Tomáš Dianiška received the most votes from the audience for his play Spottschau (orig. Transky, body, vteřiny) at the Ein Stück: Tschechien 2023 festival. On 24/11/2023, the festival’s traditional staged readings took place at the Theater unterm Dach. In addition to Dianiška’s play, the plays Regale (orig. Regály) by Daniela Samsonová and Am Wannenrand (orig. Na okraji vany) by Natálie Bočková were presented. You can find more information here.
Tomáš Dianiška: Spottschau (orig. Transky, body, vteřiny)
Translated from Czech into German by Barbora Schnelle
The play is inspired by the life story of the successful athlete Zdena Koubková (1913-1986), who was mistakenly assigned a female identity at birth. Koubková was celebrated in the sports world of the time as a “wonder woman” and held several world records (including in the women’s 800-meter track distance). In 1936, she was identified as intersex by a doctor, underwent gender reassignment surgery to become Zdeněk Koubek. In addition to the fate of the main character, Dianiška’s play also describes the world of the 1930s with its increasing fascism, permeated by homophobia, transphobia and gender stereotypes. In his tragicomic play, the author presents a mosaic of important moments in Zdeněk Koubek’s life. Successful sporting milestones alternate with emotional and intimate moments, which ultimately lead to a strong coming-out of the main character. The production of the play at the Petr Bezruč Theater in Ostrava won the 2019 Theatre Critics’ Award in the categories Production of the Year and Czech Contemporary Play. The actor playing the lead role, Jakub Burýšek, was named Talent of the Year.
Tomáš Dianiška (*1984) studied acting at the Theater Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and became a member of the ensemble of the F. X. Šalda Theater in Liberec, where he played more than 30 roles. He is the main author and actor of the F. X. Kalba Theater, which was originally founded as a “punk offshoot” of the F. X. Šalda Theater, but later became independent and merged with the Palmovka Theater. As an author, he participated in the productions Zvrhlá Margaret (Perverted Margaret) and House of Love 2: Návrat hezkých hochů (House of Love 2: Return of the Beautiful Boys) at the A studio Rubín Theater. For the F. X. Šalda Theater 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 (Atomic Cat).
He has been a member of the Divadlo pod Palmovkou (Theater under Palmovka) acting 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; theater adaptation of the blog of the same name), Mlčení bobříků (Mlčení bobříků), Jak sbalit ženu 2.0. The Silence of the Beavers), Jak sbalit ženu 2.0 (How to Hook Up with a Woman 2.0, a theatrical adaptation of the book of the same name by T. Baránek), Pusťte Donnu k maturitě! (Let Donna graduate!), Poslední důvod, proč se nezabít (The last reason not to kill yourself; theater adaptation of the blog of the same name) and Bezruký Frantík (Frantík Without Arms, written with I. Orozovich; transferred to the main stage of the theater under Palmovka due to great audience interest), 294 statečných (294 Brave Ones) and Encyklopedie akčního filmu (Encyclopedia of Action Film), both already conceived for the main stage. Tomáš Dianiška also acts in all of these productions and directs many of them.
In addition to his home theater Divadlo pod Palmovkou, Tomáš Dianiška works as an author and actor with several Prague theaters, including MeetFactory, Divadlo LETÍ, A Studio Rubín, Masopust Theater Group, Chemické divadlo (Chemical Theater), Divadlo X10 and others. He worked as a director at the Chamber Theater Aréna Ostrava (V. Klimáček: Comics) and at the Petr Bezruč Theater in Ostrava – where he staged his plays Spottschau (Transky, body, vteřiny) and Špinarka (The Špinarová).
According to his description, Dianiška writes pop pieces that take a satirical look at well-known cultural phenomena. In his original and eclectic style, he mixes different genres, including documentary material, dime novels, westerns and comic book heroes. He has received a number of prestigious awards for his plays. His production of his own play Transky, body, vteřiny at the Petr Bezruč Theater in Ostrava was named best production of the year and best Czech play of the year at the 2019 Czech Theatre Critics’ Awards. His most recent play, 294 Brave Ones, was named best play of the year at the 2020 Theatre Critics’ Awards.
The Audience Award comes with a one-week stay in Berlin and a staged reading of a new play by the author next year.
We congratulate Tomáš Dianiška on his prize and look forward to a new play by him at Ein Stück: Tschechien: Nachlese 2024, probably in November 2024 at the Theater unterm Dach.
Please find more information about our Ein Stück: Tschechien Festival here.
The Ein Stück: Tschechien 2023 Festival is an event organized by Drama Panorama: Forum für Übersetzung und Theater e. V. in cooperation with the Czech Centre Berlin and the Czech Embassy Berlin, supported by the Czech-German Future Fund, the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic from the Národní plán obnovy programme, the Governing Mayor of Berlin – Senate Chancellery, the European Union (NextGenerationEU program), the City of Prague, Prague City District 3, State Cultural Fund of the Czech Republic, Zentrum Johan and Venuše ve Švehlovce, Dilia z. s.