Maryša (English: Marysha) is a classical drama by brothers Alois Mrštík and Vilém Mrštík from 1894. It is set in a village in Moravia and focuses on the marriage of the eponymous character.
A young woman, Maryša, is promised by her father to Vávra, whose previous wife has died. This not only affects Maryša, but also Francek, the young man who loves her, who decides to leave the village to go to war rather than remain to see Maryša marry Vávra. The play also looks at how the marriage affects the family dynamics, for example, the Grandmother's weakness and inability to help her granddaughter, in stark contrast to the matriarchal figure of Němcová's Babička.
The play explores many challenging themes in a not always easy to interpret manner. The role of women in the play is the most obvious. Maryša's father treats her as an object to be traded, and the authors' depiction of the father suggests a negative reading. However, the actions of Maryša herself, which end in murder despite her continuous rejection of help to escape the marriage as "sin", and the women of the play's lack of desire to help each other suggest that a simple feminist interpretation of the play is inappropriate.
Directed by Alena Pešková. The play had its premiere on 14 March 2009 in J. K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň.
Maryša .... Zuzana Hradilová or Ivona Jeličová
Francek .... Marek Kašparovský, Martin Šinták or Milan Maláč
Lízal .... Radim Kubeček or Viktor Gutov
Lízalka .... Hana Čakarmišová or Michaela Musilová
Vávra .... Miroslav Hradil or Martin Šinták
Rosara .... Jarmila Dycková, Lenka Hraboská or Martina Drbušková
Grandam .... Libuše Staňková
Girls .... Lenka Hrabovská, Lenka Trnková, Martina Drbušková, Jana Kalinská, Jarmila Dycková, Nikola Pažoutová, Misaki Mochizuki, Taguchi Eri
Boys .... Aleš Lindovský, Pavel Tručka, Richard Ševčík, Petr Hos, Sergej Gherciu, Petr Klabusay, Marek Kašparovský, Milan Maláč
Soldier - Destiny .... Miroslav Hradil, Martin Šinták, Marek Kašparovský, Pavel Tručka
Male taverner .... Petr Brettschneider or Milan Maláč
Female taverner .... Martina Diblíková or Drahomíra Lojdová
Strouhalka .... Kateřina Štruncová or Petra Tolášová
Olders .... Karolína Hlaváčová, Petr Klabusay or Tomáš Kilberg
Directed by Michal Lang. The play had premiere 21 January 2006 in Antonín Dvořák Theatre, Ostrava.
Maryša .... Gabriela Mikulková
Francek .... David Viktora
Lízal .... Miroslav Rataj or Zdeněk Kašpar
Lízalová .... Veronika Forejtová
Vávra .... Jan Fišar
Rosara .... Kateřina Vainarová
Grandam .... Miluše Hradská
Girls .... Věra Minksová, Vendula Nováková, Marie Pásková, Aneta Vozňáková, Simona Zetíková, Jana Ondrušková
Recruteirs .... Tomáš Filip, Lukáš Graca, Pavel Nowak, Tomáš Rossi
Male taverner .... Františk Večeřa
Female taverner .... Marie Logojdová
Recruteir Krištofl .... Vladan Hýl or Šimon Krupa
Strouhlka .... Anna Cónová
Hillman .... Alexandra Gasnárková
Franěk .... Vladimír Čapka
Buček .... Tomáš Jirman
Hrdlička, judge butler, recruteir, Pavel .... Vladimír Polák
Neighbour ..... Zdena Babrajová
It was adapted into a film of the same name by Josef Rovenský in 1935.
