Behind the Curtain January 2026

A report from the director of Boiled Heads:

In the December newsletter, I hinted that for Boiled Heads I am planning to use more of the space available to us at Vesna. We will use all of the hall and the stage, essentially giving us three stages: the normal stage, one in the middle, and one at the far end. I like the idea of the audience being fully immersed in what is going on. The actors’ movement can be dynamic and natural, and the border narrows between passive observers and active participants in the creation of the scene.

The idea is to make the audience consciously aware of itself as an audience, while the action unfolds around them, as if they are witnessing something they cannot quite step away from. Not an escape from the world, but an entry into a different one.

🎭 When did you first get involved in Czech Theater?

It was a windy May day. The Sun was slowly coming to its rest when I saw a little girlhuman at the big chonky door to Vesna who kindly guided me through the Vesna maze towards the salle de théâtre. There I witnessed my first Czech Theater play. 

The White Disease was its name
and Czech Theater was playing no game 

for it was EXCELLENT!!!

That is how it happened – my first (passive) involvement. 

My first active involvement was a different story. It was a story of passion, childhood trauma, bad time management, borderline alcoholism, and human misunderstanding that got in the way of the Theater. We were rehearsing Sleeping Disorders by Radka Denemarková and I was supposed to play Sylvia Plath – for I share the same mystical demeanor – but alas, we were not YET ready for this emotional epic. 

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

In fact, I do. My pre-performance, and in fact during-performance and post-performance, routine consists of being passively aggressive towards my co-actors and backstage crew. My preferred scenario would be to lock myself in a coffin, avoid all human interaction, and emerge from it directly onto the theater stage. Since this is not always possible, I settle for Plan B: quiet emotional violence.

My superstition then lies in the negation of my performance routine. I make a conscious effort to be at least tolerable towards my acting companions before they enter the stage, as otherwise I worry that my prior nervous animosity might harm their performance. 

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

In a world full of armed conflict, hunger for power, and pressure to achieve individualistic success, it feels lovely to be part of a community that desires something that feels pure and truly human. And that is to simply portray a story for other human creatures, to preserve a space where people do not need to fix or conquer but can simply EXIST and that is so important precisely for its utter unimportance. 

Charlotte and Alice premiered on 30 August 2019. It is a dramatized reading of actual letters between Charlotte Garrigue Masaryk and Alice Masaryk. If you are interested in US history, Czech history, feminism, prison, or mother-daughter relationships, you will love this story. Copies of the book this play is based on are available for sale.