PRAGUE – The theater backstage is experiencing a shake-up. A well-known actress quit after a series of problems in one of the theaters, and the management has already prepared a replacement for her. What happened and why was the quick decision made?
It has been quite stuffy in the Slovak National Theater for several weeks now. The resignations from the management took care of it, which made more than one person angry. Roman Poláčik, Martin Šalacha, Daniel Žulčák, Anna Magdaléna Hroboňová lost their places and Táňa Pauhofová left voluntarily, while all of them had to agree on external cooperation. Later, another renowned actor – Emil Horváth – joined them. And the Czech theater environment was also affected by an unexpected change.
Actress Vilma Cibulková, who recently faced health problems and several work complications, will no longer continue one of her theater roles, the portal informs Extra.cz. The management decided to act – and they already have a replacement for the well-known actress. Cibulková tried to calm down the situation after the medialized collapse and told the public that it was nothing serious.
Despite this, however, problems piled up and resulted in a decision that deprived the actress of another engagement. In the theater where she performed in the play Pink Wedding, they decided not to wait any longer. For a long time, the actress explained her health problems as Lyme disease, but behind the scenes, according to information from the theater environment, there was talk that the real problem might be elsewhere. In the end, the decision was made in the Strašnické theater to end the cooperation.
“They fired Vilma Cibulková and replaced her,” a reliable source close to the theater management stated for the aforementioned portal. The owner of the theater, Ála Šebková, spoke very reservedly about the whole matter and refused to comment on specific details. “I’m sorry, but it’s an internal matter. I’m protecting us, the theater, and basically Mrs. Vilma as well. That’s why I won’t comment further on it,” said Ála Šebková for Extra.cz. What is certain, however, is that the show must go on.
Although the original posters with Cibulková are still circulating on the Internet, the new name already appears on the official website. Svetlana Nálepková joins the production. “I signed the contract today. Míša and Mrs. Ála approached me saying that Vilma had some kind of problem. What, I wasn’t looking for that. It’s none of my business.” the actress confirmed. “However, they said they agreed with her that she would not continue the game.” Nálepková agreed to take on the role mainly because the theater has contracted a number of performances throughout the republic.
In her new role, she will appear in front of the audience for the first time at the end of February 2026, after which she will have a series of performances that were originally postponed precisely because of Vilma Cibulková’s health.
