We Lost Stalin

Originally a comic grotesque by French authors Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin, this play depicts the absurd events in the Kremlin in 1953 following the death of Soviet dictator J. V. Stalin. Stalin is dead – and members of the Soviet Politburo immediately engage in fierce battles over his succession. Who should it be? The one who left behind the most millions of corpses? The one who is best at executing, torturing, and extorting? Each of them has something to offer. This production, the opening premiere of the 2025/26 season at the Bolka Polívka Theatre, manages to make jokes about facts that were part of humanity's deepest tragedy – communism and its practices. The production is directed by Roman Polák, with Jan Kolařík in the role of L. P. Beria, the role of Nikita Khrushchev alternating between Michal Isteník and Ctirad Götz, and opera singer Linda Ballová also in the cast. The dramaturg of the production is Vladimír Procházka. The play is based on the same-titled comic novel, which also inspired a British film of the same name from 2017.