Calls for application

Where are the Roma heroes?

Call for application for Roma performers and writers

Independent Theatre Hungary organizes the second Roma Heroes Storytelling Festival this year, between 28^th May and 3^rd June, in Studio K Theatre, Budapest. We are looking for performances and written works by Roma artists to be presented at the event.

About the festival

Our goal is to show the values of Roma performing arts and to give insight into the lives of Roma communities around the word through example-setting personal stories. For us, Roma heroes are those Roma people who, by reacting to the challenges of their closer or broader environment, make decisions and take responsibility, who overcome themselves and whose deeds bring change to their environment or in their own life. They prove that the members of the Roma community are able to control their own destiny as active citizens, they are not passive victims of the circumstances. At last year festival, Alina Serban, in her play, made a personal confession about her own life, Mihaela Dragan presented stories of Romanian Roma women who have to deal with early marriage, in the play of Richard O’Neill we got to know about Jess Smith, fighting for the rights of Scottish Travellers and Dijana Pavlovic talked about the life of Mariella Mehr, a victim of the Swiss Jenish genocide. To see some videos about the performances, click here. The communication campaign of the festival has reached about 1.5 million European citizens who learnt about the values of Roma performing arts and Roma heroes. The educational material and the workshops based on the plays informed 200 more youngsters about these issues, who also formulated stories of other Roma heroes. Similarly to the last year festival, in 2018, we aim to increase the reputation of Roma performing arts with high-quality performances, bringing attention to the challenges of Roma communities and to exemplary Roma people. The video recordings and written parts of the performances will become part of the growing educational material which will inform and sensitize further youngsters and fuel their active social engagement.

1.       What kind of works are we looking for?

-          Made by Roma artists;

-          fit to present in 30-90 minutes stage performances;

-          with the participation of maximum 2 performers;

-          presenting the life and challenges of Roma communities;

-          presenting active Roma heroes.

Plays or writings fit for stage adaptation which tell stories.

2.       What do we offer to the artists?

-          Professional debut and networking at the one and only Roma storytelling festival in the world;

-          technical support of the production, opportunity for stage rehearsals;

-          significant media presence;

-          high-quality video recordings of given scenes and photos of the performance, which the artists can use in the future;

-          English and Hungarian translation of the plays – in case they do not exist yet;

-          in case of applying with written works, stage adaptation and presentation of the work;

-          reimbursement of travel, accommodation and catering costs for the participants.

-          at least 300 EUR honorarium for the preparations and performance, and at least 500 EUR royalty fee for the performances and written works.

3.       Applications must contain:

-          a filled application form – including a 3000-8000 characters long description of the story and its context in English or in national language;

-          complete text of the performance/written work in original language, and if available, in English;

-          statement of consent by the rightsholders on presenting and recording the work at the festival, and using maximum 40% of the text and the video for developing an educational material, used as part of Independent Theatre’s work.

-          In the case of performances: 3 good quality photo and at least 3-minute-long video recording of the performance.

Each applicant undertakes to participate in the festival if chosen, perform the play (or, in case of written works, attend the performance of his/her own work), and participate in the discussion with the audience after the performance.

Application deadline: 28^th February 2018. Please send the application, as well as any questions or concerns, to independenttheaterhungary@gmail.com

Selection process

During selection, the criteria listed in point 1 will be considered.

During selection, we prefer:

-          professionally realised theatrical works;

-          works presenting less known heroes and social contexts;

-          stories told in unusual storytelling genres;

-          new productions.

The applications will be evaluated by the team of Independent Theatre Hungary with the help of an external expert, based on the above stated aspects and with regard to the available capacity.

An individual applicant may apply with maximum one work, groups and companies are welcome to submit more than one application.

The call for application, application form and the statement are available here >>> 

In Romani language it's available here >>> 

In Hungarian lanuage it's available here >>>  

In German language it's available here >>> 

In Romanian language it's available here >>>