The Mír Theater recently launched a new play Česká kletba. What is it about?
It is originally an Irish game that we adapted to the Czech environment. The same guys play there. The name sounds a bit mysterious; and its basic theme is that several men come together for a therapy session. The session is led by a Catholic priest. It deals with a male problem that I would not like to reveal. Let it be a bit of a surprise for the audience. It is really an intrinsically male problem that only men who have a penis can have. And they deal with something called the Czech curse.
Mír Theater is synonymous with humor and fun. Isn’t that too binding?
No, it’s not, we enjoy it. Humor is something we want to do. We chose it this way. We are primarily comedians and we want to entertain the audience. If we are looking for the text of a new play, we try to make it contain something more besides humor. Humor is the best outlet for problems that a person is dealing with, for example in relationships. A way to draw attention to them. The Czech curse can be a nice example. Men have a lot of things that frustrate them. And there is a choice of how to conceive the production about it. You can write a play that makes it a heavy drama, the actors will tear their livers out on stage and it will be depression. Or we can laugh at the problem. Although it may be something that is painful. Humor requires a certain amount of perspective, and that’s liberating. Both for the actor and the viewer.
Why do I mock women and their position in society? They are not poor women, they are strong!
Some comedians are funny on stage but crackers at home. Does this apply to you too?
But no, I’m not a homemade biscuit. When I’m in the company of people I know well, I can relax and sometimes I’m funny. But on the other hand, at some social event or somewhere where there are more people that I don’t know, but they know me and expect me to be very humorous and funny, that’s where I sometimes have a problem. I am an introvert by nature, and when it comes to social events, I usually sit quietly in a corner somewhere. That confuses people.
Robin Ferro: I’m kind of antisocial
For being a quiet introvert, you have quite a wide range of activities. You are behind the success of the Mír Theater and its star Štěpán Kozub makes no secret of the fact that you discovered him. By the way, who discovered you?
Nobody me, I showed up alone. (Laughs)
And how was it with Štěpán?
It’s nice that you say I “discovered” him, because as his popularity has grown, about three people have independently told me at different times that they discovered Stephen. It was such a fight for merit. But Štěpán Kozub is a person who does not need to be discovered. He’s such a phenomenon that he doesn’t need anyone’s back to climb on. It was only a matter of time before he broke through. And I didn’t need anyone to discover me either. Everyone has to discover their inner strength within themselves.
Photo: Jan Lipovský
In his first literary work, The Actor for Survival, he reveals the behind-the-scenes of the regional theater
You taught Štěpán at the Ostrava Conservatory. How was your teacher-student relationship? He’s an interesting guy, you thought?
I guess it was like that. Štěpán was not the only one I taught, at the conservatory I met a lot of pupils and students who studied theatre. The key was that Štěpán together with Robin Ferr had activities outside of school. They were trying to do something. I knew they were very smart and talented and that they didn’t skimp on school. A lot of students are a bit squeamish about her, it’s a bohemian environment, so it’s tempting for that. A student may have a partially justified feeling that he no longer needs to go to school. For example, from the third grade, because he already “knows everything”. But if they still fulfill their obligations, it shows some inner character and strength. That’s pretty important to me. And the fact that the boys were able to create something outside of school that I had the opportunity to see was good. When I wanted to start Three Tigers (an improv sketch show), I had several students to choose from. I taught three grades at the time. I chose these two boys, and not only because they went to classes, unlike others, but also because they also created somewhere else.
When did you discover the drive to entertain people? Were you the class entertainer?
Probably not at all. Rather within the family. I remember that as a boy I sometimes fooled around, for example by the fire when the burritos were being roasted, and I showed my parents various friends who came to visit us. Later I started going to the drama club in Frýdek-Místek. I enjoyed that very much, it was there that the path to the theater opened up for me. I also loved the comedies that were on TV at the time.
Did you gather the courage to become a comedian, or did it just happen?
I didn’t have to muster up the courage. That I was somehow afraid of whether I would get to the conservatory or not, that was not the case. When I decided to act, I was in grammar school. That is, not in a position where I would have to start somewhere after nine. At that time, the year of acting opened in Ostrava every other year. And when I was in the ninth grade, it didn’t really open, so I stayed in grammar school. But then the drama teacher persuaded me to try it, that it would be a shame not to try it. When I get that I will have a choice. Well, I made it.
In addition to being an actor, you are also a tireless organizer. When did you come up with the idea of buying an old cinema and building a theater in it?
When I was engaged in the Arena Chamber Stage after my studies, I discovered that the acting time was unbalanced. If an actor is cast in a production, he rehearses every day, plays in the evening, and that is time-consuming. But it can happen that sometimes during the season the actor is not cast in a new production and does not rehearse, but only plays in the evening. So his days are more or less free. And I wondered what I would do in such a situation. At the time, I enjoyed audiovisuals, so I founded an audiovisual production company and started making various advertising or product videos. I revolved around it and quite soon after school I actually started a business.
Jakub Prachař: I am a special compilation. I box and crochet
My parents were also entrepreneurs, so I lived in that environment. After a few years, I gathered some experience in business and at the same time I knew how the theater works because I was present in it every day. It was just a matter of how to put it all together. In the dressing room with my colleagues, I joked that I would start my own theater, because it should be done differently. Well, a young person is boisterous, has an opinion on everything, and I was no different. Then when the opportunity arose and I found a cinema building that was available, I thought I had to start doing what people hate to do. So – start turning words into actions.
Photo: Jan Lipovský
He taught him at the conservatory, now he performs comic sketches with Štěpán Kozub
By the way, you are said to be thinking about another theater. Is it true?
I don’t want to buy anything else, but I’m thinking that we could build another theater scene here in Ostrava, built on a green field. But honestly, I don’t know if it’s realistic or feasible. I’m kind of circling around that idea.
The creation of Divadla Mír began to appear online during the coronavirus crisis, and the unknown theater became a phenomenon. Jiří Langmajer played with you in the series Broke, which was also created in the time of covid and the audience loved it. How did it happen?
We originally started streaming Three Tigers. That was our show, built on improvisation. We had all the rights to it and didn’t have to deal with anything. We also had a lot of experience with it, because we performed it in front of a live audience every month. We just transformed it and started broadcasting every day. We also had our own theater performance, which was created in the Mír Theater, so we were also able to play it. So it went on for a month and it met with tremendous success. After a month, producer Vladimír Skorka came up with the idea that a series could be created. He also appealed to familiar faces, Jirka Langmajer was his idea.
I do not live in a household where I oppress my wife and demand that she iron, cook and wash for me and do nothing else
Three Tigers is now a cult show, some videos have over two million views. You are their spiritual father, when did you come up with this idea?
Before the Mír Theater. It was a comedy show that I did with Štěpán and Robin and then Vava Polák joined. The Three Tigers ran for a year and a half before the theater opened. Today they are two separate projects that work somewhat independently, but at the same time very interconnected.
You like to move on the border, whether it’s the topic of sexuality, rioting, or something else. But where would you not enter?
I have no clue. Probably every comedian has that somewhere else. It’s about making the comedian stand his joke. To stop stepping in front of his audience and making a forum, let’s say, at the border. Each comedian has a different audience, a different focus, and each audience will forgive or allow something different from their comedian. People who like the humor of Zdenek Svěrák might not like darker humor, and vice versa it can work similarly.
In addition to acting, you also write short stories, record audio, and write screenplays. Everything is from life. Would you say you are a good observer?
Hard to say. This would mean that I sometimes consciously observe and realize that I am observing people’s actions just so that I can take advantage of it later. I don’t do that. I’m more of a subconscious observer. But above all, I have a developed and exuberant imagination, so I tend to reconstruct situations rather than observe them. It is not necessary for me to see or experience them, it is enough for me to imagine them. And let them go ad absurdum.
Photo: Jan Lipovský
Improvisation group Three Tigers: Robin Ferro, Albert Čuba, Štěpán Kozub
Do you read to your wife Eva, what will you create?
Yes, it reads my attempts and says good, so it’s probably good.
Mír Theater – the new muses stand in Ostrava
Your humor is quite masculine. What is your experience with humor made by women?
Women comedians are, I think. At least in stand-up format. It’s a fact that when it comes to the stage, I know more male comedians than female comedians. But you are too. For example, the actress Anička Fialová is an excellent comedian, as I had the chance to know. But there aren’t that many, and I don’t know why.
You asked about the limits of humor, and there are those in Czech society. And I have them verified. I know exactly when the audience freezes. We recently tested it again on the line with the Three Tigers. We can make fun of anything. From politicians. Of sexuality. Of gender. We can mock historical figures. The audience will laugh at anything. But as soon as we hone in on the position of women in society, it’s bad.
As soon as we start doing humor by asking on stage, for example, “What are women even doing here? Did your husbands let you go? Shouldn’t they be ironing at home?” So the audience completely freezes. You can’t go there. There is a silence, at most one can hear from the audience: “Jesus Christ, maybe not.” The guys are holding the bass, so they better not laugh either. And I just like to make fun of this. I know I can handle it.
I have a developed and exuberant imagination, so I tend to reconstruct situations rather than observe them
When I start saying with exaggeration and irony that women should stick to cooking because they are the best at it, I understand that it can turn someone off and upset. Then he comes to me and tells me what I’m allowing. Why do I mock women and their position in society? They are not poor women, they are strong! How are you at home? And I will stand it because I will answer: my wife is a top doctor and we had to work like hell for me as a man to reach her income. The director of Divadla Mír is a woman, and so is the main producer of Three Tigers. Women are much stronger than men.
Photo: Jan Lipovský
Wife Eva is a doctor
You simply don’t have a problem with female emancipation.
Yeah. And so I can make fun of her. I do not live in a household where I oppress my wife and demand that she iron, cook and wash for me and do nothing else. And when she wanted to build a career, I didn’t say she had to stay home and take care of the kids. The wife is a dual certified doctor. It’s the same as Sacha Baron Cohen making fun of Jews and the Holocaust. He is Jewish and half of his family lost their lives in the worst times. And he can stand such jokes. Black comedians make fun of the status of black people in America, but a white man can’t afford to. Because he wouldn’t stop the audience reaction. Black man yes. And there are the boundaries.
Can you please tell me a joke at the end?
Clearly. A woman with a child gets on the bus. The bus driver gets really startled and says, “Ugh, that’s the ugliest kid I’ve ever seen!” The woman just shakes her head in disgust and goes to the back of the bus, sits down, and says angrily to the man next to her, “That driver just insulted me !” And the man says: “Go there and scold him! Go, I’ll hold the monkey for you.”
Actor Štěpán Kozub: You can’t really face fear, just laugh at it
2024-01-13 06:21:00
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