Behind the Curtain April 2026

Czech Theater's spring play is Professional Foul by the late great playwright Tom Stoppard. It’s a story of dons and dissidents, sports stars and StB agents, set in 1977 Czechoslovakia. Originally written as a “play of the week” for the BBC, it is a (mostly) humorous view of what happens when the unstoppable force of stark reality confronts the immovable position of staid morality.

Chosen for the best play of the year (in Britain), this is a unique chance to see the play live on stage, less than 100 km from where Tom Stoppard was born.

We’ll have evening performances May 23, 24, and 30, and one matinee performance on May 30. Mark your calendars now!

Tickets go on sale April 15.

A report from the director of Professional Foul:

Adapting a play that was written for television to the stage has been an unusual challenge. How can we set the scene for the audience (most of whom don't know how Czechoslovakia looked in the 1970s) and pay appropriate attention to Stoppard's verbal felicity and wit, while keeping the story itself center stage? I feel so lucky to be working with a talented group of actors and backstage creators to address this question. I hope the audience agrees that the solutions are solid. As far as I know, we are the first theater to officially perform this play on stage.  

I've spent the past many months reading about Stoppard's connections with Czechoslovakia -- not just his birth and early childhood in Zlin, but his visits in the 70s and his alliance with the dissidents, particularly Havel. There's an interesting exhibition at the Moravian Museum (through April 19) about the "underground university" in which philosophers and writers came and secretly taught courses to people who were otherwise unable to attend such classes – often dissidents and theater people. One of the founders of the university cited Professional Foul – "it so accurately portrayed the situation into which we had stumbled." I have found repeated strong connections between Stoppard and Czechoslovakia, and between ethics and language and theater, and I hope some of this understanding will be clear on the stage next month. I'm so excited that we're bringing this story to life for Brno, so that people who weren't here in the 1970s can see how it was in a way that I think provokes thought and reflection and also (hopefully) laughter.

🎭 When did you first get involved in Czech Theater?

It’s a Saturday in March 2020. Most people are in quarantine, figuring out what to do inside the whole day, or with the rest of their lives. Everyone is anxiously hoping for news to say we can go back to normal because there is a cure, or the disease is not as bad as experts first said it was. I ring a doorbell to visit someone, which feels like a rebellious act. I'm visiting Anne, because I am auditioning for a role in The Makropulos Secret. Ever since I saw Czech Theater perform R.U.R. at Music Lab in 2018, I’ve been determined to take a chance at joining, and that chance is now. And I’m not planning on letting some virus get in the way. Anne opens the door and I don't know how to greet her. “Do you want a fist bump or a foot?” I ask. We “give each other a foot”. Aaron is on the couch in the living room and in the middle of the room there is a single chair, with plenty of space in between. It feels awkward, uneasy. I read lines, answer some questions about availability, and when I am on my way back home my brain switches between virus alerts and assessing my chances of getting cast. A week later I get the message that I’m in.

Three months later, we delivered 4 performances and I could not be prouder and happier for having been part of the amazing journey that went from rehearsals over Zoom to Lužánky and then to Music Lab.

🎭 Do you have any pre-performance routines or superstitions?

I try to connect with the other actors, have a chat, and most importantly make eye contact. The last thing the audience wants to see is actors producing their lines from memory in isolation. The magic happens in the connection and interaction between the characters, so that's what I try to do.

🎭 What do you like most about being part of Czech Theater?

I like the team work and process of bringing a script on paper to life on stage. From memorizing words to actually understanding the play and getting to know the actors and the characters, to making it all visually attractive on stage and letting all of it stir up emotions in the audience.

What can you accomplish in a lifetime? How long is your lifetime?

The Makropulos Secret came from the idea that growing old is about the human body poisoning itself. And wherever there is poison, there is an antidote. Written by Karel Čapek and translated into English by Yveta Synek Graff and Robert T. Jones.