Tatarka

TATARKA the theatre project is based on the literary works of Dominik Tatarka, specifically on the novels Wicker Chairs, The Demon of Consent, and Alone Against the Night. It traces the fate of Tatarka’s alter ego, Bartolomej Slzička, through four epochs of the 20th century: as a student in Paris in 1938 after the Munich Agreement, as a national writer in Czechoslovakia in 1956, as a dissident during the late-communist period in 1978, and finally in May 1989 as an old man who just misses the long-awaited turn of events. The production explores the themes of demagogic thinking, personal freedom and the inner struggle of the individual against social pressure. Director Dávid Paška uses Tatarka’s literary poetics to create a timeless image that reflects not only the past but also the present. Tatarka captures part of the author’s literary cosmos in its infinitely associative, allegorical and even dreamlike mood. Although much of Tatarka’s work cannot be separated from the period it references, in its more general ideas and aspirations, it becomes timeless and piercing. But is the current society ready for Tatarka? And is this the freedom he imagined and longed for? Or have brand new demons emerged that would make Tatarka rebel again?

 Director Dávid Paška resisted the temptation to create a pathos-filled portrait of the writer and instead brought a visually and content-rich production that is extremely topical.
JANA MOČKOVÁ, Denník N

 Paška turns the production’s end into an open appeal, an exclamation point with a question mark to our times – how is it possible that we are still falling to the same demons that Tatarka described?
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DÁVID PAŠKA (1999) is a Slovak director, playwright and writer, known for his interest in literary adaptations and post-dramatic theatre. His work often explores the relationship between an individual and society, using associative and allegorical elements. Paška studied theatre directing at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna (University of Music and Performing Arts) under Anna Maria Krassnigg, David Bösch, Dušan David Pařízek and Martin Kušej, among others. His works are characterised by a deep dive into the psyche of his characters and a reflection on contemporary social phenomena. With his permanent artistic team (set designer Julius Leon Seiler, costume designer Maria-Lena Poindl), he has directed productions in leading European theatres: one everyman at the Radu Stanca National Theatre, Romania (2022); NAT.U.R.AL in Linz, Austria (2023); Don Karlos in Kasematten Wiener Neustadt, Austria (2023); Orwell’s 1984 in Schauspielhaus Salzburg, Austria (2024); Tatarka in the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava (2024); Snow negatives: Wetzler, Vrba, Schulman, Lux – co-production of the Ján Palárik Theater in Trnava with the Jan Kochanowski Theater in Opole and the Academy for Theater and Digitality in Dortmund, 2025).

DRAMA COMPANY OF THE SLOVAK NATIONAL THEATRE was established in 1920. The famous tradition of exceptional acting personalities who worked in the theatre for a whole century is continued by today’s company under the leadership of the most recent artistic heads – Roman Polák (2012–2017) and Michal Vajdička (2018–2019). Since 2021, the Drama Company has been headed by dramaturge Miriam Kičiňová. The theatre’s repertoire consists of classic plays, productions of original plays, adaptations of prose works, and the mapping of the blind spots in Slovak history. In the last few years, the Slovak National Theatre’s Drama Company has regularly taken part in theatre festivals in Toruń, Hradec Králové, Zlín, Brno, Olomouc, Pilsen and Nitra, as well as showing guest productions at the National Theatre in Prague, as well as in Brno, Budapest, Bucharest, Ljubljana and Vienna.