Film Appreciation Test: This hottie has become a one-role actor. He played a fairytale prince. Who is it?

Although he started acting as a schoolboy, it was not the main thing he wanted to do in his life. In 1990, when he was twelve years old, he starred in a television series Ordinary horse historywhere stars such as Jitka Molavcová or Michael Kuklová and followed a year later Holidays in jeopardywhich was a TV miniseries where he co-starred again David Krause or David Prachar.

However, his acting career ended (for now) with this act. And he didn’t even plan to continue in it, after passing the matriculation exam he started to study at DAMU. However, he did not choose acting, but production. The fact that he later appeared as a fairy-tale prince in one of the most successful fairy tales was, of course, a coincidence. In an interview with Czech TV, the artist revealed how it all happened.

From a fairy tale to National and to Slaughterhouse

“For a long time, Roman could not find an ideal prince for his fairy tale – according to his ideas. He probably contacted me out of sheer desperation. I passed four auditions, and in the end Roman actually chose me,” describes a chance meeting with the director The devil knows why Roman Vávra in the Na žábradlí Theater.

Although the fairy tale was a huge success and stars of the first magnitude appeared in it, such as Eva Holubová, Iva Janžurová or Tána Pauhofová in the role of a princess Annies, the artist did not continue his acting career. Instead, he once again went into seclusion and devoted himself to what he is good at and enjoys the most – production.

He was the director of the New Stage of the National Theater until 2014, and then he moved to Prague’s Holešovice, where he also held the position of director, namely in the complex Jatka 78, where there is a multifunctional theater hall, rehearsal rooms, gallery and bar, and the bistro is also the “base” of the Circus La Putyka, DEKKADANCERS, Theaters 6-16 and Heaven’s Gate. As the name suggests, Slaughterhouse 78 is located in the premises of the Holešovice market, where a real slaughterhouse used to be.

“This is a very different situation than what I experienced at Slaughterhouse 78, because at that time we got a space that did not even remotely resemble a theater. Whereas here we have a decently equipped theater in the center of Prague right away. Although after three months I can say that starting on a green field is in many ways easier than building on the work of a predecessor,” the artist who is currently changing the Archa Theater to Archa+ talks about the differences between the spaces.

Will his tenure have a fairytale ending?

At the end of 2023, its current director decided to leave the management of the Archa Theatre Ondrej Hrab and among those addressed was a former fairytale prince and an experienced “leader” from Slaughterhouse 78.

“I didn’t think of it myself. Ondřej Hrab approached me two years ago saying that he wants to quit managing the theater at the end of 2023. When he offered it, I took some time to think about it. After some time and many conversations with colleagues, I decided to accept the offer,” the former director of Jatek 78 describes the conversations at that time and adds that at that time he did not even think about changing the institution, because he was completely immersed in his work in Holešovice.

In a second breath, however, he adds that he somehow sensed the approaching end. “I am of the opinion that there should be regular changes in the management of cultural institutions. I’m not saying exactly frequent, but certainly more regularly than what usually happens. I personally perceive that the management of the organization begins to lose a little of its initial vigor and enthusiasm after some time, everything begins to slip into a routine. And that’s never good,” reveals the artist for the website tanecniaktuality.cz.

Do you already know who we are talking about? The former representative of the prince is, of course Štěpán Kubišta.

Štěpán Kubišta has a really bold plan. In Arše+, he would like to attract mainly people in the age range of 15-29 years. “We want to get young people away from the screens and into the theater,” it is in the very title of the interview that Kubišta gave at the beginning of April this year. Whether his tenure at the theater will have a fairytale ending remains to be seen.

Resources: jatka78.cz, tanecniaktuality.cz, tvguru.cz