Etudy

Autism spectrum disorder is a term we encounter more and more frequently today. Perhaps better and more precise diagnostic methods are helping to uncover its causes, but new possibilities are also emerging for how to work with people with autism and how to create a better quality of life for them — for them and for their families. One of the inspirations for the creation of the play was also the rare book of interviews by Jozef Bednár, Nezlomní (The Unbreakable).

In the original play Etudes by Lucia Mihálová and Peter Mazalán, we enter the world of one family — an elderly married couple — and their life with their adult autistic son. One of the starting points of the text are documentary materials about the lives of people with ASD, as well as life-shaping experiences. What are the challenges faced by families and individuals? What is the perspective of the future for a child when the parents are no longer here? What is it that gives families strength? Has our social system truly created a functioning network of support? Is it even possible to enter into the emotional experience of a person with autism and to somewhat understand their inner world?

The groundbreaking book by the Japanese author, who is also autistic, Naoki Higashida, The Reason I Jump, made it possible to glimpse into the inner world of an autistic boy. Through his storytelling, we discover humor, imagination, empathy, a relationship to nature, a perception of time, and beauty. Etudes is therefore not only about the experience of parents and their care for a child, but also an opportunity to enter a fragile and hard-to-understand mind. Director and set designer Peter Mazalán has been working with the theme of life with autism for a long time. The strong connection with live and classical music performed by pianist Peter Pažický, along with the distinctive visual conception of the piece, promises an original and sensitively moving production of Etudes.

Premiere: Slovak National Theatre, 17.1. 2026

Authors: Peter Mazalán, Lucia Mihálová
Director: Peter Mazalán
Dramaturgy: Miriam Kičiňová
Set Design: Peter Mazalán
Costume Design: Katarína Holková
Sound Design / Music: Fero Király
Video: Peter Fröhlich
Movement Collaboration: Stanislava Vlk Vlčeková
Lighting Design: Dorota Volfová

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Mother: Jana Oľhová
Father: František Kovár
Adam: Juraj Loj
Pianist: Peter Pažický (guest)

Duration: 70 min.