TILL THE STONES COME… A humorous reflection on the cultural phenomenon that is rock music and one of its poster boys – the Rolling Stones. A collective of actors led by dramaturge Daniel Majling has created a text that is both funny and polemical, sentimental and sarcastic. The personal is mixed with the fictional – the actors’ confessed love for this musical legend is set against the backdrop of drama taking place just before the long-awaited concert is about to begin. And even though most of the songs cannot be played on stage due to copyright issues, the rock music energy still flows from the stage. ‘The Rolling Stones are truly the most iconic band – the Beatles have broken up and no other band has been active for so long. In addition, the Stones have shown us how they deal with their members getting married, growing old and more recently, sadly, also with departed colleagues. We knew that looking at rock & roll through the Stone’s lens might give us the most comprehensive picture. Of course, the fact that we have Robert Roth in the ensemble – a lifelong die-hard fan and admirer of Mick Jagger – also played a big part,’ says Majling, the production’s dramaturge. An upcoming Rolling Stones concert brings together security guards, roadies, promoters and the fans, new and old. Each has a personal story connecting them with the rock & roll legend.
MATÚŠ BACHYNEC (1991) studied direction under Roman Polák at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, where he also completed his ArtD degree and now works as an assistant in the Directing Studio. During his studies, he presented his work at festivals in Slovakia and abroad. For the Slovak National Theatre, he staged the documentary Natálka as part of the Stop Extremism series; Cabaret of Normalisation or Prayer for Marta, an intimate production about the life and work of Marta Kubišová; he combined the works of Preissová and Tajovský into a single production Sin/Her Stepdaughter; and Milada based on the life and death of Milada Horáková. Besides directing, he also writes theatre texts and stage adaptations, translates and collaborates with a number of theatres in Slovakia.
THE DRAMA SECTION OF THE SLOVAK NATIONAL THEATRE was launched 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. Between 2012 and 2017, the artistic head was Roman Polák, who implemented his dramaturgical vision of open, socially- and politically-engaged drama. In January 2018 he was succeeded as artistic head by director Michal Vajdička, whose production of Before Sunset was successfully shown at the Divadlo festival. In September 2019, however, Vajdička was suddenly dismissed from office. Since 2021, the Drama Section 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 Section has regularly taken part in theatre festivals in the Czech Republic, Toruń, Budapest, Bucharest, Ljubljana and Vienna.
