Nine Productions Competing for the Grand Prix
This is the selection of productions competing for the prestigious Grand Prix New Drama / Nová dráma 2026 award.The main programme will feature nine contemporary drama productions created by both institutional and independent professional theatres.
Over the past year and at the beginning of the current one, the festival’s dramaturgical board attended premieres of productions across Slovakia. The selection includes titles whose premieres took place between 1 February 2025 and 31 January 2026.
The selection was prepared by theatre critic Tamara Vajdíková, aesthetician and art historian Viera Bartková, and theatre scholar and dramaturg Marek Godovič, who assessed more than ninety productions.
Tamara Vajdíková:
“The festival programme selection emerged during a challenging period of change and restrictions affecting both everyday life and artistic creation. We decided to focus on nine titles responding to current social issues and individual human stories.”
Marek Godovič:
“We were interested in the perspectives of different social groups on contemporary phenomena. Our selection reflects an effort to capture a generational spectrum of creators whose work resonated on Slovak stages and has the potential to appeal to international cultural audiences.”
Viera Bartková:
“We also sought to ensure that the selection presents a range of theatrical poetics and formal experimentation found today in both independent culture and repertory theatres. At the same time, we would like to acknowledge the effort and energy of the creators of all more than ninety productions, created in an unfavourable economic situation and an atmosphere of uncertainty. Thank you.”
We look forward to welcoming you in May 2026 — come and discover new themes, new productions, and new faces of contemporary theatre!
Productions Nominated for the Grand Prix
Adam Dragun: ALEX
(directed by: Adam Dragun)
Project Batyskaf in co-production with ARCHA+
Elfriede Jelinek: Endsieg: The Second Coming
(directed by: Dávid Paška)
Small Stage Theatre
Katja Brunner: Ghosts Are Only Human
(directed by: Kamila Polívková)
Slovak National Theatre
team of authors: Let’s Demand the Impossible
(directed by: Šimon Ferstl)
DPM Theatre in collaboration with the Academy of Performing Arts
Uršula Kovalyk: Medusa in the Kitchen
(directed by: Uršula Kovalyk)
Theatre With No Home
Michal Ditte: OTA
(directed by: Júlia Rázusová)
Jozef Gregor Tajovský Theatre
Slavka Civáňová: She Left Behind a Beautiful Garden
(directed by: Iveta Ditte Jurčová)
Pôtoň Theatre and Without a Stage
Anna Klimešová, Boris Jedinák, et al.: Tartuffe
(directed by: Anna Klimešová)
Slovak Chamber Theatre Martin
Rastislav Ballek – Mário Drgoňa: Text Lajčiak
(directed by: Rastislav Ballek)
P. O. Hviezdoslav Theatre
The competition productions will be presented in the main programme during the week of 11 May 2026.
The winning production, awarded the Grand Prix New Drama / Nová dráma 2026, will be announced at the closing ceremony on 15 May 2026.
All programme information will be gradually published at www.novadrama.sk.
Dária Fojtíková Fehérová Appointed New Festival Director
The New Drama / Nová dráma Festival has a new director. Since October 2025, the position has been held by Mgr. Dária Fojtíková Fehérová, PhD., a theatre critic and researcher specialising in contemporary Slovak theatre.
She studied Theatre Studies at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, completed supplementary pedagogical training focused on children’s drama education, and postgraduate studies at the Department of Aesthetics, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University.
She has long been active in theatre criticism, research into contemporary Slovak theatre, and the history of Slovak directing. Since 2022, she has led the Theatre Research Centre at the Theatre Institute and has collaborated with the New Drama / Nová dráma Festival since 2009. She is Vice-Chair of the Slovak Section of the International Association of Theatre Critics (AICT/IATC) and a member of its international executive committee.
“The New Drama / Nová dráma Festival aims to remain an expert platform addressing contemporary trends not only in theatre but also in society. I believe the 22nd edition will be a space for developing collaborations and fostering a living connection between audiences and the theatre community,” says the new festival director.
“If we were to identify a unifying thematic line of this year’s main programme, it would be the question of preserving human dignity. The productions address care for seniors, violence against women, the marginalisation of certain social groups, and the way our society treats moral and intellectual authorities. Contemporary drama has the ability to articulate these themes openly, sensitively, and in dialogue with today’s audiences.”
Festival Dramaturgical Board 2026
The selection of productions for the main programme (premieres between 1 February 2025 and 31 January 2026) was made by the following experts:
Viera Bartková
Viera Bartková studied Aesthetics, Slovak Language and Literature, and Art History, and completed doctoral studies in Cultural Studies at the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava. She undertook study stays in Budapest, Padua, and Rome. Since 2014, she has worked as an assistant professor at the Department of Aesthetics, where she also teaches theatre and visual art history at the University of the Third Age. Her research focuses on interdisciplinary and intercultural relations, visual dramaturgy, and art pedagogy. She reflects contemporary Slovak theatre and dance through scholarly studies and critical reviews.
Tamara Vajdíková
Tamara Vajdíková completed her Master’s degree at the Department of Theatre Studies, Academy of Performing Arts (VŠMU) in 2023. She is currently a doctoral researcher at the Institute of Theatre and Film Research, Slovak Academy of Sciences. Her dissertation explores artificial aesthetics in theatre, particularly in relation to modern technologies. She publishes reviews in kød magazine and on the MLOKi platform, and since 2023 has coordinated the V4@Theatre Critics Residency project as part of the International Theatre Festival Divadelná Nitra.
Marek Godovič
Marek Godovič graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava in Theatre Studies and Polish Studies, and from the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in Screenwriting and Dramaturgy. From 2011 to 2018, he worked as a dramaturg at Štúdio 12. He currently works at the Theatre Institute in the Centre for Theatre Documentation. He completed his PhD at the Department of Theatre Studies, VŠMU in 2017 and lectures externally on Polish theatre and drama. As a critic, he focuses on contemporary theatre and dance and regularly publishes in Slovak and Czech cultural platforms and academic journals. He is a member of the Slovak Centre of the Association of Theatre Critics and the editorial board of the journal Tanec.
