On Tuesday, the Director General of the Slovak National Theater (SND) Vladimír Antala dismissed Michal Vajdička from the post of director of the theatre's drama ensemble. The alleged reason for this move was the latter's problems in keeping up with his managerial duties. According to the press release of the theatre, during the time of Vajdička's tenure, a number of performances were cancelled or replaced, several of them without mentioning the relevant legal reasons. This controversial personnel move comes, however, only a few days before the start of the new jubilee theatre season.
In his response, theater director and now-dismissed director of SND Drama Michal Vajdička admits that he had expected to be fired from his post eventually, since he was one of the main critics both of Culture Minister Ľubica Laššáková (Smer-SD) and the theatre's general director Vladimír Antala. Nevertheless, he did not expect this to come right at the beginning of the new theater season.
According to the Deputy Culture Minister Konrád Rigó, dismissing Michal Vajdička from his position in the Slovak National Theater is a very bad and harmful step, not only for the theatre, but also for the whole culture scene in Slovakia. In his criticism, Rigó points mainly to the fact that the Director General of the most prominent Slovak theatre stage has also not assumed office according to legal terms. "When an economist nominated by the Minister for the post of Director-General in a way that contravenes official procedure, dismisses the director of the drama - a recognized artist - the question arises whether this decision is legitimate at all. It creates a precedent that has no place in an advanced democratic cultural society", reads the statement by Konrád Rigó provided to SITA news agency.
