The first month of the new season in the State Theatre Košice brings the Open Day – a tribute to Juraj Kubánka,passed legend of Slovak dance. Moreover, five new premieres are on offer. The dramaturgy of the season promises other unique theatrical experiences. All of us in the theatre we believe that we’ll be able to offer them live for the audience without severe restrictions.
The theatre the first time opens yet on Sunday, September 5th, during popular Open Day. Most of the activities will be done in exterior, close to the historical building of the theatre. The Open Day brings exhibition of stage designs and creative workshop. Children can go on a trip around the world of theatre with a sweet surprise at the end. In the building of the theatre, visitors can try a guided walking tour of one of the most beautiful theatre buildings in Europe. Due to currently valid COVID restrictions, visitors are expected to follow valid OTP regime (vaccinated, tested, recovered), meaning that visitors must be fully vaccinated or produce a negative COVID-19 test, which is less than 72 hours old in the case of RT-PCR or LAMP test or 48 hours old in the case of antigen testor persons who recovered from the COVID-19 less than 180 days previously. The same OTP regime will be applied by the theatre during other performances.
On 10 September, the audience will see the first show, the premiere of the drama adaptation Borodáč alebo Tri sestry. Original play by the three Slovak authors Karol Horák, Michal Baláž, and Michal Ditte has been waiting for its live premiere since April 2020. Its live premiere has been marred by the pandemic already twice. “The new season of the Drama Company ŠDKE is artistically ambitious. They will start the season with several times postponed premiere of Slovak drama on the founding father of Slovak theatre and the first director of Košice theatre - Borodáč alebo Tri sestry. It is dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of Slovak professional theatre, in which we deal with our tradition and history in a critical but still respectful manner,”says Anton Korenči, Director, ŠDKE Drama Company. In September, one more premiere in drama is awaited – theatre adaptation of one of the most significant novels of the modern age - Demons (in Slovak: Diablom posadnutí). The drama is presented at the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of the greatest writers of all times Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky.
- next months of the season bring other interesting titles in the repertoire of the drama ensemble. “In October, the theatre visitors may look forward to continuing cooperation between director Martin Čičvák and actor Marek Geišberg. ir cooperation started, back in time in drama adaptation Pygmalion. This time, they have prepared a tragicomic story from urban suburbs - Liliom by Ferenc Molnár. Then, our spectators may also look forward to the first stand-up in Košice drama called Navekyamen, starring excellent Stano Pitoňák. Yet before Christmas, we will have the honour to welcome actor Juraj Kukura with his unique dramatic-musical poem Bible. Following the New Year, kids are invited to the theatre to see the fairy-tale by Salman Rushdie Haroun and the Sea of Stories. In the second half of the season, visitors will have a chance to see a precious piece of the 20th century drama Balcony by enfant terrible Jean Genet. And finally, at the end of the season, the drama ensemble brings film adaptation Idiots by controversial Lars von Trier,” Anton Korenči, Director ŠDKE Drama Company, describes the repertoire of the drama ensemble.
In 14 September, ŠDKE Ballet Company opens the season offering a special dance production Rodná zem: Spomienky na Juraja Kubánku. The show is a tribute to Juraj Kubánka, legend of Slovak dance art, who passed in July. A pioneer of folk dances’ choreography in Slovakia has left his mark in Košice theatre as well. In the last decade, the choreographer was engaged by the theatre, he helped to prepare four productions. Three days later, on Friday - September 17th, the theatre brings world premiere of an original ballet by Ondrej Šoth called Nureyev. The leading character, the artist who changed the world of dance forever, will be portrayed by the world renown ballet star Vladimir Malakhov; dubbed as the 'dancer of the century' by critique. “The autumn brings premiere Orbis Pictus (in Slovak: Svet v obrazoch) – drama on love as a harmonic combination of happiness and abstinence, and on music that reflects Universe. It is the story of love, devotion, and vulnerability inspired by the poems of the greatest Italian writer of his time Alessandro Manzoni, and music of his great admirer Giusseppe Verdi. In the second half of the season, the audience may look forward to a new ballet called Ecstasy. The creative team poses questions such as what beauty means in the 21st Century? Where beauty can be found in the era of new technology and great transformation of communities – in the time of pandemic, disinformation, corruption, human rights denial, intolerance towards otherness and so,” Andrej Petrovič, Director, Ballet Company ŠDKE, brings details on the upcoming season in Košice Ballet.
In September, Opera Company ŠDKE is about to present two premieres that were prepared in the previous season. Opulent adaptation of the operetta Duchess of Chicago by Emmerich Kálmán opens the season in the opera. It brings joyful operetta and jazz rhythms. The operetta will be followed by Gaetano Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux – a piece on the collapse of one great era and personal dream of the Queen Elizabeth I. It is one of the most beautiful bel canto operas. The online streaming of the opera in the previous year has met with excellent international response by theatre professionals and critique. In October, the theatre holds a gala concert celebrating the jubilee of a legendary Slovak tenor Peter Dvorský. Opera Werther by Jules Massenet is another premiere expected in October. It is a romantic and tragic opera based on the epochal novel by Goethe. The main character is a sensitive rebel seeking the meaning of the world.
The Opera Company has also prepared unique concerts and chamber pieces for the new season. Excellent Slovak soprano Slávka Zámečníková, soloist of the Vienna State Opera is going to sing, in Košice, a solo from the Symphony No. 3. A profound piece of music by Polish composer Henrik Górecky. The online streaming of Schubert’s Winterreise will be presented live by the theatre, offering a unique interpretation by a world-known tenor Pavol Bršlík. The premiere will be presented live in December. Yet in December, the audience may also see Peter Mazalán, author, director, performer, and singer. Peter presents author’s interpretation of Bach’s cantata Ich habe genung (in Slovak: Už stačí). The cantata will be accompanied by Hermann Hesse’s texts with the intention to raise discussion on tolerance and equality among people.
In January, the audience can look forward to one of the most famous opera pieces Tosca by Giacomo Puccini. A melodrama in three Acts as Puccini himself called it. It is an epic opera full of melodies and emotions with historical background, almost like a film story in which the lives of the main characters are interrupted by the force of the destiny and they are thrown towards death. In the second half of the season, ŠDKE Opera Company presents the scenes from Wagner’s monumental opus on the contrast between love and death, day and night; the pieces are from Tristan and Isolde and they were prepared, yet during the pandemic, by the chief-conductor Peter Valentovič.
In May 2022, the theatre presents the last premiere of the season King Roger by Karol Szymanowsky. A unique piece from 1920’s that has recently taken the world opera houses by storm by its exotic topic and music which is modern and intoxicating, expressive and mystique, Slavic and Western at the same time. “The question the Shepherd poses to the King Roger – we want to pose the question to ourselves and our audience. Deep in your heart there’s a dream that has never been dreamed – says the Shepherd to the King at the end of the opera. In this way he relativises his previous life and social structure. And this is the role of the theatre in each era and particularly in the present day“, says Roland Khern Tóth, Director, Opera Company ŠDKE.
