Reaction to the dismissal of the SND director

For several months, we have been following with concern the development of the situation surrounding the Slovak National Theatre, and our fears were unfortunately fulfilled by the act of the Slovak Minister of Culture Šimkovičová, who dismissed the director of the Slovak National Theatre, Matej Drlička, from one day to the next.

Such a step can only be taken by someone who is completely unaware of the importance of long-term, continuous managerial work in leading an artistic institution. Gross political interference in the activities of the Slovak National Theatre by dismissing the director is uncultured in the broad sense of the word and will clearly mean the destabilization of both the theatre and the entire cultural community. We have long criticized similarly irresponsible political interference in the fragile structures of artistic institutions. Power games around the dismissal and appointment of directors of cultural institutions have historically become a favorite pastime of political systems promoting despotism instead of democracy. We consider the action of the Slovak Minister of Culture to be completely irresponsible and therefore unacceptable!

Stanislav Moša, Chairman of the Association of Professional Theatres of the Czech Republic

Lenka Havlíková, Chairwoman of the Association of Independent Theatres of the Czech Republic

Jakub Vedral, President of the Czech ITI Center

Kryštof Koláček, President of EAIPA