Independent Theater Hungary presented a performance and conversation around The Roma from the Duvet or Enter the Majority (Slovakia) as part of the Roma Theatre Retrospective 2020 livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 27 October 2020 at 9:30 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 12:30 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 16:30 GMT (London, UTC +0) / 17:30 CEST (Budapest, UTC +1) / 18:30 EET (Bucharest, UTC +2).
Monodrama based on the life of František Balog, Performed by the Actor Theatre, Košice.
In the centre of the monodrama called The Roma from the Duvet or Enter the Majority stands a young Roma man who presents his life story by telling humorous and bizarre episodes from his childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Step by step, we get to know how he becomes a part of majority society. He plays nine characters in this performance, representing nine people who made a strong impression on him or contributed to how the course of his life changed. The play is sometimes grotesque, humorous but also serious at once: it entertains but at the same time gives us a key message about the importance of motivation in life, how crucial it is to dedicate time for yourself, and to come to terms with yourself. This play is basically a kaleidoscope of bizarre stories of how to manage your life. It resembles to a one man show or a stand-up comedy sometimes. However, the play doesn´t mean to induce compassion, on the contrary, through laughter which provokes tears, it tells us about motivation and inspiration, about how life can be managed independently of being a Roma or non-Roma.
Director: Juraj Bielik
Dramaturgy: Miriam Kičiňová
Set design: Tomáš Diro
Music: Peter Orgován
Performed by/ staring: František Balog
About the Series
Although Roma are the largest ethnic minority in Europe, they still experience high level of racism and have to deal with many societal issues. Additionally, Roma are being represented in a very stereotypical way in the media and art world. The Roma theater has more than a century long past with active professional theater groups in many European countries, but unfortunately, they are still hardly known. The Roma Heroes Theater Festival initiated by the Independent Theater Hungary is the only international Roma theater encounter in the World, which have been organized in every year since 2017. Many of the artists and their work are featured in this current series.
Judit Ignácz mostly worked at NGOs in Roma related projects, organizing and facilitating trainings, seminars concerning the topic of racism, human rights and non-formal education. She finished her studies of Master of Public Administration of School of Public Policy at Central European University and became a French and Romani language teacher at the University of Pecs. She also has experience in media and communication. She is passionate about human rights and non-formal education.
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