The legend of Slovak independent theater has passed away

Odišla legenda slovenského nezávislého divadla

In the middle of hot July days, the Slovak artistic public was hit with sad news. One of the most important personalities of the alternative theater, director and playwright Blaho Uhlár, has left us forever. Longtime director of the theater for children and youth in Trnava, founder of the Bratislava avant-garde theater STOKA, artistic director and director of the Trnava theater group Kopánka (later DISK), he was one of the leading representatives of author's theater created by the method of collective creation. His productions were typical of the so-called polythematic decomposition, which represented a completely new direction in Slovak theater at the beginning of the 90s.

Blaho Uhlár was born on August 26, 1951 in Prešov, but he spent most of his childhood in Ružomberok, where he also graduated from high school. His father, Vladimír Uhlár, a high school teacher, prominent linguist, historian and publicist, was behind the creation of the Hviezdoslavov Kubín recitation competition in Dolný Kubín. His mother, Gabriela Uhlárová, was in turn associated with the creation of the Jonáš Záborský Theater in Prešov, where she worked in its early days as a member of the acting troupe. Blaho Uhlár completed his directing studies at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava in 1974 and in the same year joined the Children's and Youth Theater in Trnava (now the Ján Palárik Theatre) as a regular director. Here he staged dozens of productions such as The Woman, The Inspector, The Process, Tartuffe, Laco Novomeský, Téma Majakovský, Commune de Paris, Kvinteto, The End of the Game, The Penultimate Evening, Princess Maru, About the Drummer or Where is the North.

The themes of his performances were already characterized by provocativeness in this period, combined with his typical authorial self-expression. In the Trnava theater, he first collaborated with scenographer Ján Zavarský and later with architect and artist Miloš Karásk, with whom they formed a tandem during his later work at the Ukrainian National Theater in Prešov (today the Alexander Duchnovič Theatre). After leaving Prešov, they founded the STOKA Theater together in Bratislava in 1991. Its creation was foreshadowed by two Slovak Theater Manifestos from 1988, in which both creators defined the basic principles of decomposition, fragmentation, discontinuity and randomness in theater work. Their effort was to stand out from what was currently being played in Slovak theaters and the customary structure of theatrical drama. According to the authors, works created by improvisation of all members of the ensemble with their subsequent precise fixation bring freedom to the actors as well as to the audience. With this method, very original productions such as Collapse, Impasse, Dyp inaf, Slepá baba, Vres, Donarium, Eo ipso, Lido di Jesolo, Nobody, only a seagull will wet its feet in my tears, Nox, Faces, Monologues, Commission, Gala, Loss, Uncertain grunt, Bordeline, Virus, Catastrophe, Prego, Defeat, Škovránok and many others that caught the eye not only on the domestic stage, but also at festivals abroad. Despite the fact that Uhlár and Karásk broke up after the third performance and the theater had to move several times during its operation, it became a legend in Slovak theater. It has produced more than 50 productions, many well-known personalities such as actor and musician Lubomír Burgr, actress and singer Lucia Piussi, actress and documentarian Zuzana Piussi, actress Erika Lásková, actors Laco Kerata, Jozef Chmel or Vlado Zboroň have passed through it. Since 1986, Blaho Uhlár has also collaborated with the non-professional theater group Kopánka z Trnava, which was later renamed DISK. This troupe successfully participated in Slovak theater shows and festivals. Under the direction of Blaho Uhlár, the troupe won three times the highest award in the field of volunteer theater, the Creative Act of the Year at the all-Slovak show Scenic Harvest in Martin, for the productions And what? from 1988, then Výhád from 2008 and Opulentná sviňa from 2014. At the Scenic Harvest in 2023, the DISK theater group won the prize for the best dramaturgy for the production Cholesterol. In January 2024, the director took over Rad Ľudovít Štúr III from the hands of Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová. class for extraordinary merits for the development of the Slovak Republic in the field of culture and art. Honor to his memory! Text: Vladimír Dubeň Photo: Boris Németh

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