In the past two years (2017 and 2018) we invited monodramas and storytelling
performances to Hungary. The festival keeps growing and in 2019, the audience
can get to know Roma chamber theatre plays. Our goal is to show the
diversity of Roma theatre, also presenting different genres and topics. The
artists tell stories from Germany, the Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary about
the past and present of Gypsy communities, showing their everyday challenges
related to education, health care, migration, integration and assimilation.
"So far, the plays presented the viewpoint of one hero, but this year,
different points of views and the diverse relations of Roma and non-Roma
communities will be in the spotlight", said Rodrigó Balogh, artistic
director of the theatre and the festival.
The plays are performed with English
subtitles and Hungarian interpreting, so they are accessible for Hungarian and
foreign audience as well.
In August 2019, two plays
present the active youth.
Both plays star youngsters who draw attention
to the challenges and active engagement of the new generation.
The coproduction of Gorki Studio in Berlin and Romano Svato company in Vienna is based
on the real life story of the Yugoslavian sisters who were born in Germany but
got recently deported from there, with the help of professional actors and
youngsters.
Hungarian premiere: 24th August
2019, 6 p.m., Eötvös10 Közösségi és Kulturális Színtér
Audience discussion with the artists after the show.
Photo: Nihad Nino Pušija
from the play 'Forever
Holiday!'
The play "Shoddies" by Independent
Theater Hungary also put youngsters on the stage to show the insane health care
system, their own traumas and prejudices, and to ask themselves as well as the
spectators what we can do – instead of complaining – to improve this situation.
Public rehearsal: 23rd August 2019, 6 p.m.,
RS9 Theatre, Vallai kert
Premiere: 25th August 2019, 6 p.m., RS9
Theatre, Vallai kert
Audience discussion with the artists after the show.
Photo: Alina Vincze
The "Shoddies"
In September 2019, two
plays discuss the deadly challenges of the community.
While one play evokes history, the other
explores the circumstances of a young girl's death.
The festival continues in September with the
Czech ARA Art company, evoking Roma
history in a new form, building on the elements of circus arts. The
storytelling of the old Roma women guides us through the fate and past of the
community, starting with the origin legend of Gypsy people, through modern
history and Holocaust till the assimilation efforts of the socialist regime.
Even though the story presents a Czech perspective, it raises topics and issues
that are important for Roma communities in Hungary as well.
Hungarian premiere: 14th September
2019, 6 p.m., Eötvös10 Közösségi és Kulturális Színtér
Audience discussion with the artists after the show.
Photo: Jan Mihalicek
from the play Pindral
Giuvlipen company from Bucharest tells the story
of a young Roma girl who would like to keep studying but neither her family nor
her school supports her. The play is based on a real story and presents the
struggle of the girl from various perspectives, raising the validity of
different approaches and at the same time pointing out collective
responsibility that no one can escape.
Hungarian premiere: 15th September 2019, 6
p.m., RS9 Theatre, Vallai kert
Audience
discussion with the artists after the show.
Source: Giuvlipen Theater
Company
Roma Heroes International Theatre
Festival is the one and only international theatre meetup in the world for Roma
theatres which aims to bring together the minority and the majority, and
strengthen Roma communities by showing the values and challenges of Roma
theatre and communities.