writer
 
A graduate from the Faculty of Education at the Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica and the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, Department of Theatre Directing, Mr Vicen is a playwright who specialises in stage plays and radio plays. His ... caress a dog ... (apotheosis of void) [... pohlaď psa... (apoteóza prázdna)] won the first prize in 2002 in The Alfred Radok Drama Competition for the best Czech or Slovak play. With his Siluet B minor [Siluet b mol] he scored third in the same competition in 2004; he went on to direct the play at the State Theatre in Košice. In the 2009, in the Slovak Literary Fund competition for the best stage and radio text, he won the first and second prize with Recordings [Nahrávačky] and Façade Ltd. [Fasáda s r. o.]. The radio play Recordings premièred on the Slovak Radio (Slovak Radio and Television, RTVS) in May 2011. In 1997, he won the Ivan Krasko Prize for his literary debut – a collection of short stories Homo Yoga (Orava Itinerary) [Homo joga (Oravské itinerárium)]. Mr Vicen co-founded the SkRAT Theatre in Bratislava, which he then joined as a director, co-author and actor. His directorial portfolio includes, inter alia, Marek Piaček's chamber opera The Last Flight – 12 Takes on M. R. Š. [Posledný let – 12 pohľadov na M. R. Š.], with libretto by Egon Bondy and Elena Kmeťová, and the production Die, Drop Dead, Perish [Umri, skap a zdochni] which earned him the Grand Prix at the 2006 New Drama for the best Festival production. He was also member of the creative team of the production Birthday [Narodeniny], which won the same award at the 2008 New Drama. Mr Vicen directed the productions Dead Souls [Mŕtve duše; 2009), Stabbers and Lickers [Napichovači a lízači; 2011], The Trial, To the Trial, Through the Trial (Proces, procesu, procesom; 2013], own texts Stalker, My Love! [Môj lov(e)!; 2014] and Donor, Swingers and Other Experiments [Donor, swingers a iné experimenty; 2015]. In addition Slovakia, the productions also featured at festivals in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, France, Denmark, Brazil, Germany, Austria, and Italy. In 2013, the Theatre Institute published his collected stage plays entitled Dušan Vicen: Plays [Dušan Vicen: Hry]. In 2016, Mr Vicen wrote the SQUAT that won the second place in the Drama competition and the Radio Devín Award. As a radio play, the production, directed by Mr Vicen, was broadcast by the Slovak Radio (RTVS). In 2017, he won first place in the Drama competition with his Devaluations and Dues [Odpisy a priznania], and, in 2018, the Ján Palárik Theatre Award in Trnava for Diagnosis Rock Bottom [Diagnóza dno] staged at the Yarmat Theatre, with which he currently collaborates. In 2017, he published the novel Touching the Absolute [Dotyk s absolútnom] that was included in the selection of the ten best books for the prestigious Anasoft litera award.

Photo: Ctibor Bachratý