Festival

A graduate from the Department of Slovak Language and Aesthetics at the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava, and the Department of Puppetry at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, Ms Krajč Zamišková completed her doctoral studies in theatre history at the Slovak Academy of Science. As actress, she was with such theatres as the Puppet Theatre Žilina, the Aréna Theatre Bratislava or Studio 12 in Bratislava. She is the leading figure at the Tuš Puppet Theatre that makes interactive productions, often involving in drama-therapy. She also engages in contemporary theatre for children and youth. In the Year of Slovak Theatre 2020, she took part in the preparation of the puppetry section of the theatre showcase Theatre Century – Traces and Attitudes.

A graduate from Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Department of Educational Drama, Ms Jurinová is the co-founder of the EDUdrama drama centre that makes interactive performances for families with children, experiential learning workshops for companies, learning projects for schools, and seminars for teachers. She was the Head of the Department of Gallery Pedagogy at the Slovak National Gallery, and the lecturer at the Department of Literature and Drama  of the Jozef Kresánek Elementary School of Arts in Bratislava.

A graduate in puppetry at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, Ms Kořínková-Willems worked at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, where she founded the theatre Kidding Ensemble. She is the co-founder of the theatre oProti. She acquired her methodical dramatic background studying at the Department of Educational Drama at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. She has long been with Lano theatre group and taught at the Department of Literature and Drama at the Elementary School of Arts in Bratislava. Having met Barbora Jurinová, the two jointly created a project of EDUdrama – drama centre applying the principles of drama education.

Having graduated from the Department of Educational Drama and Acting at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Ms Váňová also held an internship in the US. She is with the Prague-based Theatre Minor as the Head of Learning Programmes, theatre lecturer and stage director of learning productions (known as forum theatre) and productions with social impact. She is also known as an actress (Studio DVA, Geisslers Hofcomoedianten, Minor Theatre). She regularly conducts educational drama workshops at various international conferences.

Since the 1970s, Tintti Karppinen has been training teachers of different subjects and at various levels, as well as social workers and nurses. For over a decade, she held weekly workshops for families with a dedicated theme, which she developed through music, visual arts, theatre and a variety of other activities. Since 1998, she has been a representative of the International Theatre Education Association (IDEA) at UNESCO and lectures worldwide at congresses and seminars dedicated to art in education around. Between 1974 and 2016, she held several positions within the Finnish Theatre Education Association (FIDEA) and has been its Honorary President since 2012. She holds multiple awards for drama education in Finland and internationally.

Špela Šinigoj is theatre lecturer and project manager for cultural events at the Slovenia National Theatre Drama Company Ljubljana.  She is responsible for the Young Drama Programme – an accompanying programme of the Slovene National Theatre that encourages interest in theatre among young audiences. Young Drama Programme includes, inter alia, conversations with actors, theatre backstage tours, presentations of theatre professions, workshops about theatre in general or specific Drama Company productions, playwriting competition for teenagers. As Drama Company lecturer, Špela also runs a programme for Club Hamlet – theatre club intended for young people. In addition to watching theatre performances, they are interested in performing arts in the broadest sense and wish to explore the link between art, history and current social events. Špela regularly works with schools and teachers from all over Slovenia and is member of the Cultural Bazaar network which is a Slovenian national cross-sectoral project dedicated to the promotion of arts and cultural education.

A graduate from the Department of Theatre Studies at the University of Oslo, Ms Tronstad holds a doctorate from the Department of Aesthetics of Digital Media at her alma mater. She went on to work at the Department of Media and Communication at the University of Oslo, the Department of Design at the School of Architecture and Design in Oslo, and the Department of Art, Design and Drama at the Oslo Metropolitan University. Since 2018, she has been the main advisor for theatre arts at Kulturtanken. The agency is under the umbrella of the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Equality, which is responsible for The Cultural Schoolbag, a nationwide organisation presenting professional arts and culture to children and youth during school hours.

Having completed undergraduate studies at the Theatre and Education Studio at The Leoš Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in, Ms Nechvátalová then received master’s degree at the Department of Educational Drama at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. As a theatre lecturer, she atrranged theatre and recital showcases in Brno. During her studies, she performed in several productions of semi-professional and non-professional groups. She is currently the Head of Teaching Department at the children’s theatre group Theatre Drak and the International Institute of Figurative Theatre in Hradec Králové. Her lecture programmes are dedicated to children, as well as teachers. She also works with puppets, and engages in museum and gallery pedagogy.

A graduate form The Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Prešov and the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, Mr Lavrík worked as a Slovak language and art teacher, copywriter and creative director in an advertising agency. He also served as the director of Slovak Radio in Košice and Bratislava. He is the author of many prose, stage, radio and television texts, librettos, etc.. He was the artistic director of the Municipal Theatre Zlín, from the director of Rádio Devín (2005–2009), the project manager of Rádio Litera and Rádio Klasika 2009–2011. He is currently the director of The Dezider Kardoš Elementary School of Arts in Bánovce nad Bebravou.

A graduate in stage directing from the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, Mrs Ferancová  cooperates with a range of Slovak theatres, such as The Pavol Jozef Šafárik Theatre  in Trnava, The Andrej Bagar Theatre in Nitra, GUnaGU in Bratislava, Theatre Aréna in Bratislava, Theatre ASTORKA Korzo ’90 in Bratislava, as well as the Slovak National Theatre. Her productions have been repeatedly nominated for the DOSKY award. In addition to theatres, she also cooperates with the Radio and Television Slovakia. Between 2006 and 2010, she directed the RTVS art news series Art (Umenie). She currently works at the acting conservatory in Bratislava. She is stage director of Cyber Cyrano, a production of the Theatre at the Crossroads in Banská Bystrica.

A graduate in dramaturgy and directing alternative and puppet theatre at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. He works in the city of Nitra, since 2013 at The Karol Spišák Old Theatre of and, since 2016, at the New Theatre. Occasionally he performs as a guest at the theatre Divadlo Divadlo z Pasáže in Banská Bystrica, making the show a form of drama therapy. He also features in other Slovak puppet theatres. He was nominated for the 2017 DOSKY Award for Best Director of the production Anne Frank (New Theatre Nitra, 2016). He is the director of The Book Thief, a production of the New Theatre, Nitra.

A native of Slovakia and graduate in stage directing from the Academy of Arts, Banská Bystrica., Ms Gerboc studied puppetry directing in Białystok, and held an internship in Germany. She was with the Žilina City Theatre and the theatre Spišské divadlo in Spišská Nová Ves. After moving to Germany, she was stage director and actress in Cottbus, to become artistic director and director of the Puppentheatre Zwickau, where she still works today. This theatre became the first puppet theatre in the world to start producing productions for virtual reality. She is the director of the production 360° VIRTUAL PUPPETRY – German Ballads, King of Spirits.

A graduate in puppetry from the Riksteatrets Dukkespillerskole in Norway. He currently works as a puppeteer director, playwright and author of books for children and youth (e.g., P+E, Tårer changer, Ingenting, Pyrocumulus). He has collaborated on productions in Norway, Denmark, Ireland, Iceland and Sri Lanka. He organizes workshops and courses in puppet theatre, animation of puppets and other objects and their use on stage. For almost two decades, his work has been associated with Cirka Teater in Trondheim, Norway. Our Festival features his performance Garage.

A graduate from the puppet theatre set design at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. From 1994, he was a set designer at the Drak Theatre in Hradec Králové. He has so far created over 130 productions abroad as a s set designer and over 30 productions as stage director. He currently cooperates with Czech theatres such as Ostrava Puppet Theatre, La Putyka Circus Prague or Radost Theatre Brno. He first collaborated with The Karol Spišák Old Theatre in Nitra in 2010. He is the director of FAUST, a production of The Karol Spišák Old Theatre, Nitra.

A graduate in film and television dramaturgy and screenwriting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava and in aesthetics at Constantine the Philosopher University Nitra. Since 1985, Ms Škripková has been with the Puppet Theatre at the Crossroads in Banská Bystrica, first as dramaturge and, since 1992, as a director. She holds multiple awards for her screenplays and stage texts (Alfréd Radok Prize, Drama, etc.) For two decades, she has been devoted to the issue of women’s experience in theatre, which was related to her initiative to establish the T.W.I.G.A. Studio within the Puppet Theatre at the Crossroads. She is the director of Penelope, a production for adults.

Composer, performer and multi-instrumentalist, and self-taught musician, Mr Tellitoci appeared on music scene aged twenty. He first discovered music through Rock and Pop music groups. Then, he turned to Cuban and jazz music, and received higher diploma in jazz, vibraphone, and percussion at the Luxembourg Conservatory of Music. After advancing his experience in different places (La Havana, New York, Paris…) and with different individuals and groups (Biréli Lagrene, Raul de Sauza, Regional Jazz Orchestra of Lorraine, Franck Tortiller, Guy Cabay …), Jacques Tellitoci met the singer, composer, guitarist and performer Pascal Parisot. The encounter launched a long musical collaboration and friendship. In 2015, with Pascal Parisot, Laurent Meunier and Olivier Prou he made their first youth show C’est Parti mon Kiki, a one-man musical show for children from the age of six. It focused on a character entering his little-boy world, discovering music with his toy. Thes show (as well as the second one Home Sweet Home made in June 2022) is produced and distributed by Traffix Music, a production company created by Emilie Houdebine in 2009. It specialises in youth musical show industry.

A graduate of AGRFT Ljubljana, it was already during his studies, that Mr Grabnar was drawn to performing art. During his career, he directed and created a number of dance, puppet and alternative theatre productions. His signature style is also known internationally, as his productions featured at different prestigious international festivals, such as in Charleville-Mézièrs. As a student, he was assistant stage director at the Slovenian National Theatre and the Serbian National Theatre. At the 10th Biennial of Slovenian Puppeteers, he won the Award as Best Director with the production Nekje drugje, which features at our Festival.

The founder of the Líšeň Theatre, Ms Dombrovská is in-house director and screenwriter. The theatre focuses primarily on original productions for children, as well as for adults. It won several awards for its engaged work. She collaborates with Roma artists, with whom she created a number of productions. She is involved in the Provocative Theatre project,  that aims to reflect the political situation in the world, expresses personal attitudes of the artists of the Líšeň Theatre, and wishes to inspire and encourage others to activity leading to freedom. At our Festival, she will feature her production A Confession of a Prison Warden.

Since 1985, Mr Pecko has been with the Puppet Theatre at the Crossroads in Banská Bystrica. He is currently the stage director and artistic director there. He directs puppetry and drama productions for children and adults. He collaborated with a range of Slovak theatres (The Andrej Bagar Theatre in Nitra, The Slovak Chamber Theatre in the city of Martin, The Jonáš Záborský Thatre in Prešov), Polish threates (Białystok, Bielsko-Biała, Opole, Warsaw) and Czech ensembles (The Klicper Theatre Hradec Králové, Puppet Theatre Ostrava). He has a highly distinctive visual artistic stage signature style and multi-layered work with a sign in the works for children and adults. He is a highly acclaimed artist and laureate of multiple awards, inter alia the 2017 Tatra Banka Foundation Award for Art in Theatre category for the directing the production War Has No Female Face, the Grand Prix at the 24th National Puppet Theatre Festival in Opole (2009, Ivona, Princess of Burgundy). He also holds a number of nominations for the DOSKY Award. The Festival features his production About the Hen Who Didn’t Give Up.

In Leonid Popov’s class, Mr Lukianenko graduated from the Department of Puppetry Directing at The I.K. Karpenko-Kary Kyiv National University of Theatre, Film and Television Arts, where she currently pursues her doctoral studies. Since 2017, she has been the stage director at the Kyiv Academic Puppet Theatre and the leader of the 3rd edition of the pUp.pet International Puppet Theatre Festival. She collaborated with Ukrainian puppet theatres in Kherson and Chernivtsi. She is the director of the children’s production Who Grows in the Park?

Having studied puppetry at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Ms Autilisová is an actress. She collaborated with a range of theatres abroad, inter alia, the Drak Theatre Hradec Králové, The Milan Sládeks Pantomimtheatre, Koln (Germany), or – as stage director with the Maribor Puppet Theatre, Ljubljana Puppet Theatre and others. She is the co-founder of the PIKI Theatre (1990) – an author’s theatre for children. For her art at the PIKI Theatre, she received over forty awards for acting, script, directing, creativity and the most humane message. Currently, she is the artistic director of the Bratislava Puppet Theatre and a university lecturer at the Department of Puppetry at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. At the Festival, she features with Round&round&round, a production for toddlers.

A gaduate from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Mr Štourač is the founding member and artistic director of the Continuo Theatre based in a rural environment. Having spent over there, decades there, he developed his art and directorial poetics initially through puppet theatre; later he was inspired by street and circus art, until the theatre ultimately created its own stage language combining movement acting with distinctive visual stylisation. Czech theatre critics called the poetics of the theatre a “new Central European dream imagery”. Helena and Pavel Štourač won the 2022 Skup Pilsen festival prize for directing and creative concept of the production Hic sunt dracones, which also features at our Festival. He also a lecturer at the Teatro Dimitri Academy in Switzerland.

Recent graduate of the master’s degree in movement theatre at Accademia Teatro Dimitri in Verscio, Mr Soma is native of Burkina Faso. After studying theatre arts at The Jean-Pierre Guingané Superior School of Theatre in Ouagadougou, he collaborated on dance and theatre productions with a number of African directors. He also held international internships, inter alia, at the Akademie für Darstellende Kunst in Germany or Zürcher Hochschule der Künste in Zurich. He founded his own theatre group, Théâtre Éclosions that engages in research of a different form of theatre through performer’s body, inspired by the ceremonies and traditions of Burkina Faso. At our Festival, Mr Soma features with his monodrama SINI.

Having graduated from the Department of Modern Dance Pedagogy at Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Ms Vagnerová collaborated as dancer with a range of international choreographers and groups. She was nominated three times for the Thalia Award. In 2003, she received the title The Dancer of the Year Nokia Dance Award and, in 2005, she was awarded the Dancer of the Year by the Czech Dance Platform. She stood at birth of Cirk La Putyka, the Prague-based distinguished Czech group of the new circus. In 2012, she founded the internationally acclaimed and awarded dance theatre Lenka Vagnerová & Company, where she works as a director, artistic director, choreographer, stage director and dramaturge. She features at our Festival with her production Panopticon.

Having graduated from the Department of Stage Directing at The Leoš Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno, Mr Gejguš started as freelance director. Since 2014, he has participated in the emergence of the theatre scene in the Old Arena in Ostrava, where he eventually became artistic and stage director, and dramaturge. He is currently a freelancer working with a range of Czech theatres, such as Ostrava Puppet Theatre, Studio G Ostrava, Tramtarie Theatre Olomouc. He also lectures at the Janáček Conservatory in Ostrava. His fantasy Plastics Attack brings a special touch to our Festival.

A graduate from The Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Mr Mazúch also completed studies  in dramaturgy and directing alternative and puppet theatre at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. He was in-house stage and artistic director at the West Bohemian Theatre in Cheb. He has collaborated with a number of Czech and Polish theatres, such as Wroclawski Teatr Lalek, Białostocki Teatr Lalek, Švandovo Theatre Prague, or the New Stage of the National Theatre Prague. Since 2013, he has been lecturing at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. Since 2019 he is the Head of the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre there. In Slovakia, he collaborated with The Alexander Duchnovič Theatre in Prešov, the Košice State Theatre and the Košice Puppet Theatre. In his work, he combines the principles of drama, puppetry and movement theatre. He is the director of the production Chaplin.

Stage and artistic director, and co-founder of Teatr Klinika Lalek that was founded in 1988 by students of the Wrocław Academy of Performing Arts. The theatre later changed its venue, by relocating to the countryside – to the village of Wolomierz. Since 1993 it has been housed in the premises of the refurbished railway station named Stacja Wolomierz. The theatre is a touring company. Led by Wiktor Wiktorczyk, it primarily stages street puppet productions that are sought after all over the world and are internationally acclaimed. Circus Tarabumba is a defining performance of the group.

A graduate from the Department of Puppetry at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, Mr Martinka is deemed in Slovakia to be a Renaissance artist – puppeteer, artist, set designer, puppet artist, and technologist. He makes puppets for theatre and film. In addition to the local stage, he was with The Milan Sládek German Pantomimen Theatre. He is a founding member of the Honey and Dust group. He collaborated with the public broadcaster the Slovak Radio on learning series for children. He was awarded at a number of international puppetry festivals, such as in Lodz or Subotica. He is freelancer, actively cooperating with the New Theatre in Nitra and the Odivo Independent Theatre Group. Ignis Fatuus is the most recent joint author’s production of the stage director and Odivo.

A graduate in stage directing and pantomime methodology at The Leoš Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno, Ms Mikotová was with the Radost puppet theatre in Brno for a decade. In 1992, she founded the Studio of Theatre and Education for the Deaf at the Janáček Academy. She remains dedicated to drama learning for the deaf. She worked as a director in a dozen domestic and international theatres, including the Puppet Theatre at the Crossroads. In 2004, she won the Annual Award of the Czech Centre ASSITEJ. In 2006, she received the medal of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Physical Education for art and teaching. In 2007, she was awarded the Janáček Academy Gold Medal. She directed and pedagogically led the production Once Upon a Time There Was a House and Where Is My Cow?

Having graduated from the Department of Dramaturgy and Directing Alternative and Puppet Theatre at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Ms Homolová was, from 1996, with Babadlo theatre in Prešov. In 1999 she joined the Naïve Theatre in Liberec where she remains as stage director, actress and artistic director. She won many awards, such as the 2013 PIF Zagreb Festival Award as for her directing of the Budulínek production, the 2016 Divadelní noviny Award 2016 as the playwright of the Bohemia Lies by The Sea (Čechy leží u moře, together with Radek Malý and Vít Peřin). She is also lecturer at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre Department of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. She directed the Cabinet of Miracles or orbis pictus.

A graduate of the Department of Theory and Criticism at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. She worked at the Documentation Department at the Prague Theatre Institute, later as a PR manager at the Institute of Arts – Theatre Institute. At the copyright agency Aura-Pont, she focused drama written in English and the promotion of Czech drama abroad. She regularly contributes to Czech and Slovak theatre periodicals and has long been cooperating with the Loutkář magazine. She is dramaturge at the Kladno Municipal Theatre.

Having graduated from the East 15 Acting School in London, Ms Gierdal also completed a module on puppetry directing and dramaturgy at the Department of Puppetry at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. She is an actress, stage director, lecturer with the theatre of the oppressed and a medical clown within the association RED NOSE (ČERVENÝ NOS) Clowndoctors. In her work, she seeks a space for the encounter between theatre and nature, grasping the present moment and the living physicality of an actor endowed with the wonder of consciousness. She is the director of the Dream of the Primaeval Forest, a production of the LAB Theatre at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. She is the director of the A Dream of a Primaeval Forest.

A graduate from the Department of Graphic Design / Visual Communication at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava, during his studies Mr Mistrík also studied at art universities in Slovenia (Akademija za likovno umenost) and Finland (Taideteollinen högålän). He worked for the Slovenian theatre magazine MASKA, NGO Open Design Studio. Since 2012 he works as graphic designer under the brand name Zelená lúka. He focuses primarily on editorial design and the creation of visual identities, being regularly commissioned to do work for theatre and culture. As co-author and designer, he participated in the publication Cvernovka and is the laureate of multiple National Design Awards.