Matúš Bachynec belongs to the youngest generation of theatre directors in Slovakia. He studied directing in Roman Polák's class at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, where he also completed his doctoral studies. Currently he is a lecturer at the Department of Directing and Dramaturgy.

 

During his studies he staged contemporary world drama (Kebab), Slovak and Czech classics (All for the Nation or Apple Pie, Periphery) and his own dramatisations (She is Holy). He has presented his work at several theatre festivals at home and abroad: Festival Touches and Connections in Martin, Festival Istropolitana Project in Bratislava, Nová dráma/New drama Bratislava, Zlomvaz in Prague, Encounter in Brno and Rainbow fest in St. Petersburg. As a director he is a regular guest in Slovak theatres (SND, SKD Martin, DJGT in Zvolen, DAB in Nitra, DJP in Trnava). His domain is Slovak classics, but he also stages contemporary original texts with a more engaged approach or intelligent comedies. At the Slovak National Theatre, as part of the Stop Extremism series, he staged the documentary drama Natálka with the theme of ethnic intolerance. In addition, in the Blue Salon of the Slovak National Theatre he created and directed an intimate production about the life and work of Marta Kubišová called Cabaret Normalisation or Prayer for Marta. On the occasion of the theatre's centenary, he prepared the production Sin/Her Stepdaughter at the Slovak National Theatre and the production Milada for the 70th commemoration of the assassination of Milada Horáková. Among his recent successful titles is the production with the musical theme Till the Stones Come... at the SND Drama Theatre.

In addition to directing, he also works on his own adaptations and translations. He was the artistic director of the Andrej Bagar Theatre in Nitra from 2022 to 2023. For the Nitra theatre in 2019 he has already staged the French comedy The Name, later the contemporary Czech comedy Owners, an adaptation of short stories by Božena Slančíková Timrava Rozsobáše [Divorces], an adaptation of Márius Kopcsay's novel Home and the Hungarian musical Povala [The Attic].

The production of Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly is his opera debut.