Left to right: Niklas Brubach, Thea Rasche, Henning Bochert, Hannah Ley | Photo: Astra Zoldnere
Critical, queer and highly relevant – three staged readings of contemporary Czech plays by Hana D. Lehečková, Tomáš Dianiška and Tomáš Ráliš as part of the festival Ein Stück: Tschechien: Frankfurt Special 2026, accompanied by the launch of the newly published anthology of contemporary Czech drama Am Wannenrand.
To mark the occasion of the Czech Republic being the guest of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2026, there will be a special edition of the festival, Ein Stück: Tschechien: Frankfurt Special 2026, on 10 October 2026 at the Internationales Theater Frankfurt am Main.
Trollmama / Ausgewohnt / Spottschau
Critical, queer and highly relevant – three staged readings of contemporary Czech plays by Hana D. Lehečková, Tomáš Dianiška and Tomáš Ráliš as part of the festival Ein Stück: Tschechien: Frankfurt Special 2026, accompanied by a book launch.
Staged readings of contemporary Czech drama and launch of the newly published anthology of contemporary Czech drama Am Wannenrand (Berlin: Neofelis, 2026), ed. by Barbora Schnelle, part of the Neofelis series “Drama Panorama”.
Tomáš Ráliš: Ausgewohnt (orig. Vyhubyt, translated from the Czech by Maira Neubert)
This play deals with the issue of the gentrification in the current housing market and the problems young people have with finding an apartment where they can start a family. A young couple finds themselves forced to take more and more ridiculous steps in order to rent an apartment, which in the end turns out to be a mouldy hovel, although it was presented as a luxury apartment by the wily and unscrupulous property agent. However, they desperately need the apartment, because in the slightly surreal plot of the play, several children are suddenly born at once. Apart from the housing crisis, with a touch of dark humour the play also deals with the desire to have children in today’s world, partner and family relationships, the constant pressure to perform at work and the necessity of climbing the professional ladder, as well as ageism and classism. The driving force behind it all is the machinery of capitalism, in which everything is governed by supply and demand. And so the young couple decides to agree to a risky trade. The play received the Ewald Schorm Prize in 2023.
Hana D. Lehečková: Trollmama (orig. Trollí matka, translated from the Czech by Barbora Schnelle)
A burnt-out single mother struggles every night with her unhappy and hungry daughter, burned pancakes and most of all with virtual reality, where she turns into a troll goddess in online forums. She controls social networks with dozens of mostly male false identities, ruins the reputation of products and manipulates public opinion – until she gets the big offer that suddenly catapults her into the real world. This dystopian satire by a young and renowned prose author about the phenomenon of internet trolling was written for the Thearer Divadlo Letí in Prague, an important theatre for the development of new drama in the Czech Republic.
Tomáš Dianiška: Spottschau (orig. Transky, body, vteřiny, translated from the Czech by Barbora Schnelle)
This play is inspired by the life story of successful track and field athlete Zdena Koubková (1913-1986), who was wrongly identified as a girl when she was born. Koubková was celebrated as a “wonder woman” in the sports world of the time and broke several world records (including in the women’s 800-metre race). In 1936, a doctor identified her as intersexual and she subsequently underwent sex reassignment surgery and became Zdeněk Koubek. As well as the fate of the main character, Dianiška’s play also portrays the period of the 1930s and the rise of fascism, riddled with homophobia, transphobia and gender stereotypes. In his tragicomic play, the author presents a mosaic of the important moments from Zdeněk Koubek’s life. Successful milestones in sports alternate with emotional and intimate moments, which ultimately lead to the main character’s powerful coming out. The production of the play at the Petr Bezruč Theatre in Ostrava won the Theatre Critics’ Prize in 2019 in the categories Production of the Year and Contemporary Czech Drama. The play was also staged with great success in New York in 2024.
Date: 10.10.2026 | 8:00 pm
Venue: Internationales Theater Frankfurt
Directed by: Eberhard Köhler
Stage/design: Danila Korogodsky
Dramaturgy: Barbora Schnelle, Henning Bochert
Cast: Naomi Abukha, Henning Bochert, Thea Rasche, Alexander Weinstein
Event organised by: Drama Panorama: Forum für Übersetzung und Theater e. V.
Artistic directors/production: Barbora Schnelle and Henning Bochert