Redaktor:Grindcomber/Pieskovisko

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Born:	February 12th, 1969, Nitra, Slovakia
Occupation:	Actress, voice actress, moderator, pedagogue
Years active:	1981 – present
Children:	Jakub (1992), Maruška (2004)

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“Throughout my life I have experienced extremes of happiness and sadness. When I am happy, I might as well be touching the sky, but when I get sad, I crash into rock bottom.” (Zuzana Vačková)

Autobiography

The Slovakian actress Zuzana Vačková, was born in Nitra, a famous historical city in Western Slovakia. Shortly after her birth, her family moved to Previdza, another city in region of upper Nitra. She just started attending school when they moved again, this time to the capital city – Bratislava. In the end Zuzana finally settled down with her own family in a house, which was built exactly according to her wishes, located in the town Čierna Voda, near Bratislava.
The talented young girl became an actress by accident. She wanted to improve her knowledge and skill in using her native language, and tried to enrol in a grammar course in the Central house of children and youth, located in the beautiful Grassalkovitch Palace (today serves as the Presidential Palace), but accidentally enrolled in a drama course. She was immediately enthralled by the art of acting, and stayed loyal to it ever since.

Shortly after she started attending the course, it was visited by Štefan Uher, a well-known Slovakian director, who was looking for a hard headed, posh, self-important and pampered young girl to play a role in his new movie Mowing of Hawk Meadow (1981). From all the adepts she was the most suited, which meant that she got her first role, Anny, in a movie directed by an admired and respected figure, whose name is connected to a new wave of Czechoslovakian filmmaking art. She would act alongside many famous Slovakian (Jozef Kroner, Viliam Polónyi, Karol Spišák, Emília Zimková) and Czech actors (Rudolf Jelínek, Věra Tichánková, Sylva Turbová). Her performance opened a lot of new opportunities not just from the world of movies, but also television. Only a few months later she starred in her first television movie Throb of our Universe, which first aired in 1982. This movie also marks the first time she met her future husband, Radislav Rogel. However, at the time they had no idea that their paths would ever meet again.

While making movies, Zuzana Vačková also managed to finish secondary school, she graduated from the gymnasium on the Ladislav Sára street, and get accepted into the Academy of Performing Arts (VŠMU). Before she started studying acting at the Academy in 1987, she starred is movies directed by well-known Slovakian (Dušan Rapoš, Martin Ťapák and the previously mentioned Štefan Uher), Czech (Otakar Kosek) and Russian directors (Konstantin Khudyakov). From this time period, the most striking movie is A Great Summer (1987), which was filmed in the Czech portion of the republic. This unusual movie dealt with many social issues, which were considered a taboo at the time. These issues included abortion, corruption, nepotism, generational differences, a lack of intimacy, honesty and love in familial and human relationships, etc. The movie focuses on two friends (Slávka, Magda) and their coming of age story. We can also find parallels between the plot of the movie, and the actress's personal life - after a divorce with her husband, a breakup with her boyfriend of 10 years, and an abortion, Zuzana was weakened for a certain period of time and afraid of falling in love again.
After starting her studies in acting on the Academy, the beautiful and well known young woman added theatre plays to her ever increasing repertoire. While attending the first grade, she already performed as a stand-in, in an already premiered play by Maxim Gorky The Summer Guests, where she played the role of the determined, brash, bold and honest Sona, daughter of the doctor Mária Lvova. Her next role was that of Petra in An Enemy of the People by Henrik Johan Ibsen. Later she portrayed, as a stand-in, young Lisa in the play Woe from Wit by Alexander Sergeyevich Griboyedov. For this portrayal she was already being noticed by reviewers. One review states: “…The character of young Petra, with her hard-headed determination to defend her father's truth, was portrayed by Natália Hasprová. Zuzana Vačková, her stand-in, showed a softer and girl-like side of the character….” (Baránová, 1989, s. 5) A different one says: “From all the well-acted roles, it is necessary to mention the playful and mischievous Lisa, portrayed by Zuzana Vačková, a student at VŠMU…” (Baránová, 1989, s. 5) She also had a medium sized role in the play Tango, by the Polish playwright Sławomir Mrożek. “The young stand-ins, Michaela Mikulášová (an author's note by Čobejová) and Zuzana Vačková, portray Ala with the natural charm of youth…” (Maťašík, 1990, s. 5)
At the Academy, her classmates included: Zuzana Mauréry, Dagmar Bruckmayerová (originally Bajnoková), Szilvia Varga / Silvia Vargová, Henrieta Mičkovicová, Ingrid Hanzelová (originally Slobodová), Roman Pomajbo, Rastislav Rogel, Dezső Rancsó, Roman Matisko, Jozef  Domonkoš, Maroš Tvarožek. They all graduated in 1991, some of them with the graduate performance of the play The Bald Soprano, where Vačková played the role of Mrs. Martin. “After reading the script, I couldn't imagine how we could possibly perform this play, it made no sense. We went through an interesting development, during which we tried many variants, picked out the best ones, and finally arrived at this final one, which is, hopefully, the best one.” (Demeková, 1991, s. 6) The performance, directed by Juraj Vaculík, was such a success, that the theatre Astorka Korzo ´90 incorporated it into its regular programme. During that same year the skilled and famous actress married her biggest love, her classmate Rastislav Rogel. A year later she gave birth to her first child, Jakub. Because of familial responsibilities, she would be seen less on theatre stages, TV screens, and in cinemas. This situation was also worsened when her husband gradually drifted away from the acting profession, and started associating himself with various extremist groups, which she couldn’t identify herself with. After having spent six years together they each went their separate way, which meant that Zuzana had to do everything on her own. She acted in a few TV movies, and dubbed various famous actresses. She also recuperated from a disappointing marriage working as a waitress in a family owned business in the thermal spa Vincov les in Sládkovičovo. Later she worked for a short time in a flower shop in Dlhé Diely. While working there she was again struck by Amor and once more fell in love, however, she was more careful this time and refused to marry. The almost ten year relationship, during which she travelled the world – mainly the USA, rewarded her with her daughter Maruška. She perfected her English, which could be the reason why she agreed to baptise the study book “In English with Zuzana Vačková” and during the month of April 2017 visited seven Pantha Rhei book shops in six cities. 
The actress, armoured by reality, managed to come to terms with the second disappointment a lot quicker and again fully immersed herself in work, the result of which was starring in TV series, theatre plays, moderating and singing. She has been teaching the art of acting on the conservatory in Bratislava for three years already. The students adore their joyful teacher, and supported her fully during her singing performance on the television show “Your face sounds familiar”, where she won one episode with The Shoop Shoop song by Cher. “I have always been a very happy person, even when I was going through a very turbulent time period, even when I thought that nothing was going right and that everything was just terrible. But then everything cleared… Even if we can´t currently see the sun, it´s still there, above the clouds, we just have to wait a little while for them to clear.” (Volná, 2016, s. 27) When currently not teaching, she also finds the time to edit end correct dialogues for voice-overs. She has also been a moderator of various shows since a very young age, e.g.: Triangel, Zone D, Studio Contact, Cooked and baked.
Zuzana Vačková is a member of various charity groups, such as Parasport 24, which helps handicapped sportsmen in Slovakia, while focusing mainly on high schools. For the last couple of years she has regularly moderated the event “A mile for mum”, which takes place every year on mother's day in Senec. She is also a member of the board of directors in the Linaje Foundation, which was founded on the 27th of September 2010, and deals with autists and abused women. Members of this foundation have released a book titled Fairy tales from the Eighth continent. With the resources gained from the sales of this book, they also want to build a residential facility, called The Eighth continent and located in Borová, for children and adults suffering from autism. The sympathetic actress and her daughter also added a story into the book, about the time they saved little birdies when they fell out of their nest. “And ever since then, whenever the girls would lay on their bed and talk and hear birds beautifully singing from behind the windows, Maruška and mum would smile happily, while Minka would friendly waggle her tail.” (Záhorová a kol., 2012, s. 34)
Zuzana Vačková has been performing in various plays (see the chart below) on the stage of the author-based theatre La Komika, ever since it has been established in 2015. The director, manager and playwright of the theatre is Karol Vosátko, who had this to say about his theatre: “…The quality is also determined by all the people participating in the theatre. We are a small and informal group, which is almost like a family. It is, however, rare to meet with people who are so passionate about their craft, yet are such big professionals at the same time!...” (Vosátko, aktunalne.atlas.sk)
The Slovak actress and moderator has worked with almost all personalities from the world of acting, from the oldest artists, to her younger colleagues. Let's mention at least a few of the living legends: Emília Vášáryová, Božidara Turzonovová, Zdena Studenková, Kamila Magálová, Mária Kráľovičová, Martin Huba, Milan Lasica, Milan Kňažko, Stano Dančiak, Dušan Jamrich and others. She also acts in many television series, her most famous role is that of the cheerful Alica from Prefab.
As the years go by, her psyche is continuing to become more and more stable, almost to the point of achieving harmony.

“I don’t know if with age comes wisdom… But I really feel that the time period when I felt somewhat torn has passed, and left me in a state of inner peace. I try to not get distressed by the things that could very well distress me…” (Zuzana Vačková)

Published works

Title:		Movie Type:	Country / State:		Year of production:	Director:	Role:
Mowing of Hawk Meadow / Kosenie Jastrabej lúky		Fiction film	Slovakia		1981	Štefan Uher	Anny
Throb of our Universe / Pulzovanie nášho vesmíru		Television movie	Slovakia		1982	Viliam Gräffinger	Zdena
The False Prince /  Falošný princ		Television movie / Fairy tale	CSSR / GDR		1984	Dušan Rapoš	Court lady
Fourth head of the dragon  / Štvrtá hlava draka		Television movie / Fairy tale	Slovakia		1985	Ľubomír Vajdička	Veronica
A common day / Obyčajný deň		Television movie	Slovakia		1985	Ľubo Kocka	Jarka
	Is that you Anne? / To si ty, Anna?	Television movie		Slovakia	1985	Peter Jezný	Petra, girl from course
	The Sixth Sentence / Šiesta veta	Fiction film		Slovakia	1986	Štefan Uher	Olga
	Successor / Nástupca	Television movie		CSSR / USSR	1986	Konstantin Khudyakov	1. girl
	Until the Cook Crows / Kohút nezaspieva	Fiction film		Slovakia	1986	Martin Ťapák	Fanka
	Three hundred and thirty three silver quails / Tristotridsaťtri strieborných prepelíc	Television movie		Slovakia	1987	Ivan Krajíček	Monica, assistant of the TV producer
	A Great Summer  / Sedmé nebe	Fiction film		Czechia	1987	Otakar Kosek	Slavka
	Ebony horsie / Koník z ebenu	Television movie / Fairy tale		Slovakia	1987	Ján Chlebík	The youngest daughter of king Sabur
	How I didn’t get a Nobel prize / Ako som nedostal Nobelovu cenu	Television movie		Slovakia	1987	Ľubo Kocka	Gita
	Stingy Marco / Lakomý Marko	Television movie / Fairy tale		Slovakia	1988	Ján Chlebík	Susy
	Gulliver lives in our city / V našom meste býva Gulliver	Television movie		Slovakia	1989	Josef Pinkava	Teacher
	Turandot	Television movie / Fairy tale		Slovakia	1989	Martin Kákoš	Zelima
	Old pinkish drama / Staroružová dráma	Television movie		Slovakia	1989	Vido Horňák	Lenka
	Catch your train / Nastúp na svoj vlak	Television movie		Slovakia	1989	Juraj Takáč	Anny
	Hope is sky-blue / Nádej má farbu belasú	Television movie		Slovakia	1989	Marta Gogálová	Monica
	Jablonka	Television movie / Fairy tale		Slovakia	1989	Ján Chlebík	Hanka/Jablonka
	Secrets under the eyelids / Tajomstvá pod viečkami	Television movie		Slovakia	1990	Juraj Nvota	Monica Bábecká, student
	Devils never rest / Čerti nespia	Television movie		Slovakia	1991	Juraj Takáč	Anne Marie / Valika
	Three tales with K. Machata: Tight suit / Tri poviedky s K. Machatom: Tesný frak	Television movie		Slovakia	1993	Ľubomír Vajdička	Carol
	The story of Matej Hóza / Príbeh Mateja Hóza	Television movie		Slovakia	1993	Peter Mikulík	Eve
	Odd Spooks / Mátohy rárohaté	Television movie / Fairy tale		Slovakia	1993	Ján Chlebík	Spook Leontínka
	Confession / Spoveď	Television movie		Slovakia	1994	Miloslav Luther	Lavasseurová
	About a beautiful hag / O krásnej strige	Television movie / Fairy tale		Slovakia	1994	Jozef Banyák	Girl
	Magical love / Zázračná láska	Television movie		Slovakia	1996	Martin Kákoš	Court lady
	About a stupid woman / O hlúpej žene	Television movie / Fairy tale		Slovakia	1996	Jozef Chudík	Susan
	Entire man / Celý muž	Television movie		Czech R.	1997	Alois Ditrich	Julie Yañezová
	The life I give you / Život, který ti dávám	Television movie		Czech R.	1998	Alois Ditrich	Lucy
	Fiaker number 21 / Fiaker číslo 21	Television movie		Slovakia	1999	Vladimír Strnisko	Servant Petúnia
	Exiles / Vyhnanci	Television movie		Slovakia	2000	Alois Ditrich	Berta

Television series:

▪ Hornets in a nest / Sršne v úli (1985)                           

▪ Dwarf /  Škriatok (1995)

▪ Doctor´s office in the pink garden / Ordinácia v ružovej záhrade (2007 – 2012)             

▪ Prefab / Panelák (2008 – 2015, 2017 – )

▪ In the name of law / V mene zákona (2009 – 2010)                             

 ▪ Dr. Perfect / Dr. Dokonalý (2012 – 2013)

▪ Hamlet Ville / Horná Dolná (2015 – )                   

▪ Coffeemat – Local Hodrušany office / Kávomat – Miestny úrad Hodrušany (2016 – 2017)

Author:	Title:	Premier year:	Director:	Theatre:	Role:
Maxim Gorky	The Summer Guests	1987	Ľubomír Vajdička	Slovak national theatre	Sona
Henrik Johan Ibsen	An Enemy of the People	1989	Ľubomír Vajdička	Slovak national theatre	Petra
Alexander Sergeyevich Griboyedov	Woe from Wit	1989	Miloš Pietor	Slovak national theatre	Lisa
Sławomir Mrożek	Tango	1990	Stanislav Párnický	Nová scéna	Ala
Eugène Ionesco	The Bald Soprano	1991	Juraj Vaculík	Theatre Astorka Korzo`90	Mrs. Martin
Collin Higgins	Harold and Maude	1991	Juraj Vaculík	Theatre Astorka Korzo`90	Nancy Marsch
Stano Radič	A change of Performace / Zmena predstavenia	1993	Jaroslav Filip	Studio S / Studio L+S	Girl
Nicolas E. Baehr, Larry Peerce	The Incident	1993	Martin Huba	Theatre Astorka Korzo`90	Alice Keenan
Joe Masteroff, John Kander, Fredd Ebb	Cabaret	1994	Juraj Nvota	Theatre Astorka Korzo`90	Kit Kat Girl
Noël Coward	Blithe Spirit	2010	Peter Mikulík	Lights above the ramps	Servant Edith
Viliam Klimáček	Gore fest / Krvák	2014	Karol Vosátko	Gunagu	Susan, EKO terrorist
Karol Vosátko	Forever or never / Navždy alebo nikdy	2015	Karol Vosátko	La Komika	Kate Hostovecká
Karol Vosátko	Adventures of Don Dušan  / Dobrodružstvá Dona Dušana	2015	Karol Vosátko	La Komika	Gabika
Jakub Nvota	Camping story / Kemping story	2016	Jakub Nvota	Temporary groups	Kamila
Marc Comoletti	Four on a couch / Štyria na kanape	2016	Eduard Kudláč	Temporary groups	Bubble
Karol Vosátko	Slovak Geisha Story	2017	Karol Vosátko	La Komika	Svetlana

Sources:

▪ Ladislav Széplaki: Zuzana Vačková (research paper)

▪ www.theatre.sk – eTHEATRE – Zuzana Vačková

▪ www.csfd.cz – Zuzana Vačková

▪ Banáš, J. Na kus reči. Hosť Zuzana Vačková, 10. mája 2017, Bratislava,Stredisko kultúry BNM, Vajnorská 21.

▪ Baranova, S. Kto je nepriateľ ľudu. Večerník, Bratislava, 1989, roč. 34, č. 57, s. 5.

▪ Baranová, S. „Večné“ útrapy. Večerník, Bratislava, 1989, roč. 34, č. 170, s. 5.

▪ Demeková, A. Plod na druhom brehu. Smena, Bratislava, 1991, roč. 44, č. 64, s. 6.

▪ Maťašík, A. Dôkaz životaschopnosti. Večerník, Bratislava, 1990, roč. 35, č. 120, s. 5.

▪ Volná, B. Neviem, čo by ma mohlo rozhádzať! Slovenka, Bratislava, 2016, roč. 69, č. 44,s. 26 - 28.

▪ Záhorová, S. a kol. Rozprávky z Ȏsmeho svetadielu. Bratislava: Slovart, 2012. 112 s.ISBN 978-80-556-0729-0.

▪ www.aktualne.sk – Rozhovor: Slovenský režisér Vosátko, 11. február 2016.

▪ www.casprezeny.azet.sk – Rozhovor: Herečka Zuzana Vačková, 24. február 2013.

▪ Translation: Lukáš Sabó