The Whale

ABOUT

Stage director Aminata Keita
Translator Markéta Kočí Machačíková
With Jiří Sedláček as Charlie

A Czech premiere of the acclaimed play by American playwright Samuel D. Hunter, recipient of several major theatre awards including the Drama Desk Special Award. The 2022 film adaptation, directed by Darren Aronofsky, won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and Brendan Fraser received the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Charlie.

On the outskirts of a small town in Idaho, a reclusive man named Charlie—morbidly obese and weighing nearly 300 kilograms—spends his days teaching online creative writing courses, never turning on his camera. Isolated in his apartment, his heart and lungs weakened by his condition, he eats himself toward a slow death. His only visitor is Liz, a nurse and his closest friend. When his health begins to fail irreversibly, Charlie decides to reach out to his estranged teenage daughter Ellie—a brilliant but bitter 17-year-old he hasn’t seen in years. Can a final attempt at connection redeem a life of regret?

The Whale is a raw, emotionally charged drama about one man’s last chance at reconciliation and grace. It’s not just a story about physical weight, but a profound exploration of the human spirit in its most fragile form. With unexpected moments of humour  and heartbreak, the play asks us to consider how we see those living on the margins, the relationships that define us, and the quiet struggles we carry.

Each character grapples with their own loneliness and regret, but at its heart, the story is about Charlie’s desperate need to be loved before time runs out. Painful as the search for connection may be, it remains the most transformative of human experiences.

Czech premiere on 18 April 2026 at the Antonín Dvořák Theatre