Professional Foul

"Ethics is a very complicated business." The Czech Theater's spring production presents Tom Stoppard's play Professional Foul. The story unfolds in Czechoslovakia in 1977 and follows professors, dissidents, sports stars, and StB agents. A philosophy professor arrives for a weekend conference in Prague intending to be "a bit naughty" — but the political regime soon forces him to reconsider everything he thought about morality, ethics, and decent behaviour. The play offers a largely humorous perspective on the clash between unrelenting reality and the rigid stance of established morality.

Stoppard originally wrote the play for the BBC as part of the "Prisoners of Conscience" year organized by Amnesty International. In 1977, he visited his native country, befriended Václav Havel, and was deeply moved by the story of Czechoslovak dissidents — Professional Foul is one of the works he dedicated to them, and he dedicated the play directly to Havel.

Tom Stoppard was born as Tomáš Sträussler in Zlín, where his father worked for the Baťa shoe company. In 1939, he fled with his family from the Nazis; after the war, he lived in England and as Tom Stoppard became a renowned playwright (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, several Tony Awards). As a screenwriter, he was nominated for an Oscar (Brazil, 1985) and won one (Shakespeare in Love, 1998). The performance at Vesna is an opportunity to see this play live on stage less than 100 km from Stoppard's birthplace.