Women’s Theatre
Part of the work and activities of the studio were theatrical happenings or performances that took place in non-theatrical venues, many of them site-specific (in shopping centers, on the square, in galleries, etc.), in cooperation with independent women’s associations. This was a very important element for deepening contacts with other women, as well as in the search for a definition of women’s theatre. All these events increased the visibility of women. Even after the studio ceased its operation, BDNR hosted and still hosts performances and events to support discussion of women’s themes.
BEGINNINGS WITH FENESTRA, A WOMEN’S NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION IN KOŠICE
The first happenings were created in cooperation with BDNR actresses and guests, as well as volunteers from the Fenestra association in Košice, which was at the time under the leadership of Monika Grochová. Monika initiated the creation of these happenings.
2003, EVE ENSLER, VAGINA MONOLOGUES (performed in Košice, Prešov, Banská Bystrica) “The year 2003 in the environment of the Slovak cities of Košice, Banská Bystrica and Prešov proved that reading – playing excerpts from Eve Ensler’s book by amateur volunteers and actress Marianna Mackurová from Banská Bystrica can be met with success. The event was organized by Košice’s Fenestra (crisis center for abused women and girls), headed by Monika Grochová. Monika remembers that they persistently searched for a director until they found out about Iveta Škripková. “Thanks to her courage, speed, and free high-quality work with laypeople, we were able to realize our goal. Iveta couldn’t have known if we would be able to manage it organizationally, we could have been reckless idiots; I am grateful to her for trusting us. In both Košice and Prešov, the productions were received with a lot of emotion, the audience cried, laughed, screamed, although in both cases in different places, as if they heard different meanings. During the entire performance in Banská Bystrica, there was a deep silence, only occasionally did someone laugh a little, more like a chuckle. I thought, this is a flop, we didn’t make it. But Iveta said it was a success, a huge success! In the quoted article for Aspekt Magazine (Three Notes on the Topic of the Vagina Monologues in Slovakia), Iveta Škripková wrote that she was pleased by the happy coincidence and the chance she was given. “Thank you for the challenge. And for the fact that I could be a representative of the world of theatre.” She was pleased to find that there are a hundred people in Slovakia (300 to 320 spectators attended the performances), “who a) know what the Vagina Monologues are, b) are interested in women’s topics and want to know what it’s all about, and c) want to communicate with those who play.” (Bohuslava Vargová-Hábovčíková) Bulletin
2004, OLD WOMAN MYSTERIES – street performance in front of and in the fountain on Košice Square on the occasion of the Silenced Witnesses event, to support the fight against domestic violence against women. In addition to theatre actresses and volunteers, Mirek Vodrážka and opera singer Helena Zaoralová performed excerpts of their composition Carmina femina. These experiences also stimulated subsequent activities of the studio aimed at presenting gender themes, the female gender experience, and supporting the fight against domestic violence perpetrated against women.
STUDIO HAPPENINGS
2009, SUPERWOMEN in the shopping centers Europa in Banská Bystrica and Aupark in Bratislava, as part of the opening of an exhibition of photographs of women dedicated to gender issues in Slovakia, supported by the Slovak-Czech fund.
2010, NAKED CHICKS – a staged opening in the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava on the occasion of an exhibition of nudes by Slovak masters called Naked Chicks, in cooperation with the Aspekt association. Bulletin
2007, THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES – an authentic reading of the Monologues took place at a meeting of the EQ Club as part of the ruzovyamodrysvet.sk project (Gender sensitivity in the educational process at primary and high schools as a preparation for the future desegregation of occupations). Amateurs – volunteers, pedagogues from various departments of the Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Petra Jesenská, Aňa Stražovcová, Lujza Urbancová, Katarína Lucinkiewiczová, Zuzana Bariaková, Zuzana Ištvánfyová, guest from Banská Bystrica Katarína Voskárová, Bohuslava Hábovčíková from the Bratislava Poetry Theatre and Iveta Škripková all read. Read more in Bohuslava Vargová – Hábovčíková’s article HERE.
Lujza Urbancová
2011, 2013, SUBJECT: ROAD NO. 5 – theatrical happening as part of the campaign against gender-based violence against women in seven shopping centers in Slovakia: Poprad, Prešov, Michalovce, Košice, Banská Bystrica, Martin and Bratislava, in cooperation with seven non-profit women’s organizations in Slovakia. In March 2013 Studio T.W.I.G.A. won the art prize in the fifth year of the Fifth Woman awards for this happening, which brought attention to the work and activity of people in the field of combating domestic violence against women. Bulletin
PERFORMANCES AFTER 2016
2019, THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES – staged reading of the world-famous book as part of the V-day campaign. Stage reading by fourteen women of different ages and different professions. Bulletin
2019, WOMEN OF NOVEMBER – Theatre Night 2019, an evening dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution with an emphasis on the presence of women in the revolution, and to Zuzana Maďarová’s book How to Talk Back to November. Bulletin
2020, LITERARY, FILM, AND DISCUSSION V-DAY – reading from the Vagina Monologues book, screening of film by director Zuzana Limová BETWEEN US about obstetric praxis in Slovakia. Bulletin
2021, 16 DAYS OF CIVIC ACTIVISM – online. You can find the BDNR podcast Authentic stories of women HERE.
2022, V-DAY – on February 14th, we symbolically started our new project and podcasts Flexxila, Old Myths in Fact. It dealt with various myths and their current forms in our lives. In the first podcast, we offered an interview with the writer Uršuľa Kovalyk. More about Flexxila and podcasts.
2022, 16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM AGAINST GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN – as part of the 16 days of activism, we prepared an exhibition of female silhouettes with stories of Slovak victims. The exhibition is inspired by the Silent Witnesses, an event that was prepared in 1990 by American artists with women’s organizations in the Art Against Domestic Violence coalition. The exhibition was located on Š. Moyses Square from 25 November to 4 December 2022, and from 5 December to 10 December in front of the Puppet Theatre at the Crossroads. On November 29 at 4 p.m., on the fifth day of activism, an event took place on Š. Moyses Square: an open-air reading by theatre actresses, a memory brought to life of Slovak victims of violence, followed by a whistle-along against gender-based violence.
2023, ANTIVALENTINE and V-DAY – stage reading of the world-famous book by Eva Ensler, translated by Jana Juráňová. The book was read by women of various ages and professions in Banská Bystrica. An evening dedicated to myths and the reality in which women find themselves, because they are synonymous with love. On February 14, 2023, these women read at the Theatre: Barbora Bystrianska, journalist, secondary school teacher, text: Pissed Off. Marta Gajdošíková, former director of RTVS Two, presenter, editor, text: Mutilation 1, Facts. Diana Javorčíková, project manager, citizen activist, texts: Mutilation 2, Facts; I Was in the Room. Daniela Kováčová, UMB pedagogue, text: Pissed Off. Veronika Zelinová, actress, elementary art school teacher, text: My Vagina, My Village. Lujza Urbancová, lecturer, vice-dean FF UMB, text: Clothed Vagina. Marianna Mackurová, actress, texts: How I Found my P…; My Vagina, my Village; I Was in the Room. Mária Šamajová, actress, texts: My Vagina, My Village; I Was in the Room. Iveta Škripková, theatre professional, text: Prologue. Students of the Academy of Arts: Eva Gribová, text: Flood. Martina Chmelanová, text: Six Years Old, What Would a Vagina Say. Zuzana Zaušková, texts: Hair, What Would a Vagina Say. Klára Novotná, texts: Hair, What Would a Vagina Say. We donated the proceeds from the evening to the shelter for mothers with children DEBORA, Banská Bystrica. Bulletin
Photo: M. Pecko
