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
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.
By Tomas Dianiška
Translated by Edward Einhorn and Katarina Vizina
Directed by Edward Einhorn
Co-produced by Untitled Theater Company No. 61
Cast: Craig Anderson, Hershel Blatt, Jean Marie Keevins, Alyssa Simon*, Katarina Vizina, and Hennessy Winkler*
*Members of Actor’s Equity Association
Costume design: Ramona Ponce
Video design: Chris Carcione
Sound design: Becca Silver
Art by Carolyn Raship
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, 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 part of the traditional as well as the avant-garde New York theater scene since 2002. She has performed in plays, musicals, one woman shows, cabarets, sketch comedy, radio shows, movies, and countless voiceover spots. She sings and performs in English, Slovak, Czech, German, and Russian (you can talk her into Yiddish). When not performing, Katarina is the general to her three handsome sons, personal stylist to her lovely little princess and a tsarina to their father.
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.
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.