QUEEN OF MY HEART

Nichola McAuliffe

National Theatre, Budapest, Hungary

Director: Viktor Ryzhakov

At the 13th MITEM with English subtitles

Elizabeth is preparing for her coronation. Maurice, a commando soldier, is assigned to guard the Crown Jewels at Buckingham Palace on his birthday. During this extraordinary night, the modest young soldier captures the attention of the future Queen Elizabeth II with his intelligence and charm, and falls irrevocably in love with her. Before they part, they promise to meet again in sixty years. Maurice’s life is defined by this promise. Though his loyal wife, Helena, believes the story to be nothing more than a product of her husband’s imagination, Maurice remains unwavering in his conviction that the Queen will keep her promise. And then the long-awaited anniversary arrives. The doorbell rings…

According to the author, “every good story unfolds in the third act of life,” and this touching and witty play, built on sharp, finely crafted dialogue, becomes a moving reflection on love and loyalty, on lifelong longing and the painful beauty of self-sacrifice. In this light, the line spoken in the play – “I held your heart in my hands” – takes on a special resonance.

The play received the prestigious Edinburgh Stage Award in 2012.

“An astonishing story in which human hearts are healed. Love is what we truly long for. Is it not the greatest thing we can learn in this cursed world?” says director Viktor Ryzhakov.

Translated by: Andras Kozma

Maurice

Zsolt Trill

Helena

Nelli Szűcs

Katy

Anita Polyák

Set designer

Csaba Csíki

Costume designer

Zsuzsánna Cs. Kiss

Dramaturgie

András Kozma

Stage manager

András Csasztvan

Assistant director

Gábor Vida

Director

Viktor Ryzhakov

Kaszás Attila Stage

25 April 2026, 19:00

Last tickets

Viktor Ryzhakov

Viktor Ryzhakov was born in the city of Khabarovsk in 1960. He studied at the Far Eastern College for the Arts, the Boris Shchukin Theatre Institute, and the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts, where he completed his doctorate. In 1995-2001, he served as the artistic director of the Kamchatka Drama and Comedy Theatre. In 2001, he began to work as a director and instructor at the academy of the Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT), and in 2012 he was made head of department and recognized director of MKhAT. Together with playwright and director Ivan Vyrypaev, Rizakov launched the Oxygen (“Kislorod”) theatre movement, which exerted a strong influence on contemporary Russian theatre. He is the founder and director of the Five Evenings Theatre Festival in Memory of Alexander Volodin, which was launched in 2002 in Saint Petersburg. From 2013 to 2020, he was the artistic director of the Meyerhold Theater and Cultural Center in Moscow, and from 2020 to 2022, he was the artistic director of the Sovremennik Theater in Moscow. He has held courses on the art of the theatre in Germany, Poland, the United States, and Hungary. He has directed many award-winning productions in theatres in Russia and Europe. He has also won numerous awards at prominent European theatre festivals (the Grand Prize at the Kontakt International Theatre Festival in Toruń, the Golden Mask Award, the New Drama Festival Grand Prize, and the prize for best performance for his production of The Hairdresser at the National Theatre Meeting in Pécs, or POSZT). In 2011, he was awarded a Stanislavsky Award for his work as a theatre pedagogue, and in 2014 he was named one of Russia’s Artists of Merit.

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