PROTI ZDI / AGAINST THE WALL
The most intense form of fulfilment of the leitmotif of this year in the newest version of the story of “the first female rebel of European drama”, presented shortly after its premiere in Bratislava. The breathtaking finale of the 22nd Flora Theatre Festival in the forceful staging of the director Ondrej Spišák!
The production is followed by a discussion.

directed by Ondrej Spišák 

translated by Ľubomír Feldek
dramaturgy Darina Abrahámová
stage design František Lipták
costumes Katarína Hollá
music Pjoni (Jonatan Pastirčák) & Katarzia (Katarína Kubošiová)

premiere 14 and 15 April 2018

characters and cast
Antigone Monika Potokárová
Ismena Dominika Kavaschová
Creonte Ján Koleník
Eurydice Gabriela Dzuríková
Haemon Richard Autner
Guard, Messenger Ondrej Kovaľ
Teiresias Božidara Turzonovová
Leader of the Chorus Štefan Bučko
Chorus Zuzana Kocúriková, Dušan Tarageľ Michal Režný g. a., Natália Germániová g. a.
Guards Kristián Kozmenko g. a., Ivan Černý g. a.
Little Girl Gréta Amina Tábory g. a., Bianka Jarábková g. a., Klára Ščevíková g. a.
Katarzia Katarína Kubošiaková
Pjoni Jonatan Pastirčák

Ondrej Spišák (1964) is the son of the theatre and film director Karol Spišák and the older brother of Michal Spišák, also a director. He graduated from directing at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre at DAMU Academy in Prague with his variation on the Painted on Glass musical entitled Džezinbed, which he set into a bed on stage. His directing work stands between drama and puppet theatre, between working at home and abroad. He has worked on Slovak stages (Bábkové divadlo Žilina, DSNP Martin, Bratislavské bábkové divadlo, Divadlo Andreja Bagara Nitra, Divadlo Jána Palárika in Trnava, Radošínské naivné divadlo), on Czech ones (Divadlo Petra Bezruče in Ostrava, Moravské divadlo Olomouc) as well as on Polish ones. His production of Tadeusz Slobodzianek's play Merlin at the National Theatre in Warsaw became the production of the year in Poland. He was the head and main creative director of the puppet show theatre Staré divadlo Karola Spišáka in Nitra between 2007 and 2016. He currently works as a freelancer. His name is primarily connected with Teatro Tatro theatre which he co-founded in 1990 and which represents a very specific type of theatre organization, a somewhat modern type of travelling theatre. One finds both talent and a feel for theatricality and artistic inventiveness in the work of Spišák, thanks to which he moves through the text and creates transparent, coherent and especially enthralling theatre performance. Although the humour often verges on rowdiness and cynicism, it always calls for more deeper reflection.

Slovak National Theatre (SND) Bratislava began writing its history in 1920. It currently consists of three permanent ensembles – drama, opera and ballet – which use the historical building on Hviezdoslavovo námestie and the new building opened in 2007. A number of renowned theatre directors stood at the head of the theatre after the War (Peter Mikulík, Pavol Haspra, Miloš Pietor, Ľubomír Vajdička). It was consequently led by the remarkable director Roman Polák from 2013 until 2017. Under his direction the theatre staged, prosadily alongside classic and contemporary foreign texts, texts by Slovak authors such as Klimáček, Olekšák, Uličiansky, Majling, Schulczová, etc. The dramaturgy of the theatre section directly initiated the creation of original plays (e.g. Leni, Slovo Válkovo, Bál, Labyrinty a raje Jána Amosa), which thanks to their provocative social-political theme, often generated stormy reactions from the audience and fruitful discussion. An example would be Gindl's docudrama about the wild 1990s Carpathian Thriller under Polák's direction or the audience favourite criminal story with a political background Elites, both of which have been featured at the festival. The festival audience also had the opportunity to see Polák's amazing production with Martin Huba and Dušan Jamrich Embers (2008). The director Michal Vajdička became the new artistic director as of 2018. Od roku 2018 je novým uměleckým šéfem režisér Michal Vajdička, nedávný umělecký šéf Dejvického divadla.