Albert Čuba builds a Czech theatre factory for half a billion crowns

The founder of Ostrava's successful Divadlo Mír, Albert Čuba, told the Money Maker podcast about plans that go far beyond an ordinary theatre: he wants to turn Ostrava into a genuine “theatre factory” and build a brand-new stage from scratch costing 400–500 million crowns.

Čuba started out with the popular troupe “Tři tygři” (Three Tigers) and turned Divadlo Mír, housed in the building of the historic Mír cinema in Vítkovice, into a profitable business. But he has no intention of stopping there. In the near future the theatre will gain a second venue — Odeon, set to open in the disused Vítek cinema.

According to the theatre's operations director, Veronika Kusá, the current auditorium seats 340, while the new Odeon stage is designed for around 600 — almost double. The renovation will require tens of millions of crowns, with completion planned for 2027. While Divadlo Mír specialises in comedy, Odeon will be geared towards large-scale productions with striking stage design and a strong musical element — and, unlike the main venue, it will also host other troupes and corporate events.

But Čuba's real ambition is a separate project: a brand-new stage built “on a green field”, with a budget of 400–500 million crowns. The idea is to turn Ostrava into something like a Czech Broadway — a production hub for theatrical shows that would then go on tour across the whole country.

The plot of land for the future building already exists; it is to rise not far from Divadlo Mír. Financing, however, is trickier: although Čuba's theatre enterprise posted an operating profit (EBITDA) of around 20 million crowns last year, that isn't nearly enough for a half-billion-crown construction project out of its own funds.

So the entrepreneur is looking for an investor — ideally a billionaire. According to him, talks with several businesspeople are already under way, and some have even promised to take part, but many remain cautious, assuming that a theatre is automatically a charity case. “That's not true. This is a business that can make money. I'm not shy about saying that,” Čuba stressed.