ROMAN POLÁK has worked right after graduation in 1982, first in the drama department of the State Theatre in Košice and since 1984 at the SNP Theatre in Martin. The results of his work at the theatre in Martin placed him among the most important theatre directors of the 1980s. His direction has not always been unequivocally received but has always stirred up the calm surface and provoked polemic discussions. The productions directed by Roman Polák went beyond Slovak theatre in their significance.

 

The most successful productions in Martin, P. de Marivaux's Touches and Connections (originally titled Dispute, 1988) and Brecht's Baal (1989), represented Czechoslovak theatre at European international festivals. Both productions were successful at shows in Wroclaw and Toruń in Poland; The Baal was an event in Moscow, Touches and Connections at BITEF in Belgrade, and both productions a year apart (1988 and 1989) captivated audiences and professional critics in Edinburgh, Scotland. The production Touches and Connections even received The Guardian Critics' Choice, a prestigious critics' award from The Guardian.

 

In 1990-1996, Roman Polák was not in a permanent engagement. From this period, there has been a significant phase of cooperation with the national theatres in Bratislava, Prague, and Brno. Since 1990, he has been continuously collaborating with the Astorka Theatre - Korzo ´90. First, as a guest director, and from 1996 to 2000, he was the in-house director of Astoria. Since 2005, he has been the director of Astorka again. His most memorable productions are the dramatisation of Kafka's The Trial (Polák - Porubjak, 1992), the joint project with Studio L+S Rostand's Cyrano of Bergerac (with M. Lasica in the title role, which was in the repertoire for eleven years, 1993), Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (1994), the Russian Tetralogy: A. P. Chekhov Ujo Vanya (1995), F. M. Dostoyevsky Crime and Punishment, dramatised by J. Novák - a Czech writer living in the USA - was given the title Murder with an Axe in St. Petersburg (1999), Play Gorky - Polák's adaptation of The Summer Guests (2004).

 

Roman Polák, a director with distinctive and unmistakable handwriting, has created over a hundred productions. Let us recall some of the earlier ones: H. Ibsen Peer Gynt (State Theatre Košice, 1981), S. Stratiev The Bus (State Theatre Košice, 1981, K. Horák Interwar Man (SNP Theatre Martin, 1984), W. Shakespeare A Midsummer Night's Dream (SNP Martin Theatre, 1985), F. Švantner - R. Polák The Bride of the Mountains (SNP Martin Theatre, 1986), T. Rózewicz The Trap (SNP Martin Theatre, 1986), P. de Marivaux The Triumph of Love (A. Bagara Theatre in Nitra, 1991), K. Horák Weird Janko (Apocalypse According to Janko /Kráľ/) (SNP Martin Theatre, 1994) and K. Horák ".... Thy kingdom come...." (SNP Martin Theatre, 1996). In 2000, he staged Ibsen's Peer Gynt and in 2004, Tom Stoppard's Arcadia at the Municipal Theatre in Brno. In 2000, he staged Koltés's Return to the Desert at the Prague Drama Club and in 2003, a dramatisation of Sologub's novel The Devil's Swing.

 

He staged two operas, Puccini's Tosca and Mozart's Don Giovanni, at the opera house of the State Theatre Košice. At the State Opera in Banská Bystrica, he staged Suchoň's The Whirpool in 2008 and Cikker's opera Coriolanus in 2010. The production was one of the most successful of the theatre season and was nominated by critics for the theatre DOSKY Awards in several categories.

 

Theatres abroad have also expressed interest in working with Roman Polák. In Tallinn, Estonia, he staged Marivaux's Touches and Connections (1989); in Chicago (Shakespeare Repertory) Shakespeare's Macbeth (1992); and in Paris, at the Théatre Moliere, it was Pushkin's The Stone Guest or Don Juan (1999).

 

In 2007, he won the Crystal Wing in the category of theatre and film. Roman Polák was awarded the Ministry of Culture Prize for the year 2010. The prestigious Slovak Critics' Award Dosky was assigned to Gorky's The Commons for the best production of the year and Ostrovsky's The Forest for the best production and the best director. Roman Polák won the Annual Prize of the Literary Fund several times - in 2006 for Ivanov (Martin Theatre), for the best director and production, in 2009 for the direction of Anna Kareninová (Slovak National Theatre) and in 2011 for the direction of The Misanthrope (Martin Theatre). In 2012, the Annual Jan Cikker Award was given for the staging and performing of Jan Cikker's opera Coriolanus (State Opera Banská Bystrica).

 

His collaboration with television is not to be overlooked. Hungarian-Slovak co-production video film Amina's Memory (R. Polák also wrote the screenplay based on the Hungarian novelist Fust), The New Suffering of Anton (screenplay by K. Horák - R. Polák). Both films were selected for the festival in Reims, France (1998 and 1999). In 2010, he made the video film The Devil, based on a short story by L.N. Tolstoy.

 

Roman Polák was the artistic director of the drama department of the State Theatre Košice from 2000 to 2002 and the director of the SND Drama Theatre from 2006 to 2008.

 

16. 2. 1991 G. Tabori: Mein Kampf

20. 6. 1992 W. Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet

19. 6. 1993 F. Wedekind: Lulu

10. 6. 1995 K. Horák: Heaven, Hell, the Gotham City

5. 4. 2003 E. Maliti-Fraňová: Krchen the Immortal

16. 4. 2005 V. Klimáček: Hypermarket

7.10. 2006 Ch. Hampton: Ashes and Passion

8. 6. 2007 T. Kusá: With The Mother

10.11.2007 V. Hugo: The King Amuses Himself

29. 3. 2008 A. P. Chekhov: Three Sisters

13. 6. 2009 L. N. Tolstoy: Anna Karenina

14. 11. 2009 P. O. Hviezdoslav: Herodes and Herodias