broke out, the pilots and [their commanders] behaved very bravely there. For example, they pulled all the lighting out of the runways, so it was not possible to illuminate the landing areas. They sabotaged everything. And the Russians landed there with the huge Antons between the two trucks. They turned on the lights and they landed there with those huge planes. Our pilots hated them, but again they appreciated that they were experienced, that they were able to land with it. And that was the first sequence. They didn't know where they were. At that time, they were coming from somewhere in the Baltics, where they were probably also suppressing some riots. They were ragged boys, poor people. They had no supply, they had nothing. Just worn out, weird, homeless."

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    Plzeň, 22.08.2019

    (audio)
    duration: 02:05:51
    media recorded in project Příběhy regionu - PLZ REG ED
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I told everyone everywhere what I thought. It was my war

From the play Zločin a trest (Crime and punishment) in the J. K. Tyl theatre
From the play Zločin a trest (Crime and punishment) in the J. K. Tyl theatre
photo: archive of the witness

Pavel Pavlovský was born on December 11, 1944 in Prague to a middle-class family. He graduated from an eleven-year high school, after which he was admitted to DAMU in 1962. Already during his studies, he stood alongside the big bards, among other things, at the National Theater. In 1966 he joined the J. K. Tyl Theater in Pilsen. From 1966 he also completed two years of military service. He spent the first year with the Army Art Ensemble in Prague, the second at the airport in Líny, where he could play theater. It was his first time at that time. He experienced the arrival of the planes of the occupying troops at the airport in Líny in 1968. In the same year, he starred in the famous film Všichni dobří rodáci (All the Good Natives). He tasted the free theatrical environment of the sixties, but also the taste of plays promoting the enthusiasm about the communist regime. The National security interrogated him several times in Pilsen and Prague, but he unequivocally rejected their offer to supply information from artistic circles. Years later, he discovered that his name was on the list of people destined for economic liquidation in the project Norbert. From 1971 to 1972 he worked at the Za branou Theater, then for ten years he was again engaged in the J. K. Tyl Theater. In 1974, he got married for the second time, with the actress Monika Švábová. From 1982 to 1989, he worked as an actor at the Realistic Theater in Prague, and after its termination he returned to Pilsen again and permanently. The day after the brutal suppression of the student demonstration on Národní třída on November 17, 1989, he read in the Chamber Theater a fundamental statement condemning the police intervention and urging a strike. From the first days of the strike, he served as chairman of the strike committee and moderated discussion evenings with spectators. In 1992, he was elected the head of the drama section in the J. K. Tyl Theater. In 1993, he was the first in history to receive the Thalia Award, and for his theatrical roles he was twice awarded the Czech Literary Fund Award. He created about 150 roles. His filmography and collaboration with radio are also significant. In 2011 he received the Historical Seal of the City of Pilsen and in 2014 he entered the Hall of Fame of the Pilsen Region. Together with his wife, with whom he has two sons, he created a number of fateful roles on stage and in life.