Is the purpose of theater to "hold a mirror up to nature," in the words of Shakespeare's Hamlet? If so, does science theater also hold a mirror up to science, to scientists exploring the mysteries of nature?
The second FZU Theater Days are coming in November 2026. Interested in collaborating? Write to the organizer, novakovajn [at] fzu [dot] cz (Julie Nekola Nováková).
On November 7 and 8, 2025, the first annual Behind the Curtain of Science: FZU Theater Days event took place at the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences with the support of the IOCB Tech Foundation. Visitors were able to see the premiere of the original drama Marťané (The Martians) starring Miroslav Táborský, the best stand-up performances from the FameLab competition, the one-man show Mr. Tumor, the dance of elementary particles Výlet do černé díry (Trip into a Black Hole), and the famous drama Copenhagen by Michael Frayn, directed by Jakub Špalek (Spolek Kašpar: Klubovna and Divadlo v Celetné).
Below, you can find a program brochure for the play The Martians, including the full text of the play, which is available under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). This license allows the work to be freely shared and adapted, provided that the original creator (Julie Nekola Nováková, FZU CAS) is credited, the license is retained, and the work is used for non-commercial purposes (e.g., performances at schools or freely accessible science festivals; for commercial use, prior consent must be obtained at pr [at] fzu [dot] cz (pr[at]fzu[dot]cz)).
You can also browse a photo gallery from the event below.
Testimonials
"The performance The Martians as part of the Theater Days of the Institute of Physics brilliantly brought the career, work and personal dilemmas of Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard closer to the packed audience. The experience of the performance was further enhanced by Miroslav Táborský's unique portrayal of Szilard." – Pavel Baran, President of the Science Council of the Czech Academy of Sciences (for Československý časopis pro fyziku, translated from Czech)
"Presenting science through art is a great idea, because a relationship – including a relationship to science – is built through emotions. Art has the power to convey emotions. Miroslav Táborský's voice was very captivating, and thanks to the play I learned about Leó Szilárd, whom I had not known before. In addition, the play nicely showed the ethical dilemmas that scientists faced and sometimes still face today." – Vladislava Vojtíšková, Chief Editor of VedaVyzkum.cz (for Československý časopis pro fyziku, translated from Czech)
Read Jana Žďárská's recap of the full theater days (in Czech):