Ferko Urbánek, a prominent Slovak playwright, novelist, poet and author of more than 50 plays, very accurately captured the meaning of theatre. In his work Dramatic Literature, he wrote about how theatre cultivates people, builds national sentiment and provides space for the expression of emotions that we normally hide under the mask of dignity.
General meaning of theater
It might seem that the institution of theatre as such has been receding into the background of most people's interest in recent decades. It is being pushed to the margins primarily by the mass media and modern cinema, which became a phenomenal multi-billion dollar business at the beginning of the 21st century. It is now a space for more or less visible reactions to the current political, economic or social situation in the country and the world, but in the past, theatre was such a medium. Satire embedded in classical works of art was a cultivated and sometimes indirect reflection of what was happening around us. The importance of theatre is undeniable, because it is a manifestation of the culture of a nation and its level. Whether it is musical, dance or purely acting performances, their quality and topicality point to the state of society as such, political power, and even the intelligence of the nation and its emotionality. One of the basic indicators of the degree of freedom in a given country is how art is accepted there. This is also the reason why in Slovakia we do not always understand eccentric and sometimes even tasteless performances, which are, for example, a relatively common thing with a stable audience in the United States. In our country, alternative theater still adheres to a certain line of morality and dignity, perhaps also out of fear of negative reactions.
History of world theater
Most of us are aware that theatre originated in ancient Greece and its internal rules would be completely unacceptable today. For example, only men could act, even female characters, actors wore masks and the number of actors on stage was limited. However, even before the sixth century BC, there was something that is considered the beginning of theatre or acting. Primitive man could not explain natural phenomena, he considered lightning or rain to be supernatural and tried to gain their favor with dances, animal masks and various theatrical ceremonies.
In ancient Rome, theatre took on a slightly more professional character than in ancient Greece: women could act, masks were not required, there was no maximum number of actors, and even separate buildings were built – real theatres. Compared to contemporary acting, ostentatious mimicry and gesticulation were used more, the performance of which was at the expense of verbal expression. Although Roman theatre was not as successful as Greek theatre, it was of international importance, as Rome helped spread theatre to the rest of Europe. Interestingly, after the decline of the empire, theatre was also banned, as the Christian elite of the time considered it undesirable. Despite this, the Church preserved all the banned ancient plays, as well as literary works and all ancient education. And thanks to the Church, theatre was once again used as a tool to address the masses later in the 9th century AD. Latin dramatic performances were performed in churches during Easter services (the so-called Easter tropes), as sources state. The theater was the church, and religious genres such as mystery, miraculum, and morality emerged. However, secular – plebeian genres also emerged: farce and pastoral.
This was followed by the period of humanistic and Renaissance theatre, theatre from the Baroque to pre-Romanticism and finally Romanticism and Realism in the 19th century. In the first half of the 20th century, impressionism began to be applied, i.e. the depiction of feelings, thoughts, moods, the expression of an immediate sensory impression. It was during this period that our Slovak National Theatre and professional acting were also born.
History of the SND
The year 1919 plays an important role in the history of Slovak theatre. It was during this period that the demand for the first professional theatre scene arose, when the SND Cooperative was entrusted with the establishment of the Slovak National Theatre. As early as 1920, all three SND ensembles began operating in the building of the former Municipal Theatre in Bratislava under the baton of the director of the East Bohemian Society, Bedřich Jeřábek.
The Slovak National Theatre Opera began its activities on 1 March 1920 with a production of the opera Kiss by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana. A day later, the drama troupe presented Alois and Viléma Mrštíkov's play Mariša. The Slovak National Theatre Ballet debuted with a production of the ballet Coppelia by Léo Delibes on 19 May 1920 (source: Wikipedia). The first Slovak professional actors were Andrej Bagar, Ján Borodáč and Oľga Borodáčová-Országhová, Jozef Kello and Gašpar Arbét formed the core of the Promotional Drama Troupe of the SND. This troupe was also called Marška and it is interesting that most of the performances were in Czech.
The Slovakization of the Slovak National Theatre was completed only in 1938, after Slovakia gained autonomy within the Czech Republic. At that time, Czech Drama ceased to exist and many Czech actors and singers left Slovakia. A year later, after the establishment of the independent Slovak Republic, the so-called Slovak State, Slovak-language plays began to be performed; in those years, the SND performed works by Slovak authors, including works by our classics. At that time, the theatre was already represented by top personalities and an artistic team capable of high-level staging, regardless of whether they were domestic or international works.
Historically, however, the most significant year seems to be 1989 and the revolution, after which theatres throughout Czechoslovakia were given a wider choice of dramatic works and were also allowed to devote more creativity to their performance. At the same time, however, completely new needs emerged, especially the economic demands on the operation of theatres and the need to appeal not only to the demanding audience, but primarily to the majority audience. Despite this, it does not seem that the quality of the SND repertoire is declining, quite the opposite.
The future of theater
Theatre can be a relatively lucrative business, as evidenced by the constantly growing number of smaller or alternative theatres. There are assumptions that over time the majority of viewers will also get fed up with modern cinematography and their attention will be focused on the real art of acting in plays that mean the world. This suggests that the theatre of the future will strive to win the favor of an increasingly large number of people not only in classical and cultivated ways, but also in tabloid style and exaggerated expressiveness. We observe such a trend especially abroad, where morality no longer plays a significant role in theatre repertoires.
However, the exact opposite approach to the development of art is expected from the SND. Progress cannot be stopped and we will undoubtedly encounter increasingly daring productions on these stages, but there is always a path to artistic and cultural maturity that is not subject to short-term economic pressures and that has the character of a tool for cultivating the nation.
"The educational significance of theatre is also reflected in the audience, which improves through the characters presented, and feelings that would otherwise remain hidden are awakened in it. Dramas and tragedies soften feelings, deepen them and make them more perfect, comedy teaches us to avoid rudeness and teaches with gentler jokes. Theatre maintains the social life of a particular village or town. A diverse audience gathers at performances, thereby contributing to the understanding of a healthy democracy..” Ferko Urbanek
Erik Striz