Welcome by the SND Drama Director Roman Polák
This year's EuroKontext.sk festival theme is The Wall. And not only the Berlin wall, but all walls of misunderstanding which divide modern society and cause misunderstandings, as well as often causing aggression and cruelty. Even though the Berlin wall no longer stands, we build walls of misunderstanding further - and not only in Slovakia, but throughout Europe in its entirety. An invisible wall still exists between eastern and western Europe - even within the European Union. The SND’s Eurokontext.sk international theatre festival is of the ambition of breaking down these invisible walls through 13 festival stagings from nine countries.
We have invited theatres from countries connected by historical contexts, social movements, and in particular the experience of regime transformation - from totalitarian to democratic. The experience of this change from various perspectives – be it cultural policy, theatre as a breeding ground for political changes in the country, artists as the nation's elite or the value of culture and art in the capitalist world – is depicted in individual productions with highly diverse and distinctive forms. They will also be consideration of these changes and the translation of them into lives of ordinary citizens.
The world today is full of conflict situations and communities that are convinced of their truth and force it upon others. We believe that the festival’s stagings will create the feeling of catharsis for the audience and convey primary themes relevant to nations of both the past and the present.
For example, the developments in Ukraine and its conflict with Russia, we are naturally concerned and are re-opening a Pandora's box of aggression and the tendency to control others - by force of arms and with the power of backstage politics. Discovering the authentic experiences of people from Maidan on our stage can help us understand the historical turning point that took place in a neighbouring country.
And as Slovak thespians created space for social debate in November '89 and the change from an authoritarian regime to a democratic one, likewise we now have the opportunity to welcome those is in a similar situation to the SND stage.
The Slovak National Theatre – a theatre of the centre of Central Europe - in so doing becomes a platform for confrontation and reflection during the eight day festival: artistic, political and social - Central, Eastern and Western Europe. The platform for meetings of cultures with different forms of theatre, thought and poetry.
We look forward to seeing you at Eurokontext.sk!
SND Drama Director Roman Polák