Ilona Smejkalová

Biography

She graduated from the Faculty of Arts at Palacký University in Olomouc, where she studied the theory and history of literature, theatre and film. In 1994, she joined the Horácké Theatre in Jihlava as a dramaturge. She then began teaching at the College of Acting, followed by the Josef Škvorecký College of Creative Writing, and also spent five years teaching at the Buďánka Grammar School in Prague.

As a dramaturge, she has been associated with several Czech theatres – the Příbram Theatre, the Petr Bezruč Theatre in Ostrava and the Municipal Theatre in Kladno, where she also served as press spokesperson. She has also collaborated with other theatres as an external dramaturge, including A-studio Rubín, the Moravian Theatre in Olomouc, the Municipal Theatre in Mladá Boleslav, the Klicpera Theatre in Hradec Králové, the Ungelt Theatre, and the DISK Theatre. She has also worked on one-off musical and theatre productions. She worked with Studio Ypsilon for four years, first as an external dramaturge, then as its manager and press spokesperson.

She often collaborated with director Daniela Špinar (The Seagull and Miláček at the Municipal Theatre in Kladno, The Beggar's Opera at the Klicpera Theatre and My Romantic Story at the Petr Bezruč Theatre) and with the directing duo of Jan Borna and Miroslav Hanuš (Kabaret Kainar – Kainar and About a Lazy Grandmother at the Dlouhá Theatre).

As a screenwriter, she has been contributing to the Czech Television programs Divadlo žije! (Theater Lives!), Děti sametu (Velvet Children) and Nejkrásnější pohádky (The Most Beautiful Fairy Tales) since 2002. She has also been a member of the jury for the Alfréd Radok Award (or Theater Critics' Award) drama competition for several years.

From 2014 to July 2015, she worked at the National Theatre in Brno as a dramaturge and deputy artistic director of the Mahen Theatre. Since the 2015/2016 season, she has been a member of the dramaturgical team at the National Theatre in Prague.

 

Current productions at the National Theatre:

• End of a Priest (stage dir. Jan Mikulášek, National Theatre, 2025)
• Privatization (stage dir. Petr Erbes, Boris Jedinák, New Stage, 2025)
• Bílá Voda (White Water) (stage dir. Michal Vajdička, Estates Theatre, 2024)
• The Beauty and the Beast (stage dir. D. Špinar, National Theatre, 2022)
• A Bouquet (stage dir. SKUTR, National Theatre, 2019)

 Other projects (selection):

• The Idiot (National Theatre Drama's movie, stage dir. D. Špinar, 2022)

Last update: February 2026