# Dávid Paška

Dávid Paška (born 18 May 1999) is a Slovak theatre director, playwright and writer.

## Life

Paška was born 18 May 1999 in Bratislava. After working as an assistant in several Prague theatres, he studied theatre directing at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna (mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna) from 2018 to 2022, where his professors included Anna Maria Krassnigg, David Bösch, Dušan David Pařízek and Martin Kušej.
Since completing his studies, he has focused on staging both classical and modern dramas, adapting well-known as well as overlooked works of world literature, and developing interdisciplinary, authorial projects characterized by an expressive directorial style. He carries out his projects internationally to engage with diverse political contexts and theatrical traditions, while maintaining a primary focus on German-speaking countries.
His production of Nathalie Sarraute's 'The Silence' was selected for the 2022 Körber Studio Junge Regie festival and the premiere of Thomas Perle's play “ein jedermann” at the Romanian Teatrul National Radu Stanca was included in the programme of the international theatre festival FITS.

### Education

He completed a diploma in directing at the Max Reinhardt Seminar Institute for Acting and Directing at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.

## Awards

* 2025: Tatra Banka Foundation Art Award 2024: Young Creator Award for directing of the production The Odyssey – Roland Schimmelpfennig

## Directed productions (selection)

* 2025: Saved – Dávid Paška after Edward Bond, Arena Theatre (Slovakia)
* 2025: Snow Negatives: A trilogy (Lux / Schulman / Wetzler-Vrba) | after Alfréd Wetzler, Faye Schulman and Rüdiger Strempel | co-production: Jan Palarik Theatre, JK Opole Theatre, Academy for Theatre and Digitality Dortmund, and others (Slovakia, Poland, Germany)
* 2025: The Bloody Sonnets – by Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav, P.O.Hviezdoslav Theatre and LaMaMa Experimental Theatre (Slovakia, U.S.)
* 2024: TATARKA – Dávid Paška after Dominik Tatarka, Slovak National Theatre (Slovakia)
* 2024: 1984 – Tabea Baumann based on George Orwell, Schauspielhaus Salzburg (Austria)
* 2024: The Odyssey – Roland Schimmelpfennig, Bratislava (Slovakia)
* 2023: Don Carlos – Friedrich Schiller, Wortwiege (Austria)
* 2023: The Adventures of a Mad King – György Ligeti, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Academie-theatre-musique, Theatre de Nimes (France)
* 2022: NAT.U.R.AL – Dávid Paška after Karel Čapek, Theater Zirkus des Wissens and Johannes Keppler University, Linz (Austria)
* 2022: one everyman – Thomas Perle after Hugo von Hofmannsthal, National Theatre Radu Stanca, Sibiu (Romania)
* 2021: The Silence – Nathalie Sarraute, Schlosstheater Schönbrunn (Austria)
* 2021: Nomos Faustus – Thomas Mann, Josef Matthias Hauer, Arnold Schönberg, co-production of the Max Reinhardt Seminar with isaFestival, Kasematten Wiener Neustadt
* 2020: The Bacchae – Euripides – undergraduate production, Max Reinhardt Seminar
* Roberto Zucco – Bernard-Marie Koltes, directing internship, MRS
* The Good Person of Szechwan – Bertolt Brecht, directing internship, MRS
* Ubu – Alfred Jarry, directing internship, MRS
* Babel – Elfriede Jelinek, directing internship, MRS

## Performance of own text

* 2025: Snow Negatives: A trilogy ((Lux / Schulman / Wetzler-Vrba) – Jan Palárik Theatre, JK Opole Theatre, Academy for Theatre and Digitality Dortmund, among others, (Slovakia, Poland, Germany)
* 2024: TATARKA – Slovak National Theatre, Bratislava (Slovakia)
* 2022: NAT.U.R.AL – Theater Zirkus des Wissens, Linz, (Austria)
* 2022: Tenká línia povedomia – Theater LUDUS, Bratislava (Slovakia)
* 2017: Kým nacionalista zakikiríka – Slovač Woodstock, Theater Znudyľudu, Bratislava (Slovakia)
* 2015: NUSICA – Ludus school, Bratislava (Slovakia)

## Published texts

* 2021: Nomos črepín a vrások – poetry collection
* 2017: V roztrieštenom procese – poetry collection
* 2017: Kým nacionalista zakikiríka – theatre play

## Participation in international festivals

* 2025 New Drama Festival, Slovakia: TATARKA – Dávid Paška after Dominik Tatarka
* 2025 Festival DSB, Czech Republic: The Odyssey – Roland Schimmelpfennig
* 2024 Festival Kutná hora, Czech Republic: The Odyssey – Roland Schimmelpfennig
* 2022 Sibiu International Theater Festival (FITS), Romania: an everyman – Thomas Perle after Hugo von Hofmannsthal
* 2022 Körber Studio Junge Regie Hamburg, Germany: The Silence – Nathalie Sarraute