After the graduation from high school in Nové Mesto nad Váhom, where he did active work in amateur theatre, Polák started his studies at the Academy of Performing Arts where he majored in theatre direction in Miloš Pietor’s class. After the completion of his studies in 1982, Polák worked for the drama department at the State Theatre Košice and later, from 1984 for the Slovak National Uprising Theatre in Martin. In Martin, where he worked as a full-time director, he produced a great number of productions owing to which he was – in the 1980s – included in the list of the most important Slovak directors. With the Martin ensemble, Polák staged Touches and Connection (1988) and Baal (1989) which would later represent Czechoslovak theatre at European and international festivals (Wroclaw, Torun, Moscow, Belgrade). The pinnacle of success of both productions was a wave of positive reactions from European critics in Edinburgh. The Guardian daily even awarded Touches and Connections its prestigious Guardian’s Critic’s Choice prize.
Between 1990 and 1996 Polák had no permanent contract. In this period, however, he cooperated mostly with ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre, the Slovak National Theatre and Andrej Bagar Theatre in Nitra. In 1996–2000, Polák worked as a full-time director in ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre. In 2000, he became the artistic director at the State Theatre Košice where he remained until 2002, only to return to ASTORKA Korzo ’90 in 2005 to take the position of the artistic director and theatre director. As a well-established director, he started to collaborate with international theatres – in 1992, he produced Macbeth with the Shakespeare Repertory Theatre (Chicago, USA) and worked diligently for Czech theatres in Brno and Prague. In April 2006, he became the director of the Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre where he stayed until May 2008. In the period 2013–2017, he worked as the director the Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre again. In this position, he has initiated the establishment of an international theatre festival called Eurokontext.sk that presents the works of theatres from the Visegrad countries as well as work by selected partners from the European Theatre Convention (ETC).
In addition to theatre direction, Roman Polák also works as a film director. He contributed to several domestic and co-production film and television projects (Amina’s Memory, New Suffering of Anton, The Devil). He has won several nominations and awards for his direction of drama and opera productions in various surveys and at all kinds of festivals. Polák is also active as a pedagogue: in 1994–1996, he taught part-time at Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno, and in 2007 at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. He became a full-time teacher at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in 2011 and has since taught at its Department of Direction and Dramaturgy.
Description of his work:
From the beginnings of his artistic career until today, Roman Polák has progressed from being a pronounced and provocative artist to a distinctive director who can stage both big classics and contemporary drama. His productions always offer meaningful themes which – either because of their content or by means of Polák’s poetics – always take a stand on today’s world, society and politics. At the same time, they never force any answers, but rather pose more questions. Polák’s subject matter usually contains several thematic areas which he systematically and purposefully explores. Critique of society, moral and psychological disintegration of the individual, carnality and human eroticism – these are the essential themes Polák works with, develops and specifically interprets.
As Miloš Pietor’s student, he continues the tradition of emphasized realism and strives to create a Shakespearian type of theatre. Such theatre should introduce characters who meet in a dramatic conflict at three basic levels – the instinctive, the psychological and the social. As Polák says himself, a production or a theatre play works only if it contains all three levels. When preparing the directorial concept for a production, he looks for sufficiently artistic and mobilizing form for the mentioned instinctive and psychological motives of the characters that he discovers in the text. In many cases, he is bold enough even to add them to the script. In his work, Polák does not avoid the principles of Stanislawski’s model of truthfulness, or at least the likelihood and particularity of a dramatic situation and its conflict. In addition to modern and contemporary, international and Slovak playwrights, Polák likes to choose verified classical works by William Shakespeare, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Molière, Bertolt Brecht, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, among others. A foremost position in Polák’s repertory is taken by Russian classics to which he keeps returning because he finds in them encoded problems and contradictions of human life, issues he is interested in and inspired by as an artist. Love, belief in god, cruelty, generational problems – all these are motifs that dominate his stagings of Russian titles.
As an author he co-wrote the play The Centaurs (ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre), created or co-created several theatre adaptations (The Bride of the Ridge, Anna Karenina, The Brothers Karamazov) or strong dramatic variations (Play Gorky or Summer Guests). At present, Polák frequently collaborates with dramaturgs Daniel Majling, Peter Kováč and Darina Abrahámová, stage designer Pavel Borák and costume designer Peter Čanecký. As a director of many important productions, he worked in tandem with dramaturg Martin Porubjak with whom he staged several emblematic productions (Touches and Connections, Baal, The Trial). The music Polák uses in his productions is usually based on the main theme. In the past, he liked to invite Slovak popular musicians to work on his shows (Richard Müller, Andrej Šeban, Anton Popovič, Marián Greksa), but at present musician Lucia Chuťková is responsible for the music in his productions (Arcadia, The Shepherd’s Wife, The Brothers Karamazov, The Rats, Buddenbrooks). Roman Polák’s broad scope of genres and themes, as well as his remarkable and unmistakable directorial method have attracted and pleased both professional critics and the general public. Some of his productions stir up all kinds of discussions and are often equivocally received. Despite artistic polemics, Polák is one of the most prolific and pronounced theatre directors in Slovakia.
List of directed productions:
1977 / Almost Poetic Theatre at the Roland Theatre / Vladimir Mayakovski: Maria, Closer!
1978 / Almost Poetic Theatre at the Roland Theatre / Roman Polák: Aremora, or These Weird People
1979 / Plastic Theatre Bratislava / Branimir Šćepanović: What Then? (Mouth Full of Soil)
1980 / State Theatre Košice / Aleksander Fredro: Man and Woman
1981 / State Theatre Košice / Stanislav Stratiev: The Bus
1981 / Studio of the Academy of Performing Arts / Roman Polák: Theatre and Life
1981 / Studio of the Academy of Performing Arts / Fráňa Šrámek: Moon Over the River
1982 / State Theatre Košice / Fernand Crommelynck: The Magnificent Cuckold
1982 / Ján Chalupka’s Theatre Ensemble, Brezno / Samo Tomášik: A Wedding Under the Rooster, or May the Cost Be As Low As Possible
1983 / State Theatre Košice / Henrik Ibsen: Peer Gynt
1984 / Poetic Ensemble of the New Stage, Bratislava / Robinson Jeffers: The Loving Shepherdess
1984 / Slovak National Uprising Theatre, Martin / Ján Palárik: The Tinker
1984 / Slovak National Uprising Theatre, Martin / Karol Horák: The Man Between the Wars
1984 / Ján Chalupka Theatre, Brezno / Viliam Paulíny Tóth: The Human Comedy
1985 / Slovak National Uprising Theatre, Martin / Ivan Radoev: Cannibal
1985 / Slovak National Uprising Theatre, Martin / William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
1985 / Plastic Theatre Bratislava / Vojtech Mihálik: Running Away After Orpheus
1986 / Slovak National Uprising Theatre, Martin / Grigory Gorin: Thyl Ulenspiegel
1986 / Slovak National Uprising Theatre, Martin / František Švantner, Roman Polák: The Bride of the Ridge
1986 / Slovak National Uprising Theatre, Martin / Tadeusz Różewicz: The Trap
1987 / Slovak National Uprising Theatre, Martin / Mikuláš Kočan: Hey, Ďurko, Ďurko (Jánošík)
1987 / Theatre for Children and Youth, Trnava / Fernand Crommelynck: Passionate As Ice
1987 / State Puppet Theatre, Bratislava / Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol, Roman Polák: The Overcoat
1988 / Slovak National Uprising Theatre, Martin / Pierre de Marivaux: Touches and Connections (The Dispute)
1988 / Slovak National Uprising Theatre, Martin / Peter Karvaš: Zero Hour
1988 / E. F. Burian Theatre, Prague, Czech Republic / Friedrich Dürrenmatt: The Visit of the Old Lady
1989 / Slovak National Uprising Theatre, Martin / Bertolt Brecht: Baal
1989 / Slovak National Uprising Theatre, Martin / Friedrich Dürrenmatt: The Visit of the Old Lady
1989 / Vene Teater, Tallinn, Estonia / Pierre de Marivaux: Touches and Connections (The Dispute)
1990 / Jonáš Záborský Theatre, Prešov / Karol Horák: The Decline of Football in the City of K
1990 / ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre / Franz Kafka, Roman Polák, Martin Porubjak: The Trial
1990 / Academy of Performing Arts / Max Frisch: Don Juan or the Love of Geometry
1990 / Slovak National Uprising Theatre, Martin / Alan Ayckbourn: Absurd Person Singular
1991 / Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre / Georg Tabori: Mein Kampf
1991 / Andrej Bagar Theatre, Nitra / Pierre de Marivaux: The Triumph of Love
1992 / Shakespeare Repertory Theatre, Chicago, USA / William Shakespeare: Macbeth
1992 / Andrej Bagar Theatre, Nitra / Fernand Crommelynck: The Magnificent Cuckold
1992 / Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre / William Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet
1993 / ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre / Edmond Rostand: Cyrano
1993 / National Theatre Prague, Czech Republic / Paul Claudel: The Satin Slipper
1993 / Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre / Frank Wedekind: Lulu
1994 / ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre / William Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice
1994 / National Theatre Brno, Czech Republic / William Shakespeare: King Lear
1994 / Slovak National Uprising Theatre, Martin / Karol Horák: Strange Johnny (Apocalypse According to Janko Kráľ)
1994 / National Theatre Prague, Czech Republic / Pierre de Marivaux: The Double Inconstancy
1994 / Janáček Academy of Performing Arts Brno, Czech Republic / William Shakespeare: Measure for Measure
1995 / Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre / Karol Horák: Heaven, Hell, Gotham
1995 / National Theatre Brno, Czech Republic / William Shakespeare: The Tempest
1995 / Student Theatre of the Faculty of Arts, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, Prešov / Karol Horák: New Temptation of Anton
1996 / ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre / Anton Pavlovich Chekhov: Uncle Vanya
1996 / Slovak National Uprising Theatre, Martin / Karol Horák: … Thy Kingdom Come…“
1996 / West Theatre, Bratislava / Jean Genet: The Maids
1997 / Slovak National Uprising Theatre, Martin / William Shakespeare: Coriolanus
1997 / ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre / Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky: The Forest
1997 / West Theatre, Bratislava / Bernard Slade: Same Time, Next Year
1997/ Trnava Theatre / Roman Polák: Robinson Looking For a Ship That Will Be Wrecked
1998 / Theatre on the Balustrade, Prague, Czech Republic / Anton Pavlovich Chekhov: The Seagull
1998 / the ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre / Maxim Gorky: Scenes From the Bessemenov Household / Smug Citizens
1998 / the ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre / Paul Claudel: The Exchange
1999 / Trnava Theatre / Henrik Ibsen: John Gabriel Borkman
1999 / New Stage, Bratislava / William Shakespeare, Roman Polák: Shockspeare
1999 / Théâtre Molière – Maison de la poésie, Paris, France / Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin: The Stone Guest
2000 / ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre / Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky, Jan Novak: The Axe Murder in St. Petersburg
2000 / Brno City Theatre, Czech Republic / Henrik Ibsen: Peer Gynt
2000 / Drama Club, Prague, Czech Republic/ Bernard Marie Koltès: Return to the Desert
2001 / State Theatre Košice / Bernard-Marie Koltés: Roberto Zucco
2001/ Slovak Chamber Theatre, Martin / Molière, Roman Polák: Don(a) Juan(a)
2001 / State Theatre Košice and civic association Metamorphoses / Bernard-Marie Koltès: Black Battles With Dogs
2002 / Slovak Chamber Theatre, Martin / Molière, Roman Polák, Roman Císař: Tartuffe Striptease
2002 / State Theatre Košice / Gejza Dusík, Pavol Braxatoris: Blue Rose
2002 / State Theatre Košice / William Shakespeare: Much Ado About Nothing
2002 / State Theatre Košice / Giacomo Puccini: Tosca
2003 / New Stage, Bratislava / Robert Thomas: Eight Women
2003 / Slovak Chamber Theatre, Martin / Molière, Roman Polák: The Poor Miser
2003 / Drama Club, Prague, Czech Republic / Fiodor Sologub, Roman Polák: The Devil’s Swing
2003 / Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre / Eva Maliti-Fraňová: Krcheň the Immortal
2004 / City Theatre Brno, Czech Republic / Tom Stoppard: Arcadia
2004 / ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre / Maxim Gorky, Roman Polák: Play Gorky or Summer Guests
2004 / New Stage, Bratislava / John Chapman: Nil By Mouth
2005 / Studio L+S, Bratislava / Ronald Harwood: The Dresser
2005 / Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre / Viliam Klimáček: Hypermarket
2006 / ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre / Roman Polák: The Centaurs
2006 / Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre / Christopher Hampton: Embers
2006 / Slovak Chamber Theatre Martin / Anton Pavlovich Chekhov: Ivanov
2006 / ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre / Pavol Weiss: Girlfriends
2007 / Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre / Táňa Kusá: With Mother
2007 / ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre / Pavol Weiss: Bajmann Brothers
2007 / Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre / Victor Hugo, Roman Polák: The King Amuses Himself
2008 / Andrej Bagar Theatre, Nitra / Roman Polák: Piargy
2008 / Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre / Anton Pavlovich Chekhov: Three Sisters
2008 / ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre / Ivan Turgenev: A Month in the Country
2008 / City Theatre Brno, Czech Republic / William Shakespeare: Twelfth Night or As You Like It
2008 / State Opera Banská Bystrica / Eugen Suchoň: The Whirlpool
2009 / ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre / Jan Novak: Tolstoy and Money
2009 / Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre / Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, Roman Polák: Anna Karenina
2009 / Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre / Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav: Herodes and Herodias
2010 / Slovak Chamber Theatre Martin / Molière: The Misanthrope
2010 / Aréna Theatre, Bratislava / Štefan Kršňák: Take a Shotgun For the Husband
2010 / ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre / Anton Pavlovich Chekhov: Platonov
2010 / Andrej Bagar Theatre, Nitra / Dušan Mitana, Roman Polák, Daniel Majling: Endgame
2011 / the ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre / Eugene O´Neill: A Long Day’s Journey Into the Night
2011 / State Theatre Košice / William Shakespeare: As You Like It
2011 / State Opera Banská Bystrica / Ján Cikker: Coriolanus
2011 / City Theatre Žilina / Zuza Ferenczová: Babyboom
2011 / Slovak Chamber Theatre Martin / Sophocles: Oedipus Rex
2012 / City Theatre Brno, Czech Republic / Pierre Corneille: Le Cid
2012 / Aréna Theatre / Agatha Christie: Towards Zero
2012 / ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre / Franz Kafka, Roman Polák, Daniel Majling: The Castle
2013 / Opera of the Slovak National Theatre / Gioacchino Rossini: The Barber of Seville
2013 / Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre / Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky, Roman Polák, Daniel Majling: The Brothers Karamazov
2013 / Karol Spišák’s Old Theatre, Nitra / Pavol Dobšinský, Roman Polák: Earthly Beauty
2013 / Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre / Eugen Gindl: Carpathian Thriller
2013 / National Theatre Brno, Czech Republic / Richard Wagner: Flying Dutchman
2014 / Andrej Bagar Theatre, Nitra / Gerhart Hauptmann: The Rats
2014 / Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre / Thomas Mann, John von Düffel: Buddenbrooks
2014 / Slovak Chamber Theatre Martin and City Theatre of Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav / Patrick Süskind: The Double Bass
2015 / Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre / František Švantner, Roman Polák: The Bride of the Ridge
2015 / Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre / Ivan Stodola: The Shepherd’s Wife
2015 / Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre / Karol Horák: Prophet Štúr and His Shadows, or the Revelation, Sacrifice and Ascension of Prophet Ľudovít and His Disciples
2015 / Opera of the Slovak National Theatre / Gioacchino Rossini: Figaro Here, Figaro There
2015 / Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre / Tom Stoppard: Arcadia
2016 / State Opera Banská Bystrica / Ján Cikker: Juro Jánošík
2016/ Academy of Performing Arts / Woody Allen: Urban Sexualism
2017/ Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre / Péter Esterházy: Mercedes Benz
2017 / Opera of the Slovak National Theatre / Giacomo Puccini: Trilogy: Sister Angelica, Coat, Gianni Schicchi
2017 / Summer Shakespeare Festival, Bratislava / William Shakespeare: The Comedy of Errors
2017 / Slovak Chamber Theatre Martin / Anton Pavlovich Chekhov: The Cherry Orchard
Awards:
1997 / Dosky (Theatre Award of the Season) – Award for the Best Direction of the Season for the production The Forest at the ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre.
1997 / Dosky (Theatre Award of the Season) – Award for the Best Production of the Season for The Forest at the ASTORKA Korzo ’90 Theatre.
2005 / Literary Fund Prize for theatre and radio work for the exceptional staging of Play Gorky or Summer Guests.
2006 / Crystal Wing Award in the film and theatre category.
2006 / Dosky Award for Best Direction of the Season for Ivanov produced at the Slovak Chamber Theatre in Martin.
2006 / Dosky Award for Best Production of the Season for Ivanov produced at the Slovak Chamber Theatre in Martin.
2009 / Dosky Award for Best Direction of the Season for Anna Karenina produced at the Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre.
2009 / Tatrabanka Foundation Prize in the theatre category for the dramatic production of Anna Karenina.
2010 / Dosky Award for the Best Direction of the Season for The Misanthrope produced at the Slovak Chamber Theatre in Martin.
2011 / Prize of the Slovak Minister of Culture in the field of professional art in 2010 awarded for the direction of Dušan Mitana’s Endgame and Molière’s The Misanthrope, taking into consideration other directorial work from previous years.
2013 / Tatrabanka Foundation Prize for art – awarded for the direction and co-dramatization of the novel The Brothers Karamazov.
2014 / Literary Fund Prize for the direction of the play Carpathian Thriller at the Slovak National Theatre, and for the direction of The Rats at the Andrej Bagar Theatre in Nitra.
2017 / DOSKY Award in the in the Extraordinary Drama Production category, for the production Mercedes Benz
2017 / Literary Fund Award for Lifetime Achievement
Foreign language skills: Russian
Contact: romapolak@gmail.com
Videos from productions:
The Misanthrope, 2010
archive of the Slovak Chamber Theatre Martin
The video can be found at the following link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB6ONmDzqBw
The Rats, 2014
archive of the Andrej Bagar Theater Nitra
The video can be found at the following link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSGfaFon9lI
The Shepherd’s Wife, 2015
archive of the Slovak National Theatre, Bratislava
The video can be found at the following link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM5zhWIiWiI
Prophet Štúr and His Shadows, or the Revelation, Sacrifice and Ascension of Prophet Ľudovít and His Disciples, 2015
archive of the Slovak National Theatre, Bratislava
The video can be found at the following link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKl8uMkKqBs
