The Makropoulos Secret
- Dates
- Dec 3 â Dec 31, 1957
- Performances
- 33
About
VÄc Makropulos is a Czech play written by Karel Äapek. Its titleâliterally The Makropulos Thingâhas been variously rendered in English as The Makropulos Affair, The Makropulos Case, or The Makropulos Secret (Äapek's own preferred English rendition). The main topic of the play is immortality. The play opens with an inheritance dispute between the aristocratic Prus family and the Gregor family, illegitimate descendants of a Prus nobleman who died in the 1820s. The dispute has lasted for a century. Famous singer Emilia Marty appears to be greatly interested in the case, without revealing her motives. She gradually reveals intimate knowledge of the 19th-century nobleman and his household, along with personal experiences from the French Revolution. Emilia turns out to be Elina Makropulos, a wo...