It has been almost 20 years since the day when the doors of the theater-oriented children's camp Divadelný Babylón opened for the first time in Inovec near Trenčín. Since then, it has changed several positions and several managers have changed, but the beautiful idea that came up with in the second half of the 90s PaeDr. Alena Hrančíková, still alive.
This event, like every year, traditionally takes place in the first two weeks of July. This year, the camp was held for the second time in the beautiful surroundings of the Low Tatras in the village of Hronec near the town of Brezno. And in addition to long-time regulars among the leaders such as Roman Hatala, Viktor Vincze senior, Alena Hrančíková and Vladimír Dubeň, well-known personalities from television screens Adéla Vinczeová (Banášová) and Viktor Vincze junior appeared there. And how does such a theater camp actually take place? After the welcome ceremony, which is usually also associated with various tasks for the parents, the children are divided into individual workshops according to age categories. Each workshop has its own artistic and organizational leader. Leaders in some workshops are assisted by young trainees, who are usually recruited from the former oldest children, because they have reached the age limit of 16 and therefore cannot participate in the camp as children. It should be mentioned that the interest among the oldest children in the positions of interns and later leaders is huge. It is not by chance that among the current leaders there are many former children who grew up in the camp since childhood. However, in order not to deviate from the camp program, after the initial introduction disco, the children's work program begins the next day. In the morning, they work with their artistic directors in workshops, where they usually learn the basics of drama education and acting in the first week. In other words, the leaders are preparing the children so that in the second week they can start rehearsing the parts of the show according to the theme chosen before the camp as part of the preparatory camp. This year the central theme was Alice in Wonderland. This theme does not appear only in the final performance, but is carried throughout the entire camp program, from the decoration of the camp to the evening performances, which are played in an improvised version for the children leaders every day after boarding. Afternoon programs are usually focused on sports, knowledge or manual creativity of children. Well, the evenings are thematically focused in a different way than the theater. Whether it is various singing, improvisation or dance competitions and programs. Among the most popular are regular carnival, children's casino, night game, bonfire and discos. An integral part of the camp for many years is also a video, from which the children's favorite camp reports are made every evening, and a complete DVD, on which day by day is recorded, parents can buy after the camp as a beautiful memory of the camp. And after two unforgettable weeks, it's time for the grand finale in the form of a final performance for parents, which combines all the parts that individual workshops worked on during the camp. Small ten-minute pieces suddenly turn into an amazing one-and-a-half-hour show that has a head and a tail and at the same time its own central idea, and which usually does not leave a single dry eye among the parents. Every year, parents are incredibly surprised by what their children have achieved in those short 2 weeks. And it's not just about the theater itself, but also about how healthy they look, how many new friends they made, what new things they learned, how their communication with the environment improved, what courage they were suddenly able to show. All these are the shards that make up Divadelný Babylon - a camp that, from its beginnings, was inspired by the biblical story about the Tower of Babel and confused languages. The camp, which, like Noah's ark, has been floating unsunk by the raging sea for twenty long years. A camp that raised many professionals in the field of theater, film and television, or just children, for whom, at least for a few summer days a year, he was able to completely change his outlook on life. And what to add at the end? Let's just hope that the next round year will definitely take place. And that Divadelný Babylon is not only open to Slovak children, but also children from Austria, Italy, the USA and the Czech Republic. Babylon is an ideal opportunity for the children of Slovak citizens living abroad, as for their children to maintain a living contact with the Slovak culture and language, but also for Czech children, so that they do not completely lose their relationship with the nation that is historically closest to them. Readers of Letters can find more detailed information about the camp, including the application form, on the website www.divadelnybabylon.sk.
Vladimír Dubeň