Theatre Women Improvisation Gender Action (2007 – 2017)
T.W.I.G.A. was the first Slovak theatre studio dedicated to portraying the female and male experience from the perspective of gender and women’s studies. It developed activities within or outside the dramaturgical plan of BDNR during that period. Its name was derived from the English word “twig” – meaning flexible or small branch. Its activity was financed by grants, and it was a unique association because it existed and operated within a theatre organization. This unconventionality was a result of the topics it focused on and the socio-social context within which women and gender studies exist.
History:
T.W.I.G.A. was the successor of the project www.ruzovyamodrysvet.sk. It followed several successful women’s and gender-related projects of the Theatre at the Crossroads from 2000 to 2008 (e.g. Šamanky, 2000 – 2002, Predavačky príbehov, 2003 – 2005, www.ruzovyamodrysvet.sk). This particular project was key to the future creation of the women’s theatre studio at BDNR. The project took place from 2005 to 2008, and its main leader was the independent women’s association ASPEKT, Bratislava. Additionally, three other organizations participated in the project (www.ruzovyamodrysvet.sk).
The work of the studio involved actors and actresses of the theatre (Mária Šamajová, Marianna Mackurová, Alena Sušilová, Ivana Kováčová, Mária Šamajová, Juraj Smutný, Peter Butkovský), who were interested in collaborating at that time, as well as students and graduates of acting from the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica (Nina Muller, Veronika Fekiačová, Stanislava Pazmányová, Slavomíra Fulíková, Simona Martináková, Eva Blašková, Kristína Holková, and guests, including Jana Oľhová, Daniel Heriban, Viktor Sabo, Slávka Daubnerová). The studio operated within the theatre under the leadership of Iveta Škripková.
The studio’s projects specifically addressed:
- themes of female experience at various ages,
- questions of male and female roles in human life,
- the division of roles between women and men in contemporary society, and their portrayal in art,
- providing space for women and female creators who sensitively perceived (not only) gender discrimination in society.
The aim of Studio T.W.I.G.A. was to form a gender-sensitive language in theatre and to support an independent discourse on women and men in art. In its theatrical work, it combined several methods: authorial theatre, documentary theatre techniques, elements of post-dramatic theatre, cross-dressing, cross-voicing, cross-acting, and gender studies. Initially, the studio defined itself as gynocritical theatre, deriving its existence from E. Showalter’s literary theory Gynocriticism in Literature. This was related to the project and ideas about the so-called female subculture within the dominant culture. Based on these theoretical and practical foundations in the studio’s theatrical creation, Iveta Škripková’s dissertation Femini[(ta)- (zácia)]zmy a divadlo was created in 2016. The work was initiated by Prof. D. Inštitorisová and defended at UKF in Nitra that year.
In 2017, the work underwent an editorial selection by the expert committee of the Theatre Institute, and in 2018 – 2019, the book was revised and edited for publication. The book addresses the existence of feminism in international practice, in the Slovak context, and the work at BDNR. It brings previously, unfortunately, little-known information about feminism abroad and in Slovakia. The book was published in 2022 under the title Feminist Theatre and its Slovak Path. The ceremonial launch and book presentation took place at the Theatre Institute (Studio 12) in Bratislava on November 22, 2022. The book also includes the original text MOCAD(R)ÁMY. The book is based on the author’s dissertation, presenting the period of the emergence of feminist theatre studies and feminist theatres in the anglophone area in the 1970s, addressing the situation in Slovakia and analyzing the activities of Studio T.W.I.G.A. The book was introduced by Prof. Nadežda Lindovská and launched by Jana Juráňová. Responses to the book’s publication can be found HERE.
In May 2022, Iveta Škripková’s study Feminisms in Theatre (focusing primarily on international aspects) was published in the first issue of SALTO magazine 1/2022. The magazine can be found HERE.
Despite the studio ceasing its activities in 2017 due to internal and external reasons (at that time, the leadership of BBSK was in the hands of ĽSNS, an extremist and radical party), it is important to emphasize that gender-sensitive theatre cannot emerge and no one can create it without knowledge of these topics and without a special process of education and creative work with theatre makers, actors, and actresses who are open to discussing these topics. For creative gender-sensitive work, it is necessary to analyze contemporary theoretical and practical foundations of creation, theatre history, and the bases of known theatre theories, and also to address topics of the socialization of men and women in contemporary society. This includes how and why images of masculinity and femininity arise in life and art.
The studio produced several productions and projects and participated in many festivals at home and in the Czech Republic.
