Halka Třešňáková

Biography

Halka Třešňáková, a leading Czech independent theatre actress, dancer, and choreographer, is a solitaire in the midst of a large company of unorthodox artists. She showed her talent already as a student at the HAMU Department of Nonverbal Theatre under Ctibor Turba in 1991. After graduation, she presented several offbeat original productions, both in collaboration with her fellow former students and with Turba’s group, performing in the award-winning production Hanging Man; she engaged in public-space performances, at the Alfred ve dvoře theatre, tried a home theatre and the Butoh dance theatre with the Děrevo ensemble, and even temporarily joined a contemporary circus tour. She founded the permanent ensemble Secondhand Women joining Czech, Danish and Icelandic actresses; their first production about the life of “hardened women” was titled Mezzo. She also participated in the projects of the SE.S.TA Choreographic Development Centre and the 4+4 Days in Motion festival. Together with Jan Barta, she created an interactive spectacle It’s Actually About …Not the Paradise, based on the biblical theme, where joint running with the audience was the main means of expression. In 2023, she was nominated for the Thalia Award for her performance in the production Seismic. Halka’s artistic expression has always been quite peculiar and extraordinarily imaginative, while her moves on stage are as spontaneous as if it were her home. She chooses serious themes for her performances, albeit portrayed with a speck of humour. 

As a choreographer, she prepared inter alia the productions The Last Fire and Maria’s Thirteenth Love, presented as guest performances at the National Theatre, and performed in several other shows, such as the unique production of the opera New Land by Alois Hába or the operatic farce Viva la Mamma. Her flexibility and invention make her a perfect collaborator in the field of choreography and scenic movement, and she also works as a teacher. The film industry noticed her skills in building a character with precise features. She has been cast in several films, including the crime thriller In the Shadow directed by David Ondříček and The Noonday Witch in Jiří Sádek’s direction. She is arguably best known to the public as the politician’s assistant Lenka in the stream-TV sitcom Blaník’s Office.