After 1989, Slovak drama underwent a significant transformation. By the late 1980s, Slovak drama displayed a visible effort towards devised theatre, or collective creation. This, in turn, led to a withdrawal from the classical forms of dramatic texts and a shift toward improvisation which resulted in the recording of texts or performed scenes. This shift was accompanied by the approaching change of the social and political situation in the country, which brought along new ways of percei-ving reality. Young theatremakers turned away from plays whose production depended on a silent agreement with the political regime (either by glorifying it or being entirely benign politically). For some time, helplessness ruled the world of both theatre and drama. When the independent Slovak Republic was established (1 January 1993), the new situation brought about a need for new plays and new issues. New drama was needed. In the mid-1980s, the GUnaGU theatre was established in Bratislava by its house writer and director Viliam Klimáček (1958). In his plays, Klimáček always deals with topical issues, matters he considers to be relevant and problematic in Slovak society. From intimate themes, through family stories, cabaret performances dealing with issues such as homosexuality, or the au-pair phenomenon, Klimáček, as one of very few Slovak authors, has progressed all the way to a reflection of the Slovak past. His texts are intended not only for the very specific poetics of the GUnaGU theatre, but work as independent literary units which are produced by other Slovak theatres as well. In the 1990s, the phenomenon of collective creation was represented by the Stoka theatre which has meanwhile become a legend. Ľubomír Burgr and Dušan Vicen are developing Stoka’s creative method in their SkRAT theatre. Their shows, made using improvisation on selected themes, are among the most interesting ones every year (Dead Souls; Stabbers and Lickers; The Trial, for the Trial, by the Trial, Extracts and Substitutes, Project Onegin, Mono - Stereo - Surround.) Since 2005, the poetics of devised theatre has also been fostered by the Theatre on the Platform led by artists Zuzana Psotková, Jana Wernerová and Peter Kočiš. They prefer current social themes (Na stáž! – Heil Scholarship! – the title is a paraphrase of a greeting known from a totalitarian regime; Slumber – on aging). Silvester Lavrík’s (1964) plays can be described as drama written for a specific theatre. His plays are typical for their play with words, meaning and symbols, as well as scene transitions. In the centre of Lavrík’s attention are women (Katarina; Dry, my love; Elisabeth Báthory; Villa Lola), the search love, and relationships. His texts are inspired by surrealism and magic realism, the latter of which he has recently abandoned to write characters with a more elaborate psychology. He writes plays for the theatre and radio, and also texts for children. The plays of Eva Maliti Fraňová (1953) (Krcheň the Immortal, The Cave Virgin) explore the overlapping of dream and reality, the intersection of the past and the present. The author works with archetypal characters whom she can place in a specific social and political situation. Her characters are universal, anchored in the present, and allowing the audience to perceive the text on several levels. The texts thus simultaneously become a reflection of the past and a caricature of the present. In her dramas, Iveta Horváthová (1960) makes exclusive use of the female experience from the point of view of gender and gynocritics. She heads the TWIGA centre (Theatre Women Improvisation Gender Action) which aspires to influence gender-sensitive language in theatre and to support independent discourse on women and men in art. Under TWIGA, Horváthová also produces her texts which are inspired by the life stories of famous Slovak female writers (Love Variations; Written in the Dark) and which deal with the issue of the position of a contemporary woman in the society, mostly from a historical perspective (Snoops, Carping and Unravelling). Horváthová also writes for children. A very specific chapter in Slovak drama is filled by the work of Stanislav Štepka (1944), the in-house writer for his Radošina Naive Theatre. His plays are known for their distinctive, so-called naive poetics, and for their simplifying and gentle account of current Slovak issues, its history, as well as universal themes, such as the creation of the world. The young generation of authors is represented by Roman Olekšák, Peter Pavlac, and Michal Ditte. Olekšák (1978) is presently involved in the making of TV series, but his awarded play Smileys confronts the worlds of art and consumerism. At present, he is writing socially critical plays in with co-writer Valéria Schulczová (Doctor Macbeth, The Natives). The plays by Michal Ditte (1981) create a link between poetry and a harsh view of the world. They contain elements of magic realism, alternating between the real and the imaginary, varying between the present and the past. His current texts are based on research and interviews with inhabitants of Slovak regions and represent the genre of documentary drama in Slovakia (Terra Granus; Misery). Peter Pavlac’s (1976) texts are thematically very broad: for example, the biography of a personality (The Red Princess) or reactions to Slovak show business. As a dramaturge, Pavlac focuses on adaptations of Slovak fiction. An eminent representative of female authors of this generation is Zuzana Ferenczová (1977) who deals with universal themes, such as motherhood (Babyboom), or teenage problems (Going Spare). She was awarded several prizes for her work. Her plays are produced both in Slovakia and abroad. This generation of authors also includes Peter Lomnický (1971), though his first play was not produced until 2014. The language of Lomnický’s plays is influenced by German drama – it is ironizing and philosophizing, his play introduce mainly very specific political and social themes instead of issues of interpersonal relationships (Capital, Fear, Abduction of Europe). Lukáš Brutovský and Michaela Zakuťanská are the youngest generation of playwrights. Brutovský (1988) wrote several shorter texts – the most interesting one being For Lunch, written in the style of Werner Schwab’s drama. Currently, he keeps his focus on directing. Zakuťanská (1987) impressed audiences with Havaj, a play about a small Slovak village, and by a cabaret-like satirical version of the story of the legendary Slovak highwayman titled Jánošík 007. In 2013, she founded the Prešov National Theatre with her in-house director Júlia Rázusová as an independent professional theatre that produces texts connected with her home town of Prešov. In these plays, she takes an ironic attitude towards current social or small town affairs and focuses on dealing with topical issues of her generation (how to find a job after graduating from college, whether and when to have kids, and so on). Another interesting authorial phenomenon of the recent years is director Tomáš Procházka (1989) who attracted attention because of his strong interventions into classical texts (Macbeth: A Play About Bastards, Kafka.Dreaming, People.Lions.Eagles.Partridges – based on Chekhov’s The Seagull, Oedipus Rex: Mommie Dearest – based on Sophocles). In 2000, the Theatre Institute launched a competition of drama texts written in Slovak, now known as Drama. In the beginning, it was a platform for the confrontation of already established authors, now it is aimed to discover new talent. The Theatre Institute regularly publishes collections containing selections of the best plays from the Drama competition. The Institute has also released a DVD titled Slovak Drama in Translation which contains all available translations of plays by contemporary Slovak authors (translations into Czech, English, German, Russian, Hungarian, Polish, Slovenian, among others). The plays are available on the Theatre Institute’s website (section “Slovak Drama in Translation,” which is regularly updated and new translations are added). The Drama Department of the Slovak National Theatre has shifted its programme focus on Slovak drama by choosing specific theme-based dramaturgy plans for every season. The 2014-2015 season, which presented Slovak and Slavic themes, saw the premieres of new plays about historical personalities (Viliam Klimáček: Mojmír II or the Twilight of an Empire; Daniel Majling: The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart; Karol Horák: The Revelation, Sacrifice and Ascension of Prophet Ľudovít and His Disciples). In the 2016-2017 season, plays were directly commissioned by the Slovak National Theatre to deal with the morality of present-day Slovakia and Slovaks (Pavol Weiss: From the Life of Mankind, Sláva Daubnerová: The Singing House, Valéria Schulczová – Roman Olekšák: The Natives). The effort aimed at confronting current morality through Slovak drama started with the unique project titled The Ten Commandments (premiere in 2014) in which ten authors wrote ten short plays about the biblical ten commandments. These were staged in a five-hour production in various spaces of the national theatre. The idea continued with three plays on moral dilemmas of the future titled collectively as Morals 2000+. In the intimate space of the Blue Salon, new texts are regularly staged, dealing with the life of an important, and often controversial, personality (Leni, The Unreformed Saint, Cabaret Normalization, and A Prayer for Marta). Contemporary Slovak drama is predominantly male. It mostly deals with topical social issues, while never expressing schematic opinions on the current political situation. It is slightly critical of the media culture and carefully deals with Slovakia’s past. The tendency towards universal themes is rather rare – specific, regional issues are reflected much more frequently. Genrewise, new drama is inclined to satire, tragedy and farce, in tragedy often with pathos. Only very few plays are published – if they are, they usually have to be “proven” by a staged production. Despite all this, new contemporary Slovak drama is alive. After the tempestuous years of political dictatorship (in the 1950s and 1970s), Slovak drama is gradually finding its place, looking for inspiration abroad, and, though perhaps a little late, becoming a regular constituent of theatres’ repertories.