Even in 2008, we still see his plays on at the theatre. Producers of many different Czech theatre styles constantly choose to produce plays such as: Strakonický dudák (Strakonice piper), Fidlovačka, Tvrdohlavá žena (A stubborn woman) or Paní Marjánka, matka pluku (Mrs.Marjánka, the regiment’s mother), to name but a few of Tyl’s most important dramatic work. All of a sudden they were taken up by film makers. In 1941 Vladimír Borský made a film Paličova dcera (Fire-brand’s daughter) with Lída Baarová, Karel Högr, Růžena Nasková and Zdeněk Štěpánek. The story of Piper Švanda has even appeared on the screen several times. Firstly in 1937 under the direction of Svatopluk Innemann, where the piper was acted by Jiří Dohnal, a second time in 1955 when it was filmed by Karel Steklý together with Josef Mixa and third time it was filmed as a musical comedy Hvězda padá vzhůru (Star is Falling Upward) by Ladislav Rychman, where Karel Gott featured as Švanda.
From success to poverty
J. K. Tyl was born on 4th February 1808, in Kutná Hora, a son of a military musician and a tailor. In the years 1822–1827, he studied at Prague’s academic grammar school, afterwards he decided to finish his studies in Hradec Králové in order to be closer to his much-favoured professor and author of Czech plays, Václav Kliment Klicpera.
By that time Tyl was already committed to the theatre, which is why in 1829, he left with a travelling theatre company as an actor. In 1831 he returned to Prague and had a low level job at the military accounting department. At the same time he was putting his mind to his theatre work. As an actor, translator (e.g. Schiller and Shakespeare) and as an original author he was participating in the Czech plays in the Stavovské Theatre.
From 1834 till 1837, he ran amateur theatrical productions, whose members were such people as K. H. Mácha, Karel Sabina or J. J. Kolár – the Kajetánské Theatre in Lesser Town became the centre of cultural life of that time. During the same period, Tyl was the editor of two magazines, Květy magazine, this magazine is still available and is the oldest Czech magazine, and Vlastimil magazine.
In 1846, Tyl became the dramatist of the Stavovské Theatre and started to issue the “Pražský posel” magazine and later in 1849, the “Sedlské” newspaper. In the years 1848–1849, he was actively participating in public life, i.e. he was an imperial congressman. After the recovery of autocracy things went downhill, he became regarded as a security risk and lost all his posts to the point whereby he couldn’t even obtain a theatre concession. That’s why he had to obtain it in secret. He spent the last years of his life in misery and persistent problems ascribed to his bad state of health.
Tyl’s private life was rather untraditional especially at that time. Though he was married to the actress Magdaléna Forchheimová, he had his six children with her younger sister Anna. The children were being brought up by all three at once. After Tyl’s premature death (he only lived up to the age of 48), Anna was taken care of by a much younger actor Josef Turnovský, also a member of Tyl’s nomadic company. Their wedding took place in 1860, four years after the dramatist’s death. In the end Anna outlived her partner.
