Multiple dates & times:
MON May 26, 2025, 7:00 PM - 8:15 PM
FRI May 30, 2025, 7:00 PM - 8:15 PM
SAT May 31, 2025, 7:00 PM - 8:15 PM
TUE June 3, 2025, 7:00 PM - 8:15 PM
MON June 9, 2025, 7:00 PM - 8:15 PM
SAT June 14, 2025, 7:00 PM - 8:15 PM
SUN June 15, 2025, 5:00 PM - 6:15 PM
Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Language: English
Post show discussions on May 26 and 30
A new Czech drama inspired by the life of the successful athlete Zdenek Koubek (1913-1986), celebrated in the sports world of the time as a “wonder woman” and holding several world records in track until he transitioned to male. Together with the main character’s life story, Dianiška’s play also describes the increasing fascism of the 1930s, permeated by homophobia, transphobia and gender stereotypes. One of the most successful plays in contemporary Czech drama, told in absurdist style, it uncovers a deliberately buried story from a century ago with obvious implications for the current day.
Join us for a discussing after the May 26 performance with Chris Harwood about translation, and after the May 30 performance with Michael Waters who will talk about his book, The Other Olympians, which explores Koubek's life along with other athletes of the time who were trans or gender fluid.
Winner of Czech Play of the Year at the Czech Theatre Critic's Awards
Reviews:
"Dianiška’s script pulses with punk verve and historical reckoning, offering a layered portrait of identity, fame, and societal amnesia...Hennessy Winkler as Zdeněk Koubek [delivers] a performance that is physically fearless and emotionally raw." Theatre Beyond Broadway
"A nuanced, deeply human tale of self-discovery, resilience, and the cruel binaries imposed by both medicine and culture." Stage and Cinema
By Tomas Dianiška
Translated by Edward Einhorn and Katarina Vizina
Directed by Edward Einhorn
Co-produced by Untitled Theater Company No. 61
Stage manager: Berit Johnson
ASM: Lucy Zener
Fight director: JaneAnne Halter
Costume design: Ramona Ponce
Video design: Chris Carcione
Sound design: Becca Silver
Art by Carolyn Raship
Cast: Craig Anderson, Hershel Blatt, Ethan Fox, Jean Marie Stodolski, Alyssa Simon, Katarina Vizina, and Hennessy Winkler*
*Member of Actor’s Equity Association
With the Czech Center
About:
Edward Einhorn is a playwright, director, translator, librettist, theater journalist, and novelist. He is the Artistic Director of both Untitled Theater Company No.61 and the Rehearsal for Truth International Theater Festival. In 2006, he curated the Václav Havel Festival, which included all of Havel’s work, at multiple theaters throughout New York City, with Havel in attendance. Since then some of his work includes Cabaret in Captivity, songs and sketches from Terezin, written during the Holocaust performed at multiple venues in New York, London, ans Washington DC; The Marriage of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein, which received at Critics Pick from The New York Times chief reviewer Jesse Green, performed in at HERE in New York and Off-West End at The Jermyn Street Theatre in London; The Pig, or Václav Havel’s Hunt for a Pig, adapted from the work by Václav Havel and Vladimír Morávek, which played at The New Ohio and 3LD Theatres in New York and received a New York Times and Village Voice Critics Pick; The Velvet Oratorio, an opera-theater production following Havel’s character Vaněk through the Velvet Revolution, which played at Lincoln Center’s Walter Bruno Theatre and Bohemian National Hall; and directing The Last Cyclist, a play by Karel Švenk written in Terezin, which performed at La MaMa and was also shown on PBS affiliate WNET as part of their Theater Close Up series.
Katarina Vizina (co-translator, Mother, others), native of Bratislava, Slovakia, holds an MA in Musical Theater from the Czech Republic and an MFA in Acting from Brooklyn College where she received the Fellowship for Outstanding Contribution to Theater. Katarina has been on the New York scene for almost 25 years, performing in plays, musicals, one woman shows, cabarets, sketch comedy, and movies. She sings and performs in English, Slovak, Czech, German and Russian...if she’s not spending time with her musician husband and their 4 children, that is. She is thrilled to be performing in this play that she had the pleasure to co-translate with Edward. (Because when Edward calls, you always say Yes.) www.katarinavizina.com IG@katarinavizina
Tomáš Dianiška studied acting at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and became an ensemble member of the F. X. Šalda Theatre in Liberec, where he played more than 30 roles. He is the main author and actor of the F. X. Kalba Theatre, which was originally founded as a “punk offshoot” of the F. X. Šalda Theatre, but later became independent and merged with the Palmovka Theatre. As a playwright, he was involved in the productions Zvrhlá Margaret (The perverted Margaret) or House of Love 2: Návrat hezkých hochů (The Return of the nice Guys) at the A studio Rubín Theatre. For the F. X. Šalda Theatre in Liberec, he wrote Googling and Fucking, Mickey Mouse je mrtvý (Mickey Mouse is Dead), LSDown, Logo, Dianiška je Bůh (Dianiška is God) and Atomová kočička (Atom Cat).
He has been a member of the Divadlo pod Palmovkou (Theatre under Palmovka) ensemble since September 2014. He has performed several plays at the PALM OFF studio stage: 1000 věcí, co mě serou (1000 Things I Think Suck; a theatre adaptation of the blog of the same name), Mlčení bobříků (The Silence of the Beavers), Jak sbalit ženu 2.0 (How to Pick Up a Woman 2.0, a theatre adaptation of the book of the same name by T. Baránek), Pusťte Donnu k maturitě! (Let the Donna Graduate from High School), Poslední důvod, proč se nezabít (The Last Reason Not to Kill Yourself; a theatre adaptation of the blog of the same name) and Bezruký Frantík (The Armless Frantík, written with I. Orozovich; transferred to the big stage of the theatre at Palmovka due to great audience interest), 294 statečných (294 Brave Ones) and Encyklopedie akčního filmu (Encyclopaedia of Action Film), both already conceived for the big stage. Tomáš Dianiška has also acted in all these productions and directed many of them.
In addition to his home theatre Divadlo pod Palmovkou, Tomáš Dianiška works as a writer and actor for several Prague theatres, including MeetFactory, Divadlo LETÍ, A Studio Rubín, Masopust Theatre Group, Chemické divadlo (Chemical Theatre), Divadlo X10 and others. He has worked as a director at the Chamber Theatre Aréna Ostrava (V. Klimáček: Comics) and at the Petr Bezruč Theatre in Ostrava – here he staged his plays Transky, body, vteřiny (Blood, Sweat, and Queers) and Špinarka.
He describes his plays as pop pieces that examine well-known cultural phenomena in a satirical way. In his original, eclectic style, he mixes different genres, incorporating dime novels, westerns or comic heroes alongside documentary material. He has received a number of important prizes for his plays. His production of his own play Transky, body, vteřiny (Blood, Sweat, and Queers) at the Petr Bezruč Theatre in Ostrava was named best production of the year and best Czech play of the year at the 2019 Czech Theatre Critics’ Awards. His play, 294 Brave was named best play of the year at the 2020 Theatre Critics’ Awards. His most recent play Tělo tajné agentky (The Secret Agent's Body) won the main prize for the best Czech premiere at this year's Theatre Critics’ Awards.
Craig Anderson (Coach, others) is excited to be performing in Blood, Sweat, and Queers after appearing in Any Spot with Marks Left Behind in last year’s Spring Reading program. Previous UTC61 credits include Cabaret in Captivity, Shylock and the Shakespeareans, Doctors Jane and Alexander, The Resistible Rise of J.R. Brinkley, The Iron Heel, and The Velvet Oratorio. He also appeared in the stage and film versions of The Last Cyclist, directed by Edward Einhorn and recently featured on PBS THIRTEEN’s Theater Close-Up.
Hershel Blatt (Kuba, others) is an actor and writer born and raised in Toronto. NYC theater credits include: Exagoge (UTC61/La MaMa), Little Village (Vino Theater). Canadian theater credits include: Summer of Semitism (Winnipeg Jewish Theatre), A Bear Awake in Winter (Canadian Stage/Next Stage Theatre Festival), as well as workshops of new plays across the U.S and Canada. Film and TV: “Murdoch Mysteries” “The Love Club Moms” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2,” “The Boys,” “Wedding Season,” “What Would Sal Do.” Voice: Motivated! (Broadway Video/Audible). As a playwright, he has been workshopping his first play Ahava Later, and solo show Little Village. He is a University of Toronto graduate.
Chris Carcione (Video designer) is a Philly and Baltimore-based director and projection designer who loves to combine live performance and digital technology. He has worked on national and international productions that have been presented at LaMama ETC, The Chicago International Puppet Festival, The New York State Puppet Festival, Hachioji Kuruma Ningyo, and Bard Summerscape, among others. Chris is an Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts at Towson University. www.christopherjcarcione.com
Ethan Fox (Bed’a, others) is a Brooklyn-based writer, director, and performer, originally from Chapel Hill, NC. He’s performed at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Playmakers Repertory Co., The New Ohio Theater, The Gene Frankel Theatre, and The Players Theatre. A graduate from Vassar College with degrees in Drama and English, he received the prestigious Molly Thacher Kazan Memorial Prize for excellence in the dramatic arts, also trained at the British American Drama Academy (BADA) in London. This summer, he begins his MFA in Acting at USD/The Old Globe. IG: @3thanfox
Alyssa Simon (Lida) has performed Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway with Untitled Theatre Company No. 61, Metropolitan Playhouse and The Brick Theater among many other companies. She is also the voice of Lt. Frall in the chart-topping sci-fi comedy podcast "Life With Althaar." In August, she’ll be at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as Alice in the NYT Critics Pick, The Marriage of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein, written and directed by Edward Einhorn.
Jean-Marie Stodolski (Eliška, others) Hails from the exotic land of Hudson County, New Jersey. Previous credits this past year: A Hollywood Ending, VINO VERITAS (originating role of Theresa), Ethan Fox's Invasive, originating the role of Vickie Jones, and in The Gallery Players' one-act production of Secondhand Smoke, originating the role of Kitty. Other credits include: Princesses of the Bar Table (Snow White) & OZ: A Twisted Musical (Off-B'way. Ensemble/Dance Captain). Represented by Glitter Talent Agency. Former core dancer of Hexentanz Burlesque Company and member of Ikeda Youth Dance Ensemble. Muhlenberg College alum. Proud member of Local 6. NMRK.
Hennessy Winkler (Zdeněk) Grateful to Edward Einhorn for the honor and responsibility of embodying the story of one of the greatest athletes forgotten by history, Mr. Zdeněk Koubek. Recent credits: Sweeney Todd - B'way OBC; Will Parker in B'way natl tour of Oklahoma!; Featured in Concert 4 America; Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil workshop with/by Jason Robert Brown; Featured in film No Ordinary Man. 'Audience Choice Award', Looking Glass theater; 'Best Actor Overall', NYfringe fest; Nom 'Best Actor', Icelandic Academy (EDDA) Awards. Trained by Sue Ann Loudon & grad of Marymount Manhattan. Starring in All the Men Who've Frightened Me this fall at La Jolla Playhouse. www.hennessy.nyc
ABOUT THE 2025 REHEARSAL FOR TRUTH INTERNATIONAL THEATER FESTIVAL
Rehearsal for Truth International Theater Festival, honoring Václav Havel, is a showcase of contemporary European theater organized each year in New York City. Conceived in 2017 as a shared endeavor of the Václav Havel Center (VHC) and Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association (BBLA), the festival honors the legacy of Czech playwright, dissident and political thinker Vaclav Havel.
Each edition of Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival addresses current sociopolitical trends in Central and Eastern Europe, offering New York audiences a unique opportunity to witness the region’s theatrical zeitgeist.
The program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. The festival is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.