THANK YOU! ĎAKUJEME!

We raised over 1000 during the main campaign period and thanks to all your kind donations our page remains live. That means it will be continuously possible to donate and we will continuously receive money from Crowdfunder in the set time periods. We are always in need of more funds to cover our project expenses. Please, donate if you can, thank you!

Vyzbierali sme viac ako 1000 libier počas hlavného obdobia kampane a vďaka vašim štedrím príspevkom naša zbierka zostáva aj naďalej aktívna. Znamená to, že ktokoľvek môže priebežne prispievať a nám budú v určených časových horizontoch vyplatené priebežne vyzbierané peniaze. Neustále zbierame financie na pokrytie nákladov na naše projekty, podporte nás ak môžete, ďakujeme!

PS: Slovenská verzia textu ku kampani je nižšie hneď pod anglickou.

WHO ARE WE?

Slovak Theatre in London (STL) is run by young Slovak and Czech theatre-makers living in London. A devised touring theatre with productions on up-to-date topics performed in Slovak and English language.

STL was established by volunteers in 2009 thanks to the creative efforts of Slovaks living in London. Former amateur productions have become more professional over the years and the audience grew. The identity of our theatre-making is indeed inspired by an exploration of our own identity. Our devised author-written plays are exploring topics of migration, society as well as politics. In the creative process, we embody our own experiences but also ask questions to others as a part of our comprehensive research. We like to explore controversial topics that resonate within society, we are not afraid to question beliefs or views, and all of that by showing rather than telling what is wrong or right. We leave the spectators to form their own opinions. Our first original production was called Migrants’ Rhapsody and it explored the liquid migration which evolved after many former Soviet countries entered the European Union unintentionally this project has been developing between the years 2014-2016 just during the time of the Referendum and Brexit. It was a production that defined our artistic identity thematically as well as methodically. We maintained the London expat theatre culture by putting new shows on annually until the pandemic hit in the Spring of 2020.

Our newest project "Extreme – the new norm", the fourth production under the STL banner, brings the company back to life. It is also the first time, we feel confident to properly expand our audience beyond the expat community and that is why we decided to perform at Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We are becoming a platform that encourages predominantly but not restrictively young artists of Slavic heritage to find and nourish not only their artistic but also their own voice. By supporting us you would contribute to the formation of new unconventional intriguing theatre-making and its presentation to the international audience.

By Oliver Nemcovky, Opening night, The Cockpit, London, 18th June 2022

WHY FRINGE?

As first-time comers to the Fringe, we hope to grow an international audience and gain more recognition as independent artists of specific national backgrounds and female-led organisation. We hope to network and build unique partnerships. Although we come from Europe, we often feel misunderstood and underrepresented. We barely get any spoken roles within theatre or film. It may sound exaggerating but it is the reality of most Central-Eastern Europeans of Slavic heritage who we worked with or spoken to (Czechia, Ukraine, Poland, Croatia, Bulgaria...). That is the reason why our company is so important to us and despite obstacles, we keep building it and improving. Our countries haven't established any cultural organisations that could support us and we are now the only platform that gathers artists of our origin to create our own collaborative art projects with the aim of not only showcasing our talents but also explaining our overlooked diaspora to the wider public. We believe that our project is a way to create opportunities for ourselves and inspire others to join us which will hopefully expand our company with artists of various CEE countries.
Show Page

By Robert Petras, After Show Reception, The Cockpit, London, 3rd March 2023

WHAT IS THE SHOW ABOUT?

"Reality lightened up with humour" - audience reaction. Slovak Theatre in London performs at the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time with their devised play Extreme [The New Norm] inspired by the exact experience that paused their creative work for nearly three years. Pandemic rules brought us contrasting experiences. We couldn’t rely on what would happen in the next hour, let alone in the next month. We find ourselves living beyond the norm. Extremes became the norm.

The show reflects on the biggest event of our century, which globally influenced the life of every individual. In a colourful collage of scenes and characters, the play shows the contrasting situations brought by the pandemic, many times based on true events. Through collaborative devising, by using physical movements, music and songs, the artists explore the patterns of behaviour of society and individuals in a time of catastrophe. While this stage of our lives might already seem distant, their artistic treatment emphasizes the experience of crisis rather than the event itself, as it desires to serve as a mirror to challenge opinions and call to new perspectives. Ultimately, the show, filled with both seriousness and humour, offers a collective therapy through art.

By Daniel Hasso, Extreme [The New Norm], The Cockpit, London, 3rd March 2023

WHAT DO CREATORS SAY?

“Whilst we tried to avoid the pandemic as a central plot construct to start with, we realised that the one pillar that bears a load of all the different kinds of extremes in our lives is precisely this recent event.”

– Simona Vrabcova (company director & producer)

“I feel honoured for having a chance to perform in this play, its unique style allows me to find something new every time we perform.” 

– Dalibor Buranda (cast member)

“Everyone contributed to one cohesive mosaic, the beauty of which lies in the fact it’s as varied as we all are. Finding a common voice and understanding was key in this process and remains key in bringing this production to the audience.” 

– Zuzana Strnatova (director of the play)

“As a long-term former director of STL, this renaissance fills me with joy. I’m glad that the new leadership has stayed true to the characteristics that made us who we were from the start: compatriotic, young, devised, modern, universally human.” 

– Juliana Sersenova (former creative director)

SCRIPT: Cast
DIRECTED & MUSIC BY: Zuzana Strnatova
CHOREOGRAPHY: Jana Zordan
COSTUMES: Sara Siskova
PRODUCTION: Simona Vrabcova
CAST: Dalibor Buranda, Simona Gibejova, Rebeka Jurcackova, Jozef
Radovsky, Tereza Ruzickova, Simona Vrabcova, Katarina Martin
LIGHTS & SOUND: Myra van Dasselaar, Natalia Vrabcova
VIDEO & EDITING: Craig Jones
POSTER ARTWORK: Olga Suchanova
By Daniel Hasso, Extreme[The New Norm], The Cockpit, London, 3rd March 2023

HOW WILL WE USE THE FUNDS?

As we mention in the video, we are currently mainly in need to raise money to cover our accommodation expenses during the festival. So far, we were able to get enough funding to cover our venue costs, thanks to also being one of the only 50 winners of the Keep it Fringe - Edinburgh Fringe Society Award. We secured complimentary train tickets from Lumo for our whole cast and paid the registration fee. Hence, one of the major costs left to cover is the accommodation for a team of 10 which will be over £5000.

TO ALL OUR SUPPORTERS - YOU ARE AMAZING AND THANK YOU!

PS: As a thank you, we prepared various merchandise gifts and are also happy to offer free tickets to our Edinburgh show dates. Here is a sneak peek at what the badges look like.

KTO SME?

Slovenské divadlo v Londýne (STL) vedú mladí slovenskí a českí divadelníci žijúci v Londýne. Sme autorské divadlo s inscenáciami na aktuálne témy v slovenskom, českom a anglickom jazyku.

STL založili dobrovoľníci v roku 2009 vďaka tvorivému úsiliu Slovákov žijúcich v Londýne. Niekdajšie amatérske inscenácie sa rokmi profesionalizovali a publikum pribúdalo. Identita našej divadelnej tvorby je skutočne inšpirovaná skúmaním našej vlastnej identity. Naše autorsky napísané hry skúmajú témy migrácie, spoločnosti, ale aj politiky. V tvorivom procese zhmotňujeme svoje vlastné skúsenosti, ale v rámci komplexného výskumu kladieme otázky aj iným. Radi skúmame kontroverzné témy, ktoré rezonujú v spoločnosti, nebojíme sa spochybňovať presvedčenia alebo názory, a to všetko tak, že radšej ukážeme, ako povieme, čo je nesprávne alebo správne. Nechávame divákov, aby si vytvorili vlastný názor. Naša prvá pôvodná produkcia sa volala Migrantská rapsódia a skúmala tekutú migráciu, ktorá sa rozvinula po neúmyselnom vstupe mnohých bývalých sovietskych krajín do Európskej únie. Tento projekt sa rozvíjal v rokoch 2014-2016 práve v čase referenda a Brexitu. Bola to inscenácia, ktorá definovala našu umeleckú identitu tematicky aj metodicky. Udržiavali sme divadelnú kultúru londýnskych expatov tým, že sme každoročne uvádzali nové predstavenia až do pandémie na jar 2020.

Náš najnovší projekt "Extreme – the new norm", štvrtá produkcia pod hlavičkou STL, vracia divadlu život. Je to tiež prvýkrát, čo sme si istí, že vieme rozšíriť naše publikum mimo komunity expatov, a preto sme sa rozhodli vystúpiť na Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Stávame sa platformou, ktorá povzbudzuje prevažne, ale nie výhradne mladých umelcov slovanského pôvodu, aby našli a živili nielen svoj umelecký, ale aj vlastný hlas. Podporou rispievate k vytvoreniu novej netradičnej pútavej divadelnej tvorby a jej predstaveniu medzinárodnému publiku.

PREČO FRINGE?

Keďže sme na Fringe prvýkrát, dúfame, že si rozšírime medzinárodné publikum a získame väčšie uznanie ako nezávislí umelci so špecifickým národným zázemím a organizácie pod vedením žien. Dúfame, že vytvoríme jedinečné partnerstvá. Hoci pochádzame z Európy, často sa cítime nepochopení a nedostatočne zastúpení. V divadle alebo vo filme sotva dostaneme nejaké hovorené úlohy. Môže to znieť prehnane, ale je to realita väčšiny stredovýchodných Európanov so slovanským pôvodom, s ktorými sme spolupracovali alebo sa s nimi rozprávali (Česko, Ukrajina, Poľsko, Chorvátsko, Bulharsko...). To je dôvod, prečo je naša spoločnosť pre nás taká dôležitá a napriek prekážkam ju neustále budujeme a zlepšujeme. Naše krajiny nezaložili žiadne kultúrne organizácie, ktoré by nás mohli podporovať, a teraz sme jedinou platformou, ktorá zhromažďuje umelcov nášho pôvodu, aby vytvorili naše vlastné spoločné umelecké projekty s cieľom nielen predviesť náš talent, ale aj vysvetliť našu prehliadanú diaspóru širšej verejnosti. Veríme, že náš projekt je spôsob, ako vytvoriť príležitosti pre seba a inšpirovať ostatných, aby sa k nám pridali, čo snáď rozšíri našu spoločnosť o umelcov z rôznych krajín strednej a východnej Európy.

O ČOM JE PREDSTAVENIE?

"Realita odľahčená humorom" - reakcia publika. Slovenské divadlo v Londýne vystupuje na Edinburgh Fringe po prvý raz s vymyslenou hrou Extreme [The New Norm] inšpirovanou presným zážitkom, ktorý pozastavil ich tvorivú prácu na takmer tri roky. Pravidlá pandémie nám priniesli protichodné skúsenosti. Nemohli sme sa spoliehať na to, čo sa stane o ďalšiu hodinu, nieto o ďalší mesiac. Zistili sme, že žijeme nad rámec normy. Extrémy sa stali normou. Aj keď sa táto etapa nášho života už môže zdať vzdialená, naše umelecké spracovanie kladie dôraz skôr na prežívanie krízy ako na samotnú udalosť, pretože chce slúžiť ako zrkadlo na spochybňovanie názorov a výzvy k novým perspektívam. V konečnom dôsledku predstavenie naplnené vážnosťou aj humorom ponúka kolektívnu terapiu prostredníctvom umenia.

AKO POUŽIJEME PRÍSPEVKY?

Ako spomíname vo videu, momentálne potrebujeme hlavne získať peniaze na pokrytie nákladov na ubytovanie počas festivalu. Doteraz sa nám podarilo získať dostatok financií na pokrytie našich nákladov na prenájom priestorov, a to aj vďaka tomu, že sme boli jedným z iba 50 víťazov Keep it Fringe - Edinburgh Fringe Society Award. Zabezpečili sme bezplatné lístky na vlak od Lumo pre celé naše obsadenie a zaplatili sme registračný poplatok. Preto je jedným z hlavných nákladov, ktoré treba pokryť, ubytovanie pre 10-členný tím, ktoré bude stáť viac ako 5 000 libier.

VŠETKÝM NAŠIM PODPOROVATEĽOM - STE ÚŽASNÍ A ĎAKUJEME!

Ako poďakovanie sme pre vás pripravili rôzne darčeky a tiež radi ponúkneme voľné vstupenky na naše termíny predstavenia v Edniburgu.