Behind the Curtain February 2026
Greetings, everyone! We're deep in preparations for our next production, while still balancing plans and auditions for the ones after that. It's a lot to keep track of at once, but at least it means it's never dull for us. We hope you have interesting ideas to focus on and moments of peace to keep you sane in the meantime. On to the newsletter!
The Show Must Go On
A cottage in the woods.
A girl lost in the night.
A terrible game.
Step into a dark 90s thriller where nothing is ever what it seems.
Content Note: This show contains adult themes, very strong language, and potentially disturbing situations. Audience discretion is advised.
If you’re looking for a cultural night out, Brno’s welcoming English-friendly theater scene has something to offer.
This upcoming show will be in English:
Iconic Program
When: 19 February
Where: Industra
If you're interested in being a part of a play in English yourself, check out the auditions for Professional Foul.
Waiting in the Wings
A report from the director of Boiled Heads:
As we move into the final weeks of rehearsal, the space itself has begun to change. Wires now run across the ceiling, with strings hanging down, transforming the empty hall into a liminal space. At different moments it suggests a cottage, a café, a flat, a bar, with the audience and the actors often sharing the same edges of the world, and the actors occasionally taking seats among them.
Alongside the live action, we’ve been filming and editing a series of short scenes that expand on the characters and the world of the play. Set in the recent past, these filmed moments explore what sits around and behind the script.
We’ve also completed a photo shoot using an early-90s Pentax SFXn film camera and redscale film. The cast braved freezing temperatures in minimal costumes, which says a lot about commitment and possibly something about questionable decision-making. With the first performance now just over two weeks away, rehearsals are continuing at pace. The different elements of the production are still being shaped, tested, and refined as we move towards opening night.
Intermission
In 1921, an exhibition at Prague's Rudolfinum was curated by Enrico Prampolini, an Italian set designer who is thought to have heavily influenced Czech staging. The image is from the film Thais, for which he was the set designer.
In the Spotlight
This month, we’re shining the spotlight on Jack Stephens from England.
🎭 When did you first get involved in Czech Theater?
I’ve been there since the beginning! I was involved in the first Czech Theater play, R.U.R., in Autumn 2018. I was looking for new hobbies and new friends, and by chance I had recently met Anne and Aaron who were about to set the company up, so I ended up cast as Busman, the mad economist who sees everything as a matter of financial profit and loss.
🎭 Do you have a favorite line from a play that Czech Theater has performed?
Unfortunately, I don’t have the kind of brain which retains lots of lines after they’re no longer needed… these professional actors with their “repertoire” are amazing to me for that reason. But definitely one that stands out as the most fun was when I was playing Advocate Huld in The Trial. Our production made the character into this rather unsettling pervert who used rage as a form of dominance, and screaming “WHO IS YOUR ADVOCATE?” at your friends is a cathartic experience I’d recommend.
🎭 Do you have any pre-performance routines or superstitions?
Nothing in particular. I don’t tend to get nervous before performances, but depending on the play, there might be a lot of waiting involved before your character comes onstage, so there’s a sense of anticipation for sure. We can’t really talk backstage because it’s audible outside, so everyone is stuck dealing with the situation kind of separately. Or at least, silently! One of the main priorities is timing cigarettes, piss breaks, and snacks to minimize discomfort on stage.
🎭 Can you share with us any funny or unexpected onstage/backstage mishaps or memories?
There’s always something not going according to plan, but usually the audience doesn’t notice. Very unobservant creatures. One glaring exception was during Poker Face, when I over-hastily pulled on a leather jacket that was falling apart, and one of my arms went through the lining of the coat rather than down the sleeve, so only one of my hands came out the end. I had to remove my arm from the coat as subtly as possible and try again, but as it was the dramatic final argument/gunpoint scene, it looked a bit ridiculous and everyone noticed!
🎭 What do you like most about being part of Czech Theater?
I love being educated about the Czech theater canon; I love the chance for self-expression and creativity; I love the challenge of taking a project from script to stage collectively. But the best thing, as the saying goes, is the friends you make along the way. I’ve met many of my favorite people in Brno through Czech Theater, and brought other friends into the company to meet everyone else too, so we’ve formed this lovely community of funny, silly, talented people, based around a wholesome and productive mutual interest. What more could you ask for!?
A Tough Act to Follow
Thirty years after the Velvet Revolution, our version of the Vaněk Plays premiered on 8 November 2019. What started as a piece thrown together over two days to have something to read to friends, and was for many years banned from any performance in Czechoslovakia, grew into a character shared across writers and continents.
The plays center on Ferdinand Vaněk, something of an alter-ego for Havel, who Havel wrote acts as “a kind of ‘key,’ opening certain—always different—vistas onto the world in which he lives; a kind of catalyst, a gleam, if you will, in whose light we view a landscape.” Vaněk stands at the center of events around him and his presence helps provoke his counterparts to reveal themselves to the audience.