Daniela Špinar is a Czech theatre director, playwright, and public intellectual whose life and work have become a symbol of courage, transformation, and artistic excellence. She is known for her bold interpretations and fearless storytelling. Not only has she left an indelible mark on Czech theatre, but she has also become one of the most visible trans women in the country, using her voice to break down social stereotypes and foster understanding. She was born as Daniel Špinar and studied drama at DAMU in Prague, where she focused on acting and directing. Her talent quickly propelled her into the spotlight. From 2008 to 2010, she worked as a resident director at the Vinohrady Theatre, one of Prague’s most prestigious theatres. In 2014, she joined the National Theatre as a resident director, and from September 2015 she became the artistic director of the drama ensemble, a position she held for seven years. Her era was marked by daring productions, modern reinterpretations of classics, and pushing the boundaries of theatrical expression. Despite her professional success, Daniela struggled for a long time with questions of identity. At the age of twenty, she came out as gay because she believed that explained her inner conflict. But only at forty, during intensive psychotherapy, did she acknowledge a deeper truth: she is a trans woman. At the end of 2021, she publicly came out as trans, becoming the first widely known trans personality in Czech theatre. She described it as an enormous liberation, her mind had always been female, even if her body was not.
Daniela also speaks openly about the challenges of her transition. She does not plan to undergo surgery, but fully identifies as a trans woman and fully embraces her female identity. Her openness sparked a nationwide debate about gender, identity, and acceptance. Her coming out was met with a mix of admiration, curiosity, and skepticism. She herself has spoken about how difficult it is to be a trans woman in a highly exposed position, even in a field often seen as progressive, where conservative attitudes still persist. Through her visibility, however, she has helped many people in the Czech Republic to demystify the experience of being trans. In 2023, she published her autobiography Notes from Transition. In interviews, she has often reflected on how society is still uneasy about trans identities. Even in artistic circles, people struggled to understand her transition. Yet Daniela remained uncompromising, using humor and honesty as weapons against prejudice. “I’m the only director of the National Theatre who had balls,” she joked, turning a difficult moment into a powerful statement. She describes her life as a detective story, with her own identity as the central mystery. She expresses gratitude for the support of her family and friends and is building new relationships within the trans and queer community. Transition has opened up new opportunities for activism, and Daniela hopes this will contribute to greater understanding of trans issues. Although she stepped down as the head of drama at the National Theatre in 2022, she continues to work as a director and remains an important voice in Czech culture. Her story is not only one of personal transformation but also of societal change, an invitation to rethink what it truly means to live authentically.
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| Photo by Dorota Franková. |
Her journey is proof of the power of self-discovery and the importance of representation. As a trans woman and artist, she breaks boundaries in a country where trans visibility remains limited. Her courage to live openly and creatively inspires many people and forces others to confront their own prejudices. At a time when identity is often politicized and misunderstood, Daniela offers a rare combination of vulnerability and strength. Through her work and her life, she continues to ask the most fundamental questions: Who am I really? What does it mean to be free? And how can we make space for the truth of others? For everyone searching for their own path of identity, Daniela Špinar is a beacon. She proves that authenticity, however difficult, is always worth it.
Monika: Daniela, your life really does read like a detective novel, with the mystery being your own identity. If this novel had a title and a slightly dramatic book cover, what would they be?
Daniela: Yes, I solved a murder case in which I was both the murderer and the victim. Luckily, I’ve already published a book about my journey through transition in the form of diary entries, so I don’t have to speculate. I called it Notes from Transition, which is a gentle paraphrase of the book Notes from a Madhouse by one of the most important Czech directors, Miroslav Macháček.
I felt many parallels there, as well as humor. And as for the cover, together with photographer Alžběta Jungrová I chose a portrait taken behind textured glass, which blurs and slightly distorts the face. Because when I describe to people how I felt during those thirty years before my trans coming out, I usually answer that everything was blurred, in a fog.
Monika: You spent years directing others to reveal truth on stage, while hiding a truth of your own. Do you ever feel like your productions were secretly rehearsals for your coming out?
Daniela: I wouldn’t put it that way. My productions were more like an escape into a world of fantasy. There, it didn’t matter what gender I had, and I expressed myself a lot through female characters. It’s true that when I was directing, I felt very free and without any limitations. I didn’t hold myself back, and it was the only activity in which I was completely free. And when I now look back at some recordings of me directing, you can basically see a woman running around.
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| Pride and Prejudice. |
Monika: When you stepped down from the National Theatre, did it feel more like the end of an era or like the start of a brand-new performance with no script?
Daniela: Both. When I joined the National Theatre, I knew I wanted to give it everything. But I was also very aware that my energy was not inexhaustible. A person simply can’t do such a role at one place fully and well for too long. So I set myself an eight-year term, which I eventually shortened by a year because of my coming out. And I was truly exhausted , by politics, by constantly “breaking down closed doors,” by behind-the-scenes games. A state institution is a very rigid and inhospitable environment. Every change required enormous persistence. And that’s not good for creativity at all.
My departure was also heightened not only because I came out as trans, but also because I publicly supported the student initiative YOU DON’T HAVE TO ENDURE IT, which exposed the toxic environment at the Theatre Faculty of AMU, including bullying, sexual harassment, and the ossified teaching system that no longer reflected contemporary theatre trends. The conflict of interest was that the head of the drama department at that school was also my boss at the National Theatre. So after leaving, I hit a double low point. And I really didn’t have a script for how to continue functioning in the theatre world.
Monika: You once joked, “I’m the only director of the National Theatre who had balls.” Humor clearly helps you defuse tension. Do you remember the first time a joke actually saved you in a tough situation?
Daniela: I have a very harsh, even dark sense of humor, which often clashes with our hypocritical society. I see my whole seven-year period at the National more as a fierce struggle with structures of arrogance and power. And as a not-yet-out trans woman, I didn’t feel very comfortable in that chauvinistic environment. But we did have a lot of fun in our office, which I completely rebuilt, and of course during the creative work with dramaturges and actors. My closest colleague, dramaturge Marta Ljubková, has an even darker sense of humor than I do, so we understood each other very well.
Monika: Theatre is often accused of being progressive only in theory, not in practice. What was the most “un-progressive” reaction you ever got from within the theatre world after your transition?
Daniela: There was a lot of silence around me. Everyone was gossiping backstage. No one took an interest in my story directly. No one asked me anything. There was also a lot of distrust. And fear. On one hand, in our small theatre pond, everyone was somehow obligated to the boss I had confronted through YOU DON’T HAVE TO ENDURE IT, so they would have compromised themselves if they had befriended me in any way. On the other hand, they were waiting to see if I had gone crazy, if this wasn’t some temporary artistic provocation. I was completely alone except for a few very close friends. And besides a few women, no one offered me any work.
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| Book promotion. |
Monika: In Czech theatre, your reinterpretations of classics shook audiences. If you could re-stage one classic play as a metaphor for your transition, which one would you pick and why?
Daniela: Oedipus by Sophocles comes to mind. He was also investigating a crime, only to eventually discover that he himself was the murderer.
Monika: Coming out in your forties after already being a public figure takes a certain defiance. Do you think age gave you courage, or did it simply leave you with no more patience for hiding?
Daniela: I had no choice. I was a well-known and highly visible person. I couldn’t just go to a deserted island and deal with it in peace. So I took it as a privilege: to show, live and in real time, what a transition means, with all its force and vulnerability. Moreover, I’m a theatre person, and I tell stories. So the time had come to tell mine in full detail.
Monika: If you had to give the Czech Republic just one line of dialogue, a stage direction for how to treat trans people, what would it be?
Daniela: LIVE AND LET LIVE.
Monika: What do you think other transgender women might discover in your biography, “Zápisky z tranzice” (Notes from Transition), that could resonate with their own journeys?
Daniela: I hope they will find a certain form of identification. We tell stories to explore new perspectives and deepen our empathy for others. And we look for common elements that tell us: I am not alone! Every journey is very unique, and circumstances can be different, but we are all human beings and, at our core, we are the same. We want to love and be loved, we need to feel respect and have our place. No one is an island. Although trans people can certainly feel that way sometimes.
I also receive many messages from women in their forties and fifties, because many of the themes relate to what every trans woman goes through: What does it mean to be a woman, to be feminine? What is the role of a woman in society? What is her value? What is a woman’s soul? How do you deal with being treated as a sexual object throughout your life? There are many shared themes.
Monika: When you came out, did your mother embrace you as her daughter? And do you feel any connection to her in the way you look, carry yourself, or even in your style and mannerisms?
Daniela: My mother accepted me right away, but of course it took a long time for her to adjust, for example, to switching from masculine to feminine forms in her mind. Otherwise, she sees me the same. Now she gives me advice on feminine things, and I think she’s even started to enjoy it more lately. She tells me I’m beautiful, of course, like her. And I have to say, on hormones I really am starting to look more and more like she did twenty years ago.
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| Much Ado About Nothing. |
Monika: During your transition, did you have any transgender role models who inspired you or helped guide your journey?
Daniela: The series POSE helped me a lot, as did my very good trans friend and activist Lenka Králová, who started appearing in the media even before me. She was the first to come out publicly saying she would not have gender-affirming surgery, and she successfully advocated for trans rights in the Czech Republic through the nonprofit organization Transparent. Thanks to her efforts, we finally achieved the annulment of the official castration requirement by the Constitutional Court.
So now even trans people who do not undergo surgical gender transition can, under certain conditions, change their gender on their ID card. And the state can no longer force anyone to do it. And that is truly wonderful!
Monika: I finally felt free after my transition. How about you? Was there a single moment, or maybe a series of moments, where you truly felt like you had stepped into your most authentic self?
Daniela: I am completely free, but of course I don’t live on an island alone. So I had to get used to other people’s reactions for a long time. A trans person in the first three years goes through a strange period, they are euphoric about themselves but collide sharply with the world around them. Fortunately, estrogen works like an antidepressant. At least that was the case for me.
The joy of being myself and finally seeing everything clearly and sharply (how it all fits together) outweighed the confusion and misunderstanding from people around me. And you also have to learn new things that were “denied” to you. It took me a long time, for example, to start wearing skirts. I approached everything slowly. I only did things when I truly felt them. I was afraid that, after forty years of carefully building a male mask, I might put on a female mask instead.
END OF PART 1
All the photos: courtesy of Daniela Špinar.
Main photo by Alžběta Jungrová.
© 2025 - Monika Kowalska
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