He was set on a sports career but in the end found his way to acting. We know him from films and television series, and theater lovers also from the stage. With one of his theater roles (Halpern and Johnson), he even travels to Prague. Vlado Černý has portrayed dozens of very diverse characters, but he is also a skilled theater manager and has led the Astorka Korzo ’90 Theater for three decades. His guiding principle is simple: an actor must bring something alive to the stage and the screen, something the audience won’t forget.
You are an actor, but also a long-time theater director. From your perspective, what has changed in the industry over the years?
Astorka Korzo ’90 has had a clear dramaturgical direction since its beginnings: to stage works of world classics with relevance for today, to bring to the stage plays by European and world playwrights that had never been produced in Slovakia before, and to stage original works by Slovak authors or adaptations of works by Slovak writers. That is how we built our brand, and the audience expects it from us. What has changed significantly, however, is the economic situation. The costs of producing plays have increased greatly in every aspect – materials, labor (costumes, sets, make-up, artists’ fees) – and in my view everything has sped up, which makes it harder to meet time limits. Actors have less time for thorough preparation than they did in 1990. The same is true for television shows and films. Those who cannot keep up with the set pace are out.
Has the taste of audiences changed as well? Which plays resonate most with them today?
Audiences usually gravitate toward cheerful comedies. Fortunately, in our theater we try to stage meaningful comedies with a critical look at the present or the past. Serious dramas struggle with attendance, even if they are excellently written and give the audience a chance to see outstanding performances or excellent direction. If our comedies reach an average of 100 or more performances, we are very pleased if a more serious production reaches its 50th performance. Still, I think it is important to stage them from time to time, especially in theaters supported by the state or funded by the Slovak Arts Council. Fortunately, our founding entity is the self-governing region, or Župa. We cannot expect miracles, but they do their best to create good conditions for us, of course within their means.
Slovak society is not experiencing a very calm period right now. How does this affect theater work?
It seems to me that there is enormous chaos, tension, and division in society all around us, and of course this also affects theater work. We are looking for different ways to respond to the present, and I think the best way is through a quality production. Some political higher-ups think they should run the arts according to their own ideas and the ideas of their voters, which is a big mistake. Instead, they should create the best possible conditions for the development of the arts and culture, in the broadest and fairest sense.
Halpern and Johnson
You started your acting career in a film about Jánošík. Was this shoot decisive for your future acting path?
Even before Jánošík I acted in the film Havko, where I took care of a dog with a broken paw. Then I happened to meet director Paľo Bielik, I broke a window in his house and he caught me. Instead of giving me a beating, he invited me to an audition, and I got the role of the young Jánošík. It definitely played a key role in my decision to become an actor. The shoot was a lot of fun for me – riding horses, catching an eagle in a net – and I met my future outstanding professors there. Karol L. Zachar, who played my grandfather in Jánošík, and Viliam Záborský, at whom I threw clumps of clay in the film. Záborský remembered it very well, so I had to prepare carefully for his classes. I also met the very kind Mr. Króner, and today I like to joke that I am one of the last living actors who still acted with Andrej Bagar.
You were an active athlete. What did sport give you in your acting and managerial career? Do you still have time for it?
I come from a family of athletes, so I was led to sports from an early age. My father was an excellent modern pentathlete and water polo player, and my mother was a successful swimmer. I competed at the Czechoslovak Championships in modern pentathlon, where I placed 5th and was a member of the championship team. In my acting career I especially used horseback riding and fencing. I still do sports regularly today. It is no longer modern pentathlon, but I regularly play hockey, sometimes go swimming, and once a year I get to go horseback riding. I have to keep in shape – theater demands it.
Although our nations have been separated for more than two decades, cultural cooperation fortunately still works. What has pleased you most in this area recently?
We continue to cooperate with theaters, especially in Prague. Astorka regularly performs as a guest at the Švanda Theater, the Bez zábradlí Theater, and Studio DVA. At Astorka we hold an annual festival where Czech guests perform. We shoot films and series in Czechia, and Czech actors act here in Slovakia. Various co-productions are being made, so in fact nothing has changed. I am always pleased when I see a good Czech film or good theater. Most recently, when our performance Halpern and Johnson was well received by audiences in Prague – we perform it together with my long-time friend and colleague Milan Kňažko – we felt their sympathy through sincere, long-lasting applause. At the same time, I feel sad that many Czech and Slovak colleagues with whom I had the honor of working are no longer with us. It is a long list, but I especially think almost daily of Milan Lasica, Július Satinský, Marián Zednikovič, and my friend, the important member of the famous Činoherní klub, Petr Čepek. He greatly influenced my early acting career, and even a small compliment from him kept me on cloud nine for a long time.
The author is a staff writer for Deník.
CV BOX
Vlado Černý (born June 21, 1959, in Bratislava) is a Slovak actor, manager, and former active athlete.
From childhood he was close to sport (his father was a pentathlete, his mother a swimmer), but television soon noticed him and he began getting cast as a child actor.
He graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, acted in the New Stage Drama Ensemble, and since 1995 has been director of the Astorka Korzo ’90 Theater, which he is a founding member of. He has played dozens of film and television roles and dozens of stage productions. In the last decade he has appeared in films such as Husband for an Hour, The Indian, and Villa Lucia.
He is married, has three children, two of whom he raised with his second wife.
The Procrastinator
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