From Self-Portrait, 1964

This is one of the earliest summaries we have of Václav Havel’s early life. It was written, with evident reluctance, by Havel himself, in his 28^th year, when only one of his full-length plays, The Garden Party, had been performed in public.

Self-portrait
1964

When the editors of Divadlo magazine asked me to write a brief self-portrait, my first reaction was that it was their idea of a joke. I looked into the matter, however, and since they appear to be quite serious, I’ve decided to give them a serious reply. . . .
So here goes: I was born in Prague in 1936; I attended primary school, then junior high, and in 1951, when I tried to continue my rather average education in a grammar school, I was sent instead to apprentice as a lab technician. I worked as a lab assistant for four years, while studying for my high-school diploma at night. Then I applied for undergraduate studies in chemistry, both because chemistry interested me to some extent, and because, as a lab assistant, I had no other options. I was not accepted, however, and a year later I had lost interest in chemistry and sat an entrance exam to study art history. I was not accepted, and so I tried to enroll for a degree in philosophy, and when I was not accepted yet again, I went to study the economics of automotive transportation, the only department that was willing to accept me. Foolishly, I hoped the subject would spark my interest. After sticking it out for two years, I realized I’d made a mistake and tried to transfer to the film faculty in the Academy of Fine Arts. I was not accepted. So I enlisted in the army where, oddly enough, they accepted me on the spot.
That was in 1957. Two years later, having risen to the rank of private, I was demobilized and applied to the Theatre faculty in the Academy of Fine Arts. I was not accepted, and so I became a stage hand at the ABC Theatre. A year later, I moved to the Theatre on the Balustrade as a stage hand and I am still there, having worked, successively, as a lighting technician, an administrator, a reader and a dramaturge. In 1961 I applied again to the theatre faculty at the Faculty of Fine Arts. Again, I was not accepted. I was accepted – for the external study of dramaturgy – in 1962, when I became dramaturge at the Theatre on the Balustrade.
Clearly, I got my basic education by studying for entrance exams to schools that did not accept me. It’s a method I recommend, with the caveat that there’s always a danger you might get accepted.