Vladimír Dubeň has been working for the MAFRA media group since 2008. He is currently in charge of managing the jobDNES, Automodul, Reality.iDNES.cz and Firmy.iDNES.cz projects. In his private life, he devotes himself to a beautiful hobby, which you talked about with us.
Since when have you been doing this beautiful hobby?
I have been involved in theater practically since I was a child since primary school. It started classically with the recitation competitions of Hviezdoslavov Kubín and at that time the Pushkin Memorial. I was quite successful there. We started with a children's theater at school, we held various gatherings for parents as part of cultural performances in Ružomberok and the surrounding area. Then, in high school, a director from Hubová, a theater with a long tradition, appeared at the gymnasium. It is a well-known theater that has already celebrated more than 100 years of existence. Well, she decided to start working with the youth. So we founded the Youth Theater ensemble at the Gymnasium in Ružomberok, and that's how I started playing.
So you studied at a gymnasium, not at a conservatory...
Exactly, I went to the gym. At the end of my last year of high school, I went to an international meeting of theater artists in Stratford, England, and theater artists from all over Europe were present there. There were only 10 of us from Slovakia, young talents who were selected from all regions of Slovakia. In college it was more or less such a coincidence. I knew that there was a theater company there, but I wasn't very interested in it, because I was still looking around in the first year.
And where did you study at university?
At the University of Economics in Bratislava. I lived not far from Horský Park, and the Horský Park Theater operated there, which was led by one of the older students, who, of course, was about to quit the theater and simply picked me. At that time I was working in an internet radio studio and he liked my voice and offered to take over the theater after him. Until then, I had no experience with directing, so it was a big challenge for me. However, there was a threat that if I refused this offer, the theater would have to close. And so I decided to go for it. After finishing my studies, I devoted myself mainly to experimental theater for 5 years in my hometown of Ružomberok. It may have been a slightly different theater genre, but we did shows that were staged in the spirit of some trend at the time.
Back to my college days...
In order to follow up on that, I led the Horský Park Theatre, which in the meantime was renamed the Crown Theater, where I was already mainly involved in directing. At that time, I had not acted much, because it was my first experience with directing. After graduating from the University of Economics, I returned to Ružomberok, where I worked for 4 years at the University of Fine Arts and at the same time was the artistic director of the Municipal Theatre. Here, however, I was also more involved in directing, and at that time I almost didn't act at all. I mostly did the dramaturgy and dramatization of the texts myself, and actually everything that was needed. Then my wife and I moved to Moravia. I joined regional television as head of studio and later head of production for CATV Olomouc television. I left the theater for about two years. And after that I started working in Prague for the largest producer of musicals in the Spirála Theater, where legendary musicals such as Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita were produced. During this period, I also connected with the ŠOK Theater from Šale, which is a Slovak theater with which I have been working for about 16 years. I mostly handle dramaturgy for them. Last year, however, I also directed the performance Hrad, and this year I even played a small role in the Slovak classic Ťapákovci. We also performed this play at the Drama Club here in Prague. In addition, I simultaneously collaborate with the theater for children and youth of Materinka. They mostly perform fairy tales or musicals for young children and have been active on the volunteer scene for many years.
It looks like building a promising career in theater and not something you do only "on the side", outside of your working career. Have you ever thought about dedicating yourself to it fully?
Yes, it always went hand in hand. My professional and amateur career are connected by this interest. I can say that I made a living from the theater for about 3 years and it was a very pleasant and nice period. Unfortunately, it was not enough to support the family. And by that I mean both the work in the production of the Spirála Theater and the own production. Together with my colleagues, I produced the Russian rock opera Juno and Avos, which was performed in Prague's Divadlo u Hasičů. It was certainly a very nice job and probably a very attractive performance, but financially it was quite demanding. That's why I decided that I have to make a living with some normal civilian job, and move this hobby of mine to the level of my hobby.
Do you also use your acting talent when contacting clients?
One hundred percent yes. I think that the actress, or theater preparation is the best preparation for business. You come into personal contact with clients on a daily basis. It can be said that the business presentation itself is actually something like a separate half-hour acting performance. During it, the merchant has to convince the client that he is the right one. A person must be able to sell himself correctly, present himself in the right way. If he can do it, in my opinion, 80-90% of success is guaranteed. And this applies not only to business, but also to other sectors where there is contact between people.
Have you ever met someone who was a natural talent? That you said to yourself at that moment: someone learns to have certain techniques practiced, and someone comes as an amateur and is excellent?
Of course, yes. It's just that someone is born with a talent from God. Even though this does not necessarily mean that he will be successful later and that he will be successful. If talent is not worked on and developed, it can very easily happen that the skills gradually disappear and the artist falls into oblivion. On the other hand, I met a lot of people who didn't have any miraculous talent, but they worked on themselves, didn't give up and finally made it. In the end, the effort and time invested paid off for them, and thanks to that they can be popular, famous and busy today.
What genre do you direct best?
I would call it a "natural evolution". By this I mean that as a person develops, gradually ages and gathers experience, he always tends to a slightly different genre and a different type of theater. I went through that too. When I was young, we wanted to change and reform everything, and it followed that we mainly created experimental performances and experimental theater. Then came the musical boom and I was excited about musicals. We only watched musicals, we only created musicals. And that mainly because it was something new in our countries. And now I'm at a stage where I simply like a nice classic drama, but it always has to be at least something special. Whether through the artistic processing, movement, music or effects. He simply has to have all the tools that the theater world has.
Which musical was the best for you to direct?
I probably remember working on the musical Alžbeta Bátoryová most fondly. It's been a long time, I guess it was 2001, but even today I think it was a very high-quality musical for that time. It was a very demanding performance. We worked on it for two and a half years, but I think that the result was visible at the performance.
How is it with the choice of actors? Mostly the actors are chosen by the production. Does the director have the final say in the selection?
Yes, for sure. Actually, in the end, it is the director who casts the actors in his performance. Here at the ŠOK Theatre, we can say that we operate on a semi-professional basis, we have enough permanent members. For those years, for example almost 20 permanent actors from Materiniek have grown into adult theater, from which the director can choose.
Let's now talk about Theater Babylon. It is therefore a theater camp focused primarily on children. Could you introduce me to this other activity of yours? For example what year did it take place this year, what are you doing there, how long does it take, where is it and the like?
Theater camp is my other love. I have been involved in its organization for 17 years, and next year it will celebrate its 20th anniversary. Therefore, we would like to receive it a little more solemnly. We plan to invite a lot of people, former leaders, then children who grew up in the camp, etc. Overall, it could be such a nice memory meeting. The camp takes place in Slovakia, usually in the first two weeks of July. The venue is changing. Now we have been in Hronec u Brezno two years in a row. But we have already changed several places in Slovakia. The camp started operating in 1998 and the idea for its establishment was brought by Dr. Alena Hrančíková. She is also the main leader of the camp. It was a phenomenon at the time and has continued to this day. We have more and more children interested than we can accept. At the same time, approximately 120 children go to one camp. In addition, around 25-26 leaders, who are divided into artistic and organizational, participate in the camp. The artistic ones create performances with the children, various workshops and other activities in the morning, and the organizational leaders take care of the program after lunch and evening entertainment. The entire camp ends on Saturday with a final performance for parents, which is always on a theme. This year, for example, it was "Alice in Wonderland". In previous years, we worked on various topics such as Gulliver's Travels, Pippi Longstocking or the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. Next year we have a big challenge, we would like The Little Prince as the theme of the final performance.
So that's certainly a big challenge. I would say that everyone is afraid of this topic. What do children do at camp? I assume that not all 120 children are engaged only in acting.
Basically, all children do everything. There are children from 5 to 16 years old, who are divided into workshops according to age categories. They are always led by one artistic director. We always organize a training session before the start of the camp, where we sit down and choose the topic of the final performance. At the head is always the main artistic director, which I also did alternately for several years. He prepares the thread of the main story. Then the whole performance is divided into parts and each workshop processes a certain part. On the penultimate day, the artistic director puts the entire performance on stage with music and costumes. Parents then see a complete performance, lasting an hour to an hour and a half, in which all the children always perform. Children come to us from Bratislava or perhaps from Košice. Housing children who are only used to sitting at the computer, do not know how to speak and communicate very well and are not used to reading. However, after 14 days at the camp, this will change and they will make huge progress. Parents are often surprised that introverts become extroverts and are able to communicate with other children.
Are there any children who return to your camp every year?
Certainly yes. Most of the children grew up in our camp from the age of 5. Today, they work as artistic or organizational leaders. A typical example is Viktor Vincze Jr. (presenter of TV news, TV Markíza, editor's note), who started going to the camp when he was 5 years old and has been working there for the fifth or sixth year as artistic director. Some then say that we ruined their lives. Not everyone gets into the theater as an internal employee, and not everyone who decides to pursue an artistic career gets the opportunity. It's a tough fight for survival because this market is relatively small, so then some people probably curse us. But on the other hand, when someone appears who we know has succeeded, it's always a pleasant feeling.
In short, we will go through the Festival 48 hours project. What kind of festival is this?
The 48 hours project festival is an international short film festival that has clearly defined rules. Teams will meet in different parts of the world. They choose a topic by lottery and must make a short film on this topic within 48 hours (Friday - Sunday). It should be for a maximum of 7 minutes. It must also have some thought, idea, form, etc. We went to the show in Prague three years in a row, because there was nothing like it in Slovakia until then. A friend was looking for why this event is not also held in Slovakia. So he decided to contact the organizers in Hollywood, who have a license to do so. They sent us the papers that needed to be filled out. This is how we got the license.
So now, just so that someone gets hold of it...
The third year has already taken place in Bratislava and I am a member of the jury each time.
So you are no longer a member of the team involved in the making of the film?
I can't in Slovakia, because that would be against the rules. But in the Czech Republic, yes, I also helped with the script there.
Did you have any success?
Last year we did a musical. It is called Fugu after a poisonous Japanese fish. It also has a funny plot. It is entirely sung and we managed to win third place with it at the national short film competition.
You say that the Festival 48 hours project is international. Does every film need to be shot in English?
National rounds are in the local language. The Czech one already has quite a strong tradition. Around 40 teams regularly participate in it. I even think that some colleagues from MAFRA also participate in it, because I met them there. If the film were to advance to the European round as the winner of the national round, then it would be necessary to insert subtitles in English. The finals of the competition were held in Hollywood for two years and last year in Seattle. In addition to the fact that we did it in Bratislava for only the second year, I must mention that the director we chose, Samuel Spišák, won second place in the global competition with his film in 2016, and they also advanced to the short film screening in Cannes. So it was a great success of the Slovak film.
How is it possible to register for such a festival?
It is very simple. It is necessary to put together a team, at least a cameraman, a director and some actors who would be willing to play it. Then there is also an application and registration fee. Everyone who pays the registration fee and fills out the application will be invited.
How does the jury evaluate the films?
Jurors receive films anonymously. They look at each other. Of course, if I rate films, I watch them at least three or four times and take notes. Then the jury always meets in Bratislava. Here, the University of Performing Arts provided us with excellent facilities. There is a screening hall where the jury meets and where competitive screenings and evaluations take place.
And you watch every film that was entered in the first round, and you take notes on each one?
Yes, for every submitted film that was not excluded for some reason. All the films are sent to the jurors by the director of the festival, so we see them even before we meet as a jury. Then we spend a few hours on it, but we try to be as efficient as possible. If something is really very weak, none of the jurors usually lobby for it. So there are no serious clashes, the opinions are mostly similar.
Have you encountered, for example, the fact that the film was shot on a phone, for example, because they did not have a camera available?
Yes, in that film they even stated that it was shot on a phone and we thought it was very creative. At the same time, the quality was not much worse. The level of technique is not really evaluated that much. Of course, prizes are awarded for sound, camera, image, editing, etc., so if someone has better technology, they have a better chance of winning these prizes. However, this is not decisive for the film. The scenario decides the most. So, if the script is good and the film is also well-crafted acting, then there is a pretty good assumption that the film will be among the best.
I would still go back to the theater, do you also write plays?
I write, but I'm not very active as a playwright. I've only written about three plays in my entire career. But I mainly do dramatizations anyway. I also wrote the script for a feature film called "I'll be back tomorrow". However, it has not yet been implemented due to financial reasons. We hope that it will somehow be resolved and that it will not just remain in a drawer.
Who is your role model in global directing?
My great role model is the British director Peter Brook, who wrote a number of interesting treatises on theater, such as the book The Moving Point. Other very inspiring people for me are the French playwright Alfred Jarry and theater theorist Antonin Artaud. You definitely influenced me. My opinion of Czech and Slovak theater workers has evolved over time. In a certain period of my life, my role model was Blaho Uhlár, the founder of the Stoka Theatre. But as I say, those opinions changed over time. When I made the musical, Jozef Bednárik was the biggest star for me, and I think he still is. Even if critics accuse him of doing some kitsch, it probably belongs to the musical.
Do you think that every singer can also be a good musical actor/actress?
It's not like that, talent for acting requires something a little different. If there is an action or a spoken word, usually if the singer does not have any dramatic preparation, it can be seen immediately. If it is not just a transition from aria to aria, then it is usually visible. And the singers realize that if they want to play in a musical, they have to go through some dramatic preparation. Alternatively, they start working with someone, usually with a counselor through drama education or with a counselor for voice expression, because even the phrasing is a little different in a musical than when he sings at a concert somewhere.
Conversely, can a musical singer/singer be a good singer/singer on a normal stage? That he could be the main star at some open air festival, etc.?
Certainly yes, I think that it works the other way around. However, marketing plays a very important role here. If no one knows the singer, if he does not release any CDs, if there is no halo around him on TV, if he is not played on the radio, then people do not know him very much. So, if he comes on stage as a great singer, people will appreciate him and not leave the concert, but it's not like he would attract people to the concert, probably not. But what are we going to talk about, some of those stars can sing badly and falsely, and the fact that their name is a really strong brand, they simply attract people.
Can you spot talent?
One hundred percent. A person who has been involved in it all his life knows it. And that for both children and adults. It's enough if we let them get on the stage one by one. No one reads to children at home, does not develop their speech. They do not have the opportunity to confront each other in a larger group. And for some it is a really big problem – to say your name out loud.
What are you planning in the near future?
Our immediate plans... We definitely want to premiere a new play with songs for children next February with the Materinky Theater. This is a mini musical called Pinocchio. And as for the plan with the ŠOK Theater, we recently premiered the play Ťapákovci there and we are currently looking for a new project that will interest us for next year. And in October, we plan to participate in the Prague Film Festival 48, as we do every year.
And an important question at the end. What does theater mean to you?
It's just something you're born with. In short, somewhere inside you are drawn to the theater and you don't know why. It is such an unknown compulsion to experience the wonderful creative process. And that process is all the more amazing that you will experience it only with other people. However, it is a kind of art that has a relatively fast mortality rate. After the denier, there is nothing more, at most some photos, etc., in contrast to, for example, fine art, film or music, which are practically eternal. But you have to have the ability to ignite other people for that activity. And that's probably what I like best about it, that it's a team and collective work. It means everything to me, my whole life.
The interview was prepared by: Zuzana Mattová, Photo: MAFRA, as