Interview with František Balog about "Roma from the Duvet or Enter the Majority!" (Slovak Republic)
Channel: HowlRound Theatre Commons
Date: 10/12/2021

In the center of this solo performance 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 learn how he becomes a part of mainstream society. In this performance, one actor plays nine characters representing nine people who made a strong impression on him or contributed to the ways that the course of his life changed.

Trailer for Roma from the Duvet:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW2XKHDm3gs

Performed by: František Balog
Director: Juraj Bielik
Dramaturg: Miriam Kičiňová
Set design: Tomáš Diro
Music: Peter Orgován
Languages: Slovak
Subtitles: English

Interview by Rosamaria Kostic Cisneros.

Independent Theater Hungary, in partnership with HowlRound Theatre Commons, presented the Roma Theatre Retrospective 2021. An entirely virtual endeavor, this project featured forty livestreamed events—twenty performances and interviews, each streamed twice—from seventy Romani artists in ten countries. These livestreams enact a climate and public health-conscious approach to theatremaking and viewing. An entirely virtual endeavor, the Retrospective anticipates carbon emissions similar to flying just six artists round-trip from New York to Budapest. Simultaneously, it invites international connection and access to this unique and robust performance community.

These performances were all initially featured during four editions of the Roma Heroes International Theater Festival in Budapest, which the Independent Theater Hungary has organized annually since 2017. The Roma Heroes International Theater Festival is the only international Roma theatre encounter in the world. It aims to showcase the diversity and value of Roma theatre and to draw attention to Roma communities by focusing on the challenges of their everyday heroes.

Although Romani or Roma are the largest ethnic minority in Europe, they still experience high levels of racism and social barriers. Additionally, Roma regularly face stereotypical representation in media and culture. Stigmas like these contribute to Roma theatre being relatively unknown despite more than a century of performance history within professional theatre groups in many countries. Join us in changing that narrative, and introduce yourself to the work of Roma artists from across Europe during the 2021 Retrospective.

The 2021 Roma Theatre Retrospective was supported in part by a grant from the Trust for Mutual Understanding.

Find the entire series on HowlRound Theatre Commons:
https://howlround.com/series/roma-theatre-retrospective-2021