TEREZKA / THERESE

Lenka Lagronová

Cast: 1 men, 6 women, a voice

The author is opening a topic that is in the Czech context new and daring and she does it with empathy and humbleness. The text consists of the quotes from the autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux The Story of a Soul and from a few of her poems. The monastery environment is described in a realistic way, although with a gentle sense of humour. Along with childish Therese, the play also describes the other nuns’ various characters. Through the dialogues between nuns, the audience is confronted with a deep reflection of spiritual life and the way to the philosophy of eternal spiritual childhood. The first scene, when Mother Superior asks Therese to record her memories in a diary, takes us for a moment to her father’s house. Since the very beginning we can see that Therese is very much child-like, able to enjoy life but also clumsy. Her greatest wish is to become a nun. The rest of the story takes place in a strict separation from the external world. Apart from Mother Superior, there is only a nun called Vincenta – a tough woman struggling to reach holiness through sacrificing and fasting and a very young nunMagdalena who is insecure, shy and longs for contact with other people. Therese supports her and gives her advice. Therese shares her insecurity with Anezka, her older sister. As times passed, Therese’s  illness (tuberculosis) s getting worse and at the same time the monastery is falling apart. Even though she suffers from pains, Therese accepts everything with humbleness and comes to terms with her death.

  The play is available aslo in Slovak, Slovenian and Hungarian translation.