12. The (Forgotten) Genius of Jára Cimrman

Last weekend we were invited by a couple of our friends to attend a play at the Cimrman Theatre. I was very excited for a few reasons. First, I had not been to the theatre in ages. Second, the play was in English, which would be a welcome change from my day to day life. And third, it was a Jára Cimrman play.

I was first introduced to Mr. Cimrman a couple of weeks ago, when my colleagues and I were discussing whether the Czechs or British had the more famous celebrities. So I knew that Cimrman was a fictional character, who was famous for a hundred accomplishments that were basically one big hoax. So I was very interested to see what this play would be about. It was a very popular play called The Stand-in ( Záskok in Czech).

After a few minutes of the play I rea- lized that I was watching Shakespeare’s Hamlet without the actual character of Hamlet. The supporting characters paraphrased all of Hamlet’s lines, even the famous lines, as sort of „Well, Hamlet would say…“

It was such a sidesplitting show that I laughed out loud several times. Or, as my son would say It reminded me

my favorite comedians

LOL.

in the UK, Monty Python. Only Monty Python could get away with such a quirky story.

In particular, The Stand-in reminded me of Life of Brian, a film in which an ordinary man is mistaken for the son of God. So the whole film is like this play, where the humour is not only about what is happening on stage, but also the audience knows the historical premise. we know the basic story of Hamlet, and yet it is being shown to us without the eponymous character. It was brilliant.

The Stand-in was also an ingenious and creative way to the myth of Cimrman himself. It was a story centered on a person who’s never actually been presented or seen, just like Cimrman. I can definitely see why the Czechs love this play so much. I have certainly become a huge fan.