Bohdana Malik

Biography

Bohdana Malik is a graduate of the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where in 1999 she completed her master’s degree at the Department of Arts Management. Her teachers included Doubravka Svobodová, Jindřich Gregorini, Jiří Srstka and Tamara Čuříková. While still a student, she was interested in economics and attended lectures on theatre management, budget setting, accounting and tax issues pertaining to artistic staff, and she also worked as an arts management secretary. Moreover, she was a member of the production team of the musicals Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, participating in casting and drawing up of the budget in collaboration with the producers in London.
Following a year of studies and work in Australia, she joined American Express, where she was in charge of VIP clients, for whom she organised travel all over the world, being responsible for the projects’ budget, programme and conclusion. As a contractor, her task was to arrange for the clients the best programme at the most reasonable price.
In 2013, she was invited by Michal Lang, the newly appointed director of the Divadlo pod Palmovkou theatre in Prague to assume the post of economic manager. During a difficult and operationally non-standard period, with the theatre being destroyed by floods and following the departure of its previous managers, it was necessary to stabilise the company in terms of finance and personnel, and create conditions for its artistic and technical operation. The situation required great tact, exceptional communication and organisational skills, the ability to promptly and expediently identify problems, to propose solutions and to set up a team for effective action. During the period of crisis management, Bohdana Malik manifested her ability to carry out teamwork and also attain consensus with both the theatre employees and the grantor, the Municipality of Prague. Divadlo pod Palmovkou was duly reconstructed and reopened in the autumn of 2015.

In November 2015, Bohdana Malik began collaborating with the National Theatre Opera and the State Opera. Initially working as an economist, in February 2017 she was appointed head of the economic department. As the budget manager, she was in charge of the company’s finance, drew up budgets and monitored the economic department’s operation. During that vital period, it was primarily necessary to set up an in-house communication system, as well as a new manner of the budget procedure, to devise functioning organisational mechanisms, to implement an efficient mode of communication relating to the needs of the individual artistic companies and stage operations. Tackling the problems, which is imperative for the company’s successful transfer to the State Opera, represented such a challenge that in June 2019 Bohdana Malik accepted the offer to become the administrative manager of the National Theatre Opera and State Opera.
At the present time, her main objective is to secure the opera company’s smooth moving to the State Opera building and launch its proper artistic and technical operation. Of equal importance is the planning of the forthcoming theatre seasons. Over the long-term, Bohdana Malik will focus on building up of a functional model of contracting foreign teams, thus establishing effective business models reaching out beyond the Czech Republic.

In her leisure time, Bohdana Malik assists in financial management of a non-profit organisation, which mainly prepares literary and theatre activities in English for children and teenagers. Her hobbies include gardening and travel. Bohdana is married and has a daughter.