MICHAL VAJDIČKA has worked as lighting engineer and professional lighting designer at the SND Drama Theatre and the Bratislava Dance Theatre since 1993. In 2004, he graduated in theatre directing in Petr Mikulík's class at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. Already during his studies, his production The Lonesome West was a success at the international festival of theatre schools Setkání/Encounter in Brno in 2005 and in the same year at the Istropolitana theatre festival in Bratislava. As a director, he has collaborated with several Slovak and Czech theatres (SND Drama Theatre, State Theatre Košice, Andrej Bagar Theatre in Nitra, Dejvice Theatre in Prague, Vinohrady Theatre in Prague, National Theatre in Brno). Since 2014, he has been the artistic director of the Dejvice Theatre in Prague, where he prepared a successful production, A Blockage in the System, which won the Alfréd Radok Award for best production of 2012. He works as an in-house lecturer at the Department of Acting at the Academy of Performing Arts, where he conducts seminars on acting together with the actor Ľuboš Kostelný. He is also marginally involved in television directing – he collaborates on drama and comedy series projects and well-known reality shows.

 

There are two main lines in Michal Vajdička's directorial work. The first is dedicated to staging classical dramatic texts (especially plays by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, William Shakespeare, and Luigi Pirandello), followed by theatre adaptations of prose texts by the Slovak author Božena Slančíková-Timrava (All for the Nation, The Ball). On the other hand, the director aims at contemporary drama of foreign provenance, with an emphasis on the black comedies of Martin McDonagh or Irvine Welsh. His specific directorial style is noticeable and easy to grasp in this line of work.

 

In Vajdička's productions, be it McDonagh, Welsh or even Chekhov, the principles of the conservative model of theatre, enhanced by modern (sometimes even cinematic) constructions and elaborate stage situations, such as those used by the director Quentin Tarantino in his films, are precisely at hand. He works with the actor in the same meticulous way, forming distinctly differentiated characters based mainly on the themes of the play. A clear linear construction, well-structured characters and their actions regarding motivations, and a comprehensible beginning and end of the dramatic situation are the attributes that make the viewer leave with the feeling of a clearly laid-out story, often unexpectedly entertaining despite its tragic nature. This is perhaps one of the most essential features of Vajdička's direction. He tries to avoid large spaces in his scenography designs. On the contrary, he searches for smaller horizons or visually crosses the large ones (The Ball, The Kindly Ones, The Girl Without a Veil). In a small or reduced space, he is able to create meaningful mise-en-scenes charged with dramatic tension. He also focuses on the miniature drawing of the character created while accentuating the actor's originality to the fullest extent possible.

 

He established close tandem cooperation with the dramaturge Daniel Majling, who staged particularly demanding epic pieces. His adaptations of prose texts (The Ball, The Kindly Ones, A Blockage in the System, The Decline of the American Empire, The Barbarian Invasions) conform to the theatre language and directorial poetics of Michal Vajdička. He often collaborates with the award-winning musician Marián Čekovský on the musical component of his productions (The Leaky Hole, The Ball, The Kindly Ones, Medea) and among the stage designers he is closest to Pavol Andraško.

 

2004 – (direction) VŠMU, M. McDonagh, The Lonesome West

 

- the best acting performance, international festival ISTROPOLITANA 2005,

- Audience Award, International Festival Encounter Brno 2005

 

2005 – (direction) Academy of Performing Arts, W. Shakespeare, Othello

2005 – (direction) Municipal Theatre Bratislava, S. Mrožek, The Party

2005 – (direction) State Theatre Košice, M. McDonagh, The Beauty Queen of Leenane

 

- nomination DOSKY AWARD 2005 (direction, female acting, performance)

- Literary Fund Award 2005 (direction, female and male performances)

 

2005 – (direction) Academy of Performing Arts – Chapel, Q. Tarantino, Reservoir Dogs

2005 – (author a direction) J.G. Tajovský Theatre Zvolen, Vajdička – Pavlac, The Three Little Pigs

 

2006 – (direction) State Theatre Košice, A.P. Chekhov, Three Sisters

2006 – (direction) Slovak Chamber Theatre Martin, Urs Widmer, Top Dogs

2006 – (direction) DAB Nitra, Marina Carr, Portia Coughlan

 

the award for the best acting performance DOSKY AWARD 2007 (Zuzana Kanócz)

award for scenography DOSKY AWARD 2007 (Paľo Andráško)

nomination - the production of the year DOSKY AWARD 2007

the Viewer's Choice Award Nová dráma 2007

the award of the Literary Fund 2007 direction

 

2006 – (direction) Jonáš Záborský Theatre Prešov, Miro Gavran, When an Actor Dies

2007 – (direction) VŠMU – Chapel, Davit Mamet, Sexual Perversion in Chicago

2007 – (direction) National Theatre Brno, Robert Thomas, Eight Women

 

- the Viewer's Choice Award of Brno 2007

- the most successful production of the season 2007/2008

 

2007 – (direction) Slovak National Theatre, M. McDonagh, The Cripple of Inishmaan

2008 – (direction) State Theatre Košice, Dale Wasserman, A Flight Over the Cuckoo's Nest

2008 – (direction) Andrej Bagar Theatre, B.S. Timrava, V All for the Nation

 

- 3x nomination – the production of the year 2008 (DOSKY AWARD 2008), the best female performance (Eva Pavliková), the best scenography (Pavol Andráško)

- the award of the Literary Fund 2008 (direction)

- the award of Alfréd Radok 2008, the greatest experience from a foreign theatre

 

2008 - (direction) Shakespeare Castle Plays, W. Shakespeare: Antony and Cleopatra

2009 – (direction) Academy of Performing Arts, Jean Anhouil - Orchestra

2009 – (direction) State Theatre Košice, Euripides Medeia

 

- nominations DOSKY AWARD 2009 (stage, music, direction, female acting performance)

- DOSKY AWARD 2009 music (Marián Čekovský)

 

2009 – (direction) Theatre Arena, Bratislava, Peter Pavlac - Circus

2010 – (direction) Bratislava Puppetry Theatre, P.A.C. de Beaumarchais, Figaro

2010 – (direction) Andrej Bagar Theatre, M.D.Levin/N.V.Gogol, Dead Souls

 

- nominations DOSKY AWARD 2010 (music, male acting performance)

- DOSKY AWARD 2010 music (Marián Čekovský)

 

2010 – (direction) Shakespeare Castle Plays, W. Shakespeare: Shakespeare Castle Plays

2010 – (direction) Academy of Performing Arts – Theatre Lab, W. Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream

 

- award at the international festival Encounter 2011 for female acting performance (Ivana Kubačková)

- award at the international festival Encounter 2011 for scenography (Ondrej Zachar)

 

2012 - (direction) Dejvice Theatre, Praha, I. Welsh-D. Majling: A Blockage in the System

 

- Alfréd Radok Award 2012, the production of the year

- Alfréd Radok Award 2012, male acting performance (Ivan Trojan)

- Alfréd Radok Award 2012, theatre of the year

 

2012 - (direction) SND, Breatislava, M.McDonagh: A Behanding in Spokane

2012 - (direction) MDPOH, R. Lewandowski: Hamlet dnes nebude [No Hamlet Today]

2013 - (direction) Dejvice Theatre, Praha, A.P. Chekhov: The Seagull

 

- nomination for Alfréd Radok Award 2013

 

2013 - (direction) DAB Nitra, Ostrovsky: Without a Dowry

2013 - (direction) Theatre at Vineyards, Praha, L. Pirandello: Henry IV.

2014 - (direction) SND, Jonathan Litell: The Kindly Ones

 

- DOSKY Award 2014 for the best production, direction and male acting performance

- Tatra Banka Award 2014 - in the category theatre

 

2014 - (direction) SND, The Ten Commandments, 10

 

DOSKY AWARDS 2014 - the discovery of the season - dramaturgy

 

2014 - (direction) SND, Timrava - Majling: The Ball

2015 - (direction) Astorka Theatre, The Leaky Hole

2015 - (direction) Summer Shakespeare Festival, W. Shakespeare: Othello

2015 - (direction) Georges Feydeau: Sleep, I insist!

2015 - (direction) SND, Denys Arcand: The Decline of the American Empire

2016 - (direction) Dejvice Theatre, Daniel Doubt: The Resurrection

 

- nomination for the award of the theatre critics 2016

- Divadelní noviny 2016 Award (acting performance of the season regardless of genre) Ivan Trojan

 

2016 - (direction) SND, Roald Dahl: The Hotel Bristol Apartment

2017 - (direction) DJKT Plzeň, A.P. Chekhov: Thee Sisters

2017 - (direction) Academy of Performing Arts Bratislava, L. Pirandello: Six Characters in Search of an Author

2017 - (direction) MDPOH Bratislava, Ira Levin: Veronika’s Room

2017 - (direction) LSS Praha, W. Shakespeare: Hamlet