New Czech Theatre Festival: The Gleanings 2024 with Tomáš Dianiška

Die perverse Margaret: Reading and discussion with Tomáš Dianiška

11.10.2024, 8:00 pm, Theater unterm Dach

Admission is free, but please reserve tickets here.

Die perverse Margaret (orig. Zvrhlá Margaret)

Translated from the Czech into German by Barbora Schnelle.

In the 1950s, neurophysiologist John C. Lilly was convinced that dolphins had giant brains and could do more than just play ball. His assistant Margaret Howe is tasked with making the animals talk – and even the secret services are interested in their research.
The story of Margaret Howe, John C. Lilly and Peter the dolphin is the story of a real experiment funded by NASA in the wild 1960s. It’s a story about scientific passion and the ignorance and neglect with which other living beings are manipulated and mistreated by humans in the name of progress. Once again, Dianiška proves to be a master of combining serious issues with comedy.

Reading directed by: Daniel Brunet

Performers: TBA

The reading will be followed by a talk with Tomáš Dianiška.

Tomáš Dianiška (*1984) studied acting at the Theater Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and then joined the ensemble of the F. X. Šalda Theater in Liberec, where he acted in 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 (Margaret the Pervert) and House of Love 2: Návrat hezkých hochů (House of Love 2: Return of the Beautiful Boys) at the A Studio Rubín. 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 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; a theatre adaptation of a 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; a theatre adaptation of a blog of the same name) and Bezruký Frantík (Frantic Without Arms, written with I. Orozovich; transferred to the main stage of the Divadlo pod Palmovkou due to great audience interest), 294 statečných (294 Braves Ones) and Encyklopedie akčního filmu (Encyclopedia of Action Film), both created for the main stage. Tomáš Dianiška also acts in all of these productions and directs many of them.

In addition to his home theatre 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 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 Theater in Ostrava, where he staged his plays Spottschau and Špinarka.

According to his own 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 (Blood, Sweat and Queers) 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.