Results

The 2015 edition was convened and hosted by the SND Drama with the overarching theme of The Wall. It became the headline not merely in terms of marketing, as the construction The Wall in front of the Theatre, but also proved to be a powerful leitmotif for the Festival productions. On the one hand, the SND Drama thus naturally responded to the impulses related to the anniversary of the fall of the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall. On the other hand, it reflected on the global situation that repeatedly gives rise to new walls in acuity, acceptance and empathy.

The International Theatre Festival Eurokontext.sk 2015 showcased 13 productions from 9 countries including Slovakia, that have drawn over 4 thousand viewers.

 

The main programme – international productions

Whilst in 2014 the featured productions came largely from the SND partner theatres, the Drama Company decided to invite to the 2014 edition more attractive theatres – those more appealing in terms of drama. It was made possible in part because of the cooperation with the International Visegrad Fund and the focus on the Eastern partnerships, and also with the Goethe Institute, the Austrian Culture Forum and the European Theatre Convention (ETC).

The above support enabled to include in the Festival programme a very current theme, the Maidan Diaries directed by Andriy May from The Ivan Franko National Theatre in Kiev, as well as the visual feria Madman’s Diary, as co-production with The Kote Marjanishvili Theatre in Tbilisi and the Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione from Modena. The Celibate by the Viennese Burgtheater and the Divided Sky by the Staatstheater in Dresden became the Festival framework productions. Both works focused in history and articulated the theme of the wall and division of countries, families, married couples, and lovers. They spoke directly and openly about political past and a responsibility of an individual for their deeds, about national guilt – if it can at all be called so. The two featured performances launched major partnerships for the SND Drama company and more intensive communication with the Burgtheater that currently owns the production of the year and is among the very best in Europe. The other consequence was the follow o with the director Tillman Kohler from Dresden who will work with the SND Drama. The communication acquired further momentum also with the Hungarian theatre Katona József Színház. Their production The Gypsies featured for the first time in Bratislava during this Festival. Teatr Dramatyczny from Warsaw, under the artistic guidance by Tadeusz Słobodzianek presented their production Young Stalin that touched upon the historical theme of biographical nature reaching to the present political context and times. The theme of family past and guilt, crossing the wall culminated with the production The Stone brought by the National Theatre in Prague and directed by Michal Dočekal. The production Why Eve? was an exclusive taster of contemporary Belgian drama. A number of theatre-makers identified the piece as communicative Festival performance with cultural and emotional reach.
The Festival programme included after-show discussions with performers and members of production team that were keenly received by the audiences.

 

SND productions in confrontation with international context

Productions by the SND Drama – subtitled in English – were a major part of the Eurokontext.sk 2015 programme. The SND welcomed to the Festival a number of international guests – the director Vladimir Serre from France, the dramaturges Marta Ljubková and Jan Tošovský from the Czech Republic, diplomats and representatives of cultural institutes, as well as theatre critics - Andrew Haydon from the UK, Simona Dieselhorts from Germany, Anna Szymonik from Poland, Tamás Jaszay from Hungary, and Žaneta Stapevska from Slovenia.

The main programme included a panel discussion on the Festival theme, The Wall, with members of the featured theatres. It brought together the directors Tillman Kohler (Staatstheater, Dresden), Andriy Mayi (The I. Franko NT Kiev), Gábor Maté (Katona József Színház, Budapest), Tadeus Słobodzianek (Drama Theatre, Warsaw), the dramaturge Marta Ljubková (NT, Prague) and the debate host Roman Polák (SND, Bratislava).

In the spirit of the leitmotif, The Wall, the SND Drama held an exhibition of photographic portraits from the battles at Maidan made by the young photographer and director Robert Tappert what was on display in the Atrium of the SND New Building.