Our main mission is to work with marginalised communities of citizens in a non-traditional artistic form using the means of theatre, performing arts, dancing or singing. Divadlo bez domova (Theatre With No Home; herein after also referred to as DBD) provides a platform for presenting social topics which are being overlooked in the commercial artistic sphere. We combine the artistic with the social in order to help tear down stereotypes that marginalised communities face in society face.

DBD was informally founded in 2005 in the course of work on theatrical projects with homeless people and on 12.5.2006 it became registered with the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic under the registration number VVS/1-900/90-28231. Members of the organisation are people, who in the long term engage in social, pedagogic or artistic practice; economy, management and advertising.

We are based in Bratislava. Currently, we have nine members, several volunteers and many supporters.

Our community of actors is made up of homeless people, physically disabled, people from socially underprivileged communities, social workers, theatre artists and anyone who is interested in our theatre. The acting ensemble has altogether 13-16 members. Our actors and actresses receive financial compensation for performing in our theatrical plays.

Projects in 2011

S divadlom doma aj na cestách (At Home and About With The Theatre)

The main objective of the project:

The project was aimed at providing actors and actresses from DBD with the possibility to present their own theatre practice to a wide audience in Bratislava and in other Slovak towns. By performing the Kuca Paca theatre piece they actively took part in cultural and social life.

Project duration: April 2011 to September 2011

Main activities within the project:

- In Bratislava we performed the play Kuca Paca regularly; once per month

- We organised drama therapy sessions once a week at Štúdio12 in Bratislava

- We organised a 2 day trip to Špania Dolina where we performed Kuca Paca at the Špandiv 2011 Festival

- We also participated in several other theatre and music performances during the

Špandiv festival

- We organised a 2 day trip to the village of Nitrica, situated in western Slovakia

- We performed the play Kuca Paca for citizens of Nitrica for free

Project results:

Total number of performances - 12

Total number of audience members from the duration of the project - 400

Number of actors/actresses involved in the project - 11

Number of assistants/technicians involved in the project - 3 to 5

Total project costs: 2,700 euro

Main project donor: Nadácia Orange (Orange Foundation) – 2,500 euro

Own resources: 200 euro

The project was also supported by: Štúdio12, Nota Bene, Drift Advertising, Apothecary Films, SRS Light Design

Zázračné dieťa (A Child Prodigy)

The main objectives of the project:

- We brought a story on stage of a woman who is diagnosed with a serious psychiatric illness

- We made the public aware of the tough social situation of people diagnosed with a psychiatric illness

- We made people more sensitive towards issues of people diagnosed with a psychiatric illness 

- We dramatised an original Slovak piece by Jela Medvecka-Matuškovičová (DBD actress) titled Zázračné dieťa (A Child Prodigy)

- We created a theatre concept and rehearsed a 45 minute performance which includes movement elements 

- We engaged people without homes, physically or otherwise disabled (DBD actors) in rehearsing, creating and performing the theatre play

- We held the opening night for the theatre play Zázračné dieťa and several repeated performances

Project duration: March to December 2011

Main activities within the project: 

-Regular drama therapy rehearsals of 2 to 3 hours 

-Creating a theatre concept 

-5 day theatre workshop for the acting team in a leisure centre near Prievidza 

-Body work, movement exercises 

-Analysis of mental illnesses, discussions about experience with placement in psychiatric clinics, acting out various mental illnesses

-Creating the scenery, costumes, video art 

-Designing and producing leaflets, bulletins, creating texts 

-PR activities

-Holding an opening night and several other viewing nights of the theatre play

Project results:

-A multimedia – movement production of Zázračné dieťa, that brought topics of mental illness and disrupted family relations to theatre

-Opening night of the theatre play – November 23, 2011 at Štúdio 12

-We performed the play also at the International Festival ERROR 2011 and at the Bezdomovecký večer event(Evening for the Homeless) at theatre Divadlo Komedie in Prague

-Our Zázračné dieťa performance was recommended by the chairman of the Slovak section at AICT (International Association of Theatre Critics) Zuzana Uličianska to the dramaturgy council of the New Drama festival.

Total number of audience members from the duration of the project – 260 

Number of actors/actresses involved in the project – 14

Number of therapists/assistants/artists involved in the project – 9

Directed by: Patrik Krebs

Music by: Oskar Rósza

Dramatised by: Uršula Kovalyk

Scenery and Costumes: Zuzana Hudeková

Movement Concept: Zuzana V. Očenášová

Multimedia Director: Benjamin Richards

Video Art: Ové Pictures, Dávid Tkačik

Total project costs:  10.900 euro

Main project donor: 

Slovenské elektrárne - 4.500 euro

Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic - 3.000 euro

Nadácia orange (Orange foundation) - 2.400 euro 

Own resources:  1.000 euro

The project was also supported by: Štúdio12, Nota Bene, Drift Advertising, Apothecary Films, Vertex Creation, Todos, SRS Light Design

Book Príbeh divadla bez domova (Story of The Theatre With No Home)

The main objectives of the project:

- By means of a publishing a book we documented the foundation, development, working approach and five years of activities of our community theatre (DBD), in which people without homes and marginalised groups of citizens perform

- We made it possible for the general public to become familiar with the activities of our community theatre

- We wrote the book about our theatre in a loose artistic-professional style approachable to the wide public audience and included also original photographs in it

- We published a picture book about our theatre with accompanying text

- We engaged people without homes, as well as those physically disabled (our actors and actresses) in working on the texts for the book

- We donated several publications of our book to libraries in Slovakia, non-government organisations, donors and foundations

Duration of the project: February to November 2011

Most important activities within the project:

- Working on the text. We engaged also our actors and actresses and people who cooperate or had cooperated with our theatre in this activity

- The official launch of the book took part during the 2nd year of the event Noc divadiel (Theatre Night) on November 19, 2011 at 8.00pm at Štúdio12. It was a unique event that was held across nine cities and a number of theatres. DBD also participated in a telephone transmission that was directly broadcast on radio organised by the Slovak Radio in which we talked about the publishing of the book Príbeh divadla bez domova. During the launch DBD actors read out excerpts from the book and we also played a slideshow of photographs from the life of our theatre and our organisation. We celebrated the launch with genuine “homeless style coffee”.

Project results:

-A picture book titled “Príbeh divadla bez domova” with accompanying texts. The book is not available for sale.

-Number of copies published: 500 pcs

-Number of pages: 72

-Number of distributed pieces in 2011: 250 pcs

-Number of guests at the launch: 70

Total project costs: 8.000 euro

Main project donor:

Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic - 2.000 euro

Own resources: 3.000 euro

The project was also supported by: Drift Advertising

Repeated performances of the Dunajdráma (Danube drama) play

The main objectives of the project:

-We repeated the performance Dunajdráma alebo hnusná kava a lacné cigarety (Danube Drama or Horrible Coffee and Cheap Cigarettes)

-Actors, both homeless people and professional actors, met in one theatre play

-We approached the widest range of theatre goers possible

-Through artistic means we reflected on the societal and social situation of countries in the Danube River region

-We developed creative thinking and execution techniques for socially underprivileged people.

Duration of the project: February to December 2011

Most important activities within the project:

-Theatre rehearsals

-Performing the play

-PR activities

Project results:

What was important for the project was that it linked actors, homeless people and professional actors, which lead to mutual enrichment. This untraditional cast had one chief goal – to respect the socially underprivileged actors. It became an interesting artistic challenge for all its participants and repeated performances have proven that this connection was also very attractive for viewers. The project presented artistic and social activities by means of engaging people with no acting experience in a theatre play. This has led to activating the theatre environment in Slovakia to engage social topics in art more widely and profoundly.

The project was directed and led by: Anna Grusková

Number of viewers who had seen the performance - 100

Total project costs: 2.400 euro

Main project donor:

Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic - 2.000 euro

Own resources: 400 euro

The project was also supported by: Štúdio12, Theatre Divadlo Meteorit

ARTERY Project

This is a two year multilateral project carried out within Grundtvig, a European practical learning for adults program.

It started in October 2010 and will end in September 2012.

The main objectives of the project:

- Develop and establish an online virtual learning and communication space titled ARTERY (Art-Education- Therapy) together with partners from Poland, Finland, Italy and Spain

- Publish a book and DVD, in the languages of the participating countries and in English, which will serve as accompanying material after the ARTERY project end.

Most important activities within the project:

-Participating in creating an on-line communication channel for artists, lecturers and drama therapists to foster cooperation and to achieve the best results possible in social skills trainings and in artistic production

-Creating 2 learning paths, which are a practical demonstration of training methods created with actors from our theatre Divadlo bez domova 

-Organising an ARTERY workshop in Bratislava for our partners from Poland, Italy, Spain and Finland

-Working on documenting our activities and methodologies as well as other texts for the ARTERY book

-PR activities

Project results:

- We created 4 learning paths (video + text captions) which are available to public at the address: www.arteryproject.eu

- We wrote texts for the manual in English that will be a part of the book to be published in September 2012

- We organised a drama therapy workshop on the dates of December 1, 2 and 3, 2011 that took place in the premises of the Polish Institute in Bratislava. The workshop was attended by our partners from Poland, Finland, Spain and Italy, as well as by general public. Apart from practical exercises we also informed the participants of the workshop about the ARTERY platform.

- We created a short informative video from the workshop

Total project costs: 3,4745 euro

Main project donor:

Education and Culture DG Lifelong Learning Programme and Education, Audiovisual Culture Executive Agency: 26,058 euro

Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic: 6,500 euro

Own resources: 2,187 euro

The project was also supported by: Apothecary Films

ERROR 2011- International Festival of Homeless Theatres

In December we traditionally organised the 5th year of the ERROR festival. Participation was accepted by theatre groups working with the homeless, hearing impaired, physically and mentally disabled.

The main objectives of the project:

- We created a space for theatre groups working with marginalised groups of citizens to present their artistic activities

- We highlighted social topics that are often overlooked in commercial art

- We linked various nationalities in a common artistic activity

- We created an alternative theatre happening

- We eliminated stereotypes that exist in society when faced with marginalised groups

- We promoted various community theatres

- We organised a festival with international participants

- We organised a short conference during the festival

Most important activities within the project:

-PR activities

-Organisation activities within the festival

-Coordinating team supervisors from abroad

-Coordinating the catering company

-Actively engaging actors/actresses in the technical-assisting activities within the festival

-Performing our Zázračné dieťa play during the festival

-Taking photographs during the festival

-Shooting film material for a short video of the festival

Project duration: 2. and 3. 12. 2011

Project results:

- Participation of theatre groups from abroad:

Theatre Divadno (Czech Republic) with their play Renata

Theatre AHA (Hungary) with their play Protipóly (Opposite poles)

Theatre Teatr Grodzki (Poland) with their play Magická hora (Magical mountain)

Theatre Compagnia del Filo (Italy) with their play Rozmotajme to klbko (Let’s Untangle the Ball of Wool)

Travesty show of Karel Lampa (Czech Republic)

Black Deep Dance Theatre (Czech Republic) with their dance performance

- Participation of theatre groups from Slovakia:

Dance company Len Tak Tak with their play Pohyblivé pobrežie (Moving Shoreline)

Theatre Ticho a spol. with their performance Stopy snov (Footsteps of Dreams)

Theatre Divadlo bez domova with our play Zázračné dieťa (A Child Prodigy)

- Popular Slovak band Para live in concert

Number of festival viewers - 200

Total project costs: 21,500 euro

Main project donor:

Visegrad Fund – 12,000 euro

Slovenské elektrárne ENEL – 3,000 euro

Own resources: 6,500 euro

The project was also supported by: Polish Institute, Drift, Štúdio 12, Nota Bene, Apothecary Films, Hostel Blues, Ganesh, Todos, PP Partners

Other activities

An Open Curtain in Polus

In February 2011 our theatre took part in an activity organised by the Polus Shopping Centre in Bratislava. We prepared a photo exhibition that captured out theatrical performances. We combined the photographs with an exhibition of costumes and some of our theatre props.

During a whole month Polus visitors could see for example our beautiful kimonos from the performance Haiku (2010) or the “La Catrina” altar from the theatre play Día de Muertos (2006). We also showed a film about our theatre by Apothecary Films titled Theatre With No Home during the program

Total activity costs: 2,500 euro

Main activity donor: Drift advertising

Celebration of the 5th anniversary of Divadlo bez domova

In May 2011 we celebrated the 5th year of our existence. An enjoyable and informal party took place in Horský park in the premises of Lesná škola (Foundation Nadácia Horský Park). During the party we showed interesting films, photographs, grilled some sausages, enjoyed an oyster mushroom goulash and chocolate cake. Also some of our long-term partners and donors accepted our invitation, such as Mrs. Vladislava Fekete, Director of the Theatre Institute in Bratislava and Mr. Petr Vágner, Director of the Visegrad Fund.

Total activity costs: 500 euro

Main activity donor: Divadlo bez domova

Performing the Kuca Paca play at the Government Office of the Slovak Republic

In December 2011 we were invited by the former Prime Minister Iveta Radičová to perform our Kuca Paca play at the Government Office of the Slovak Republic. It was our first performance in a government building. We performed under non-theatrical conditions in a meeting room for press conferences. The performance was attended by forty-five employee of the Government Office of the Slovak Republic. Mrs. Radičová also came to greet us during the discussion with actors/actresses.

The Government Office of the Slovak Republic paid us 350 euro for our performance.  Part of this amount was used as performance fees for the actors and actresses of DBD.

ERSTE Foundation Award

On June 20th 2011 Divadlo bez domova received the ERSTE Foundation Award for Social Integration in the amount of 16,000 euro.

Our project “Sociálne divadlo - nástroj proti sociálnemu vylúčeniu a chudobe” (Social Theatre – A Tool Against Social Exclusion and Poverty) made it into the finals from among 1850 assessed projects from 12 EU countries.

2% of income tax

Our organisation account received financial donations in the amount of 7087,08 euro. These were used to co-fund projects and as rewards for DBD actors and actresses.

Divadlo bez domova would like to thank all who have supported our activities in any form and who kept their fingers crossed.

In Bratislava on January 10, 2012

Uršula KovalykPatrik Krebs

Statutory Representative Deputy Statutory Representative

and DBD Principaland DBD Principal