What does family, parents and siblings mean to us? What do we do for our family members and what does the family do for us? How can we help each other in life? My story is about my younger brother, I consider him a hero in my life. Gábor is a simple man with a huge heart who is very honest and enduring. His endurance in work makes him a real hero. He works 16 hours five days a week as a cook; he gets up every morning and goes to work because that’s his job. He was 18 when he got a great opportunity to work abroad as a chef, naturally making much more money than here, at home. Had he accepted it, his life would have changed radically, but he didn’t want to leave me and our mom alone. It is just the three of us and we would never leave each other. He has superhuman strength. He moved in with Mom who had to be cared for because of her health, but we never felt that is a burden; we are one and everyone does their bit without complaint – Gábor works, Mom takes care of the household, I s...

What do mothers mean to us? What do we learn from them and what is our favourite memory with our mother? They are the strongest, most persistent people who never give up, who we can always count on. The next story presents a mother, a hero who lives for her children. When I was a child, we rarely got any sweets. However, when mom went to the shop, we always looked forward to her return with great expectations. What will she bring us today? Lollypop? Melon-flavoured chewing gum? Or jellybeans? I remember, one day she drew a deep breath as she left to the shop. All we had was 500 HUF and she wanted to buy bread. I didn’t know how much 500 HUF was worth back in those days, but it must have been similar as it is today: not very much. When mom got home, she put down the bread on the table. She took out two lollipops from her pocket and gave them to us smilingly, then went to the kitchen to cook some potatoes. I remember, I was 6 years old when I first got a cake. It was a chocolate cake. We...

The Independent Theatre Hungary has been drawing attention to the values, stories and heroes of Roma theatre for 15 years. This year, the company organised the international theatre meeting for the 5th time, 5–9 May, 2022, in the RS9 Theatre. During the festival’s five years, the audience saw 29 performances. The festival’s main goal is to present authentic stories written by Roma authors which places Roma culture’s values in the spotlight. „We work to draw attention to the values of Roma dramas and storytelling, to Roma communities’ situations by putting value-driven people’s stories and extraordinary challenges in the spotlight through presenting contemporary European plays.” – Rodrigó Balogh, art director On the 5 th of May, the Independent Theatre Hungary, celebrating its 15 th anniversary, presented the theatrical collection called Roma Heroes Digital Collection of European Roma Theatre and Drama. The collection presents the values, the past and the present, the artists and the ...

Who do we consider to be heroes and why? For their acts, their qualities, their courage or their clothing? Often when we talk about heroes, superheroes, doctors, firefighters or policemen come to our mind. This story shows the heroism of an ordinary person. My story goes back to when I was 18, and I lived in a condominium where a Russian lady, called Irina lived in the last flat. We were close to each other; her husband was even our distant relative. One day I noticed a lot of smoke coming from their flat. I ran to open the door and saw that their oven caught on fire and Irina was laying on the ground unconscious. I had to act immediately; there was no time to hesitate in that situation. I poured water on the oven, I dragged Irina out of the flat and called the firefighters, who came and put the fire out. It’s important to add, that in case of a disaster, if the flat had blown up, more residents could have got hurt. While on my way to the flat, I kept thinking that I had to act so that...

  What’s the first thing that comes to our mind when we talk about heroes? Why do we consider someone a hero? Discipline wouldn’t come to most people’s mind first. This story shows, though, how expectations full of love and intentional parenting make heroes out of our parents. To introduce my heroes, I must go back to my childhood…and I am lucky enough to think of my mum and dad as heroes. I was not a good kid at all. I did a lot of mischief, and I was also lazy and self-righteous. Music was always important in my family. My dad is still the organist in our local church. My parents soon noticed my musical talent when I was a child, and they wanted me to improve it. Beside music, improving my school records became my other priority. My parents divided the tasks between them: my dad would assist my musical studies, and my mum would help me better my grades. I found maths extremely difficult, and my mum sacrificed her whole summer to tutor me. Each day she worked with endless pa...

  What’s your biggest dream, and what would you do to achieve it? Life often doesn’t turn out how we planned. What do you do then? Do you face the difficulties, or do you give up? The story of my hero gets a special place in my heart because it has one main character but two heroes. Where shall I start? Yes, I would like to tell you about my sister. A true perfectionist. She’d had this personality trait already back then when she started university but beginning her studies didn’t go smoothly. Her first thing to do was to apply for a dorm room, because getting to school would have been a true struggle every single day by train, bus and the local bus service. This would have meant six hours of commuting each day. She obviously tried her best to get a place in the dormitory. The story would end here if reality would be like a fairy tale. But we all know that it is not always like that. So, she kept on trying without success for months, she didn’t get a room, meanwhile she would w...

  The pandemic has been in our lives for two years. The whole world is struggling with it, many people have lost their loved ones, their jobs, their financial and spiritual safety. What can you do when the situation seems hopeless and there is nothing to hold onto? The answer is simple, it’s hard to act. But we cannot give up, we must move forward! Our goal is to bring hope with this story to those who lost their relatives. Theatre means a lot to me, I love being on stage, rehearsing, stepping on stage with my colleagues. It’s truly an exceptional way to earn my living doing what I adore. Everything was going well, my life was great, then suddenly problems started to arise. The virus appeared. There was less and less work, the money to live on became uncertain and a crisis in my partner relationship reared its head. Long months have passed, there was nothing to do, I had to take actions. I tried my luck in the Netherlands, I took a job in a factory.  Life started to become nor...

Igor Krukinov is the director of the Romance Theater, and Nikola Kondenko and Natalia Zolotarjova are the actors in the theater. For them theater means life and home. A place where they can talk freely about their culture, problems and development process. What they all have in common is that they developed a love of theater from an early age. They also talk about their favorite roles, the way the Roma theater works, the values ​​and experiences they have experienced together and their future plans. It becomes clear what and why they consider important in Roma theater and what they want to convey to the audience through their production.

  The role model of Zsolt, who grew up in Sepsiszentgyörgy, is the theater company of László Bocsárdi. The company’s epoch-making performances and intimate atmosphere immediately captivated the boy preparing for an acting career. “ I looked up to these actors like gods.”- he says nostalgically. He recounts that after one of the performances, he took courage and talked to them. That's when his dream to be an actor in the Tamási Áron Theater was born. He talks about his experiences in Marosvásárhely at Színművészeti Egyetem and how he got into the thick of alternative theater life in Budapest.  Finally, he talks about her community work, experiences and its aftermath at the Roma settlement in Őrkö.

  Among other things, Slavisa Markovic, who also talks about the development of his passion for theater, seeks answers to these questions. He said his attachment to the theater began as a child in the AG puppet theater, where he was sent by one of his teachers. Identity and interaction with the environment is one of the central themes in his work. In this regard, we can learn more about his form-breaking ideas and why it is important to look at stories from as many perspectives as possible.

  In Nebojsa Markovic’s life, storytelling played a huge role as a community-building force. According to him, storytelling already had been a performative act with expressive mimicry and by bringing the whole being of the narrator into the story. This is how Nebojsa's love of theater developed.  The little boy started writing sociodramas. He was disturbed by the inability of other people to form an identity-independent judgment in his direction. He talks about why he was disturbed at school by the compulsion of her Roma peers to comply and when the value of acceptance regardless of origin developed in his life. We can find out what matters most to him in theater and why he doesn’t have a role model.

The most defining decision of Andrei Serban’s life is the open assumption of roma identity. However, he had to overcome serious obstacles before taking a step in his life as he admitted that he did not dare to take his views until the early twenties. He is currently fighting against racism and stigmatization as a human rights activist. He explains why he is proud to belong to a roma community and why he considers the possibility of creating a roma theater is important. He is enthusiastic about what projects he would implement in the theater. Finally, in connection with a performance, it becomes clear who he sees as his own hero as an example to follow.

For Nicoleta, the desire to prove has always been a determining factor. She wanted to show that a woman can also be a musician.  She talks about what motivated her to perform well in school, the impact of her childhood exclusion, and her experience at a youth theater company. Nicoleta is currently an actor of the Giuvlipen Company. She feels she has achieved what she wanted because she is doing what she loves. We can find out why her aunt is the greatest hero and what she thinks about the role of Roma theater in society.

Does the origin determine future opportunities? What can be done for self-fulfillment? Martha Balážová wanted to be a singer from an early age. Through dedication and perseverance, she was able to achieve her dream. She sincerely talks about how many opportunities have opened up for her in a segregated Moravian territory thanks to her parents conscious decision. She also talks about what she considers important in today’s theatrical life.

Frantisek Balog is the only Roma actor in Slovakia so he has a great responsibility to represent Roma culture. The actor of the Košice State Theater talks about his acting career, his aims, his years in an orphanage and a Roma conservatory. We can find out why he couldn’t fully integrate into the Roma conservatory’s community. He mentions the start of his interest in Roma culture. It also becomes clear why the promotion of Roma theater is so important to him.

  What does trust mean to you? Who do you trust the most and why? Why do we need trust in everyday life at all? What makes someone seem trustworthy? Let’s think about this! I live in Transylvania, Romania. There are quite a few conflicts between different nationalities here. Injustice and prejudice is part of our everyday life and people are likely to look sideways at each other, mostly without any ground. It is difficult to overcome or set aside the entrenched feuds. People here are very colourful and diverse and they sometimes help, other times hinder each other. It did not come as a surprise that I was addressed in Romanian upon leaving the university building. I was only surprised that it was a young boy’s voice, he could not be older than six. He was alone, he wanted to contact his father as they lost each other. He asked for my help to call him on my phone. I readily gave the phone to him and he took a few steps back to dial. My friend, who was standing next to me, was sh...

  What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word “hero”? Superheroes with superpowers and cool capes, busy saving New York? I like superhero movies a lot, too, but this story will be different. My hero is a bit closer to home, she comes from a small town, many might not even think she is a hero but she is definitely a hero for me. As a child, when people asked me who I looked up to, who I took as a role model, I immediately listed people in my close surrounding, parents, grandparents or my siblings. A few years went by and when I was asked today: “Who is your hero and why?” she came to my mind immediately, and her story, which explains why I consider her a hero. Judit has been one of my best friends for long years. We got to know each other in high school but we were not very close at first. It is our homeroom teacher I have to thank for our friendship because she told us to sit at the same school desk. We all know how pranks can bring young people toget...

If you had the opportunity to talk to your 15-year-old self, what would you say? What would you say thank you for? What would you warn her about? What qualities would you be proud of? What advice would you give to your younger self? Dear Kinga! I’m writing you this letter because today afternoon we have talked about heroes. I was asked who I consider to be a hero in my life and why. Immediately I wondered if I can be my own hero – why not? This letter is to my 15-year-old self, with lots of love. There are a few things that you don’t know yet (you are good at writing poetry, rollerblading is not for you, it was a great decision to dye your hair) but I do already. And to this very day there are a few things that I learn from you. I know that you like to be comfortable, too, there is something very warm and reassuring in being safe. But this is not enough for you, you leave your comfort zone again and again. You stand up for yourself, for other people, for your principles and truth, for ...

Do we really believe in young people? Do we give them enough space to reach their full potential? What are a disadvantaged youngster’s chances in life? Get to know the story of the students who were left alone because of the virus! How successfully did they study at home? I have been teaching in Füzes Utcai Primary School in Tatabánya for almost a year. I have always considered teaching an exciting challenge, that is why I accepted this task of great responsibility. We had to switch to online education, that is digital courses, during the pandemic. It was a huge burden for the teachers and parents but especially for the children. Lots of students did not give any "sign of life" at the online platforms. We thought that we lost them and they will not return even when classroom-based education starts again. However, in many cases the students’ results have improved – I am not talking about the average of their marks but the actual knowledge that they acquired on the...