SMARTheatre in Slovakia

A new online educational project of the Slovak Centre of the IATC called SMARTheatre (www.smartheatre.sk) has been recently launched for young theatre lovers. The aim of the initiative is to provide an informal, but professional educational platform for teens interested in theatre without geographical or financial limitations. Since November last year, more than 50 secondary school students from all over Slovakia have been taking part in free online workshops in five areas of performance: drama, opera, musical, puppet and alternative theatre. Students are invited to watch online theatre recordings of selected performances provided by the collaborating theatres, which range from the Slovak National Theatre to independent regional companies. Then, under the tutorship of professional theatre critics, they discuss the production on platforms such as zoom, skype, etc. Some online meetings are even joined by the artists involved in the respective productions. The students are then asked to react to the shows in any form they choose. Their contributions – ranging from poem to graphic novels, from essay to “regular” pieces of theatre criticism – are added to the common website.

The project was supported by the Slovak Arts Council (www.fpu.sk) within the framework of special COVID-19 help provided for online projects.