On October 5-7, 2023, the jubilee 20th edition of the Zuzana Kardelisová Theater Festival took place in Kysáč, Serbia. The festival, which is named after a prominent native, a local teacher and a passionate volunteer actress, is a tribute to women fighting for their position and mission in society. It was created by the initiative of local volunteers Ján Privizer, Ján Kohút and Anna Chrťanova Leskovac and became a partner event of the Anička Jurkovičová Festival in Nové Mesto nad Váhom. Although the festival is organized in Serbia, the theater ensembles are presented exclusively in the Slovak language. This year, the members of the expert jury were dramaturg and director Svetlana Gašková, puppeteer Milina Chrťanová and long-time volunteer actress Jasmina Pavlovová.
Slovakia was represented at the event by the laureate of the Anička Jurkovičová Festival, a small theater from Starý Tekov with a play by the Czech author Petr Strnad, How to Cook a Frog. The ensemble, whose backbone consists of husband and wife Ria and Petr Mészároš, brought to Serbia an ironically comedic drama about a woman who was looking for love in life, but ended up in the grip of manipulation. After taking a cocktail of a large number of drugs, the main character finds herself on the verge of death agony before the last court, which is supposed to decide her future fate. The entire life of a woman unfolds before the viewer's eyes, to whom all the male characters are humorously recorded by her actor, but also her life partner. The viewer thus suddenly becomes a member of the court jury, which has to decide on the guilt or innocence of the main character. The functional minimalist stage, which allows the actors to easily transition between the real and unreal worlds, gives the performance not only the perfect visual magic, but also the necessary dramatic dynamism. The production, directed by Valentín Kozaňák and dramaturgy by Vladimír Dubeň, eventually won the prize for the best performance, and the actors won the prize for the best female and male performance.
Slovak Theater VHV – SKUS h. Janko Čmelík from Stara Pazová presented himself as part of the festival with a play by contemporary Serbian playwright Miloš Nikolič Kováča. The director and actor Alexander Bako reached for a conversational comedy, which probably became most visible in Slovakia due to the affair of Marián Kotleba, the zhúban from Bánská Bystrica, who interrupted the performance of the Theater Ensemble Ján Chalúpka from Brezno, allegedly because of vulgar expressions. A conversational comedy about three blacksmiths, a German, a Serb and a Russian, whose fates have been tangled up by the war in such a way that each of them is the father of the other's child, it evokes laughter, but also sympathy. Although the heroes of the story learn the cruel truth that they are not the biological fathers of their sons, they eventually understand that the child's real parent is the one who raises him, who watches over him day and night and who shapes his personality. The female element in this production is represented by Marína Baková in the role of Lujza Schmidt, the German's wife. The mature acting of the ensemble and the very balanced performances of the main actors Janko Šarkézy and Igor Piskla are admirable. The realistic set had all the hallmarks of a professional theatrical script. Kováča's performance won the prize for the best scenography, team performance and a special prize from the Kysáč Cultural Center.
With the absurd comedy of the popular Bulgarian author Christo Bojčeva, the Titanic Orchestra shined on the home stage of the Volunteer Theater KC Kysáč under the direction of Branislav Čeman. The dreamy story of four homeless people spending time waiting for a train at an abandoned station is reminiscent of the Titanic orchestra playing waltzes on the sinking ship until the last moment. The so-called "former" people maintain the last remnants of their existence with the help of alcohol until an illusionist falls among them from a passing expressway, who can open up the world of dreams and illusions to them. Bojčev's play, evoking Beckett's Waiting for Godot, is full of poetic metaphors and naive lyricism. Branislav Čeman's brilliant directorial work, supported by Petr Čáni's lighting design, was able to keep the viewer in suspense from the beginning to the end. The production was rewarded with an acting award for the character of Ľubka for Andrea Miháľová and awards for direction, original music and lighting design.
The theater section of the SKC PJ Šafárik from Novi Sad presented the conversational comedy Thoughts on Men at the festival, which, based on the text Women's Conversations by the Serbian journalist, writer, screenwriter and author of aphorisms Dušan Radovič, was brought to the stage by the director and actor Rastislav Zorňan. The banal plot about a group of women who visit a bar and have humorous conversations based on their own experiences of living with men does not develop much during the show. The women are sipping alcohol the entire time while talking, and occasionally bringing in a bartender to make sure their theory about men really works. The production is harmed by a too static conversational form and also naive scenography components. Perhaps only the performance of the young debuting actress Vierka Marchoková Cerovská is worthy of attention, for which she was also rewarded by the jury.
Edita Jurčová's theater performance Ľud-milá, which was created at the seminar of creative dramatic writing, Are you writing? Píšem!, presented by the Janko Čeman Voluntary Theater from Pivnica and the KOKRAM Creative Amateur Collective from Kovačica, presented fragments from the life and work of Ľudmila Hurbanová, the granddaughter of the first Slovak actress Anička Jurkovičová. The production, directed by Silvia Svákusová, is not only an autobiographical record of her person, but also a contemporary mirror of social conditions in the Low Countries, including the incipient emancipation of women. Due to the fact that this show best describes women's themes in the context of a real historical figure, it was proposed for the Anička Jurkovičová Festival in Nové Mesto nad Váhom, and its director was awarded a special prize as a female director.
Zuzana Kardelisová's theater festival was ceremoniously concluded with a non-competitive performance of the Slovak Voivodeship Theater from Báčské Petrovac, The Stone Walk by Slovak playwright Ferk Urbanek, directed by Emil Spišák.
Text and photo: Vladimír Dubeň