Interview: Dialogical Acting is a specific form of active imagination
Interview with Assoc. Prof. PhDr. Vladimír Chrz, Ph.D. from the Institute of Psychology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, psychologist, researcher, and educator.
I met Vladimír at the Department of Authorial Creativity and Pedagogy at DAMU. We attended Ivan Vyskočil’s Dialogical Acting classes together—he as a psychologist, me as a theatre maker and educator. Later, we happened to keep crossing paths again during meditation sessions in Kolín or at lectures with Tomáš Halík in the crypt of the Church of St. Salvator. It felt as if life kept guiding us along similar routes. At one point, we even considered creating therapeutic groups focused on authorial creativity. We are both deeply interested in how creativity and artistic making can heal the human soul—its existential depth, the phenomenon of play and creation itself. What is it about play and creative action that is so essential and foundational that it awakens and transforms a person into a living, joyful, and creative being? Perhaps a human being simply experiences themselves as a creative and acting subject, with an infinite potential—no longer a passive puppet of systems or a plaything of fate, but an active co-creator of the unfolding of the world. This is why, in this June issue, we bring you an extended interview with psychologist, academic, educator, and a deeply curious and kind human being Vladimír Chrz, on the themes of images, dialogical acting, meditation, imagination, psychosomatics, and creation.
Thank you for the interview, Erika Merjavá
June 2025
Between Us / Interview: I’m Returning to Where I Began
this time with twenty-year-old Bára Hozáková
I have known Bára since she was twelve years old. Although she spent four years with us, she was always more drawn to large stages, dramatic acting, and singing. That is why I was all the more surprised when she wrote to me last summer to say that she was about to begin studying Authorial Creativity and Performance at KATaP.
June 2026
Between Us: Life as a Puzzle
This time we speak with twenty-year-old Janko Poláček, who spent several years as an actor in our ensemble Vosí hnízdo. He is now in his first year at the Faculty of Humanities, Charles University.
I perceive Janek as a person with a rich inner world—a philosopher, creator, and poet, in whom creation, philosophy, psychology, science, and experimentation intersect. He is drawn to transcendence, allows things to mature, and says that existing in a state of not-knowing can be liberating for a human being.
March 2026
Mezi námi / Rozhovor: Laskavost a respekt si můžeme dopřát všichni. Tam není omluva. Ani jakákoliv okolnost.
This time with Isabella Petzold, who attended our programme for seven years. She is now studying Film, Theatre and Media Studies in Frankfurt am Main, with Political Science as a minor.
Iza comes from a Czech-German family. She is cheerful, empathetic, and curious. She has a strong inner strength and energy. She loves Frankfurt, theatre, and people. She enjoys visiting her grandparents in Moravia, and she is also interested in politics and the wider world. In this interview, I was interested not only in the impact of TALENT on her personality and life, but also in political topics—as a political science student—her view of contemporary Germany, and where she sees a stable point for a person in today’s complex world.
November 2025
Interview: In creative work, one must also know how to step back so that a performance can emerge
Ríša is a young person with a remarkable talent for improvisation, who has been attending Talent for two years. When I first saw him improvise, I watched him in amazement. His playing was free of all ornament, ambition, pretence, and performative display. Just pure play and existence—freedom and humour. A raw, full presence in the space of play. Grounded and focused.
Thank you for the interview, Erika Merjavá
September 2025
Between Us / Interview: A Thread Is Formed That Continues with Us
This time with Hana Sršňová, our 24-year-old actress from the Vosí hnízdo ensemble, and the editor and graphic designer of the quarterly magazine Dialog.
Hanka represents our younger generation—one that thinks deeply about things. She writes, plays the guitar and violin, composes songs, paints, creates, and teaches. She is an actress, a first-year art teacher at a grammar school, and a curious young person. She loves education, creativity, young people, Dialogical Acting, and ginger tea.
March 2025
Interview: To bear is to bear one’s own fate
this time with our alumnus Tobiáš Frýdl, a third-year production student at FAMU, son of the priest of the Hus’s congregation in Vršovice, and a production member of the Vršovice Theatre MANA
Tobiáš is a publicly active young person. He is not indifferent to current social issues and seeks to engage with them publicly. Alongside his studies in production at FAMU, he works in production at the Vršovice MANA Theatre. In the near future, he is about to leave to shoot a documentary in Georgia on the topic of queer people dating in a homophobic environment.
asked by Erika Merjavá
November 2024
Interview: They say to each other, “What kind of weirdos are we,” but at the same time, they find it fascinating
this time with director, educator, screenwriter, and dramaturge Jiří Ondra, with whom we have been collaborating at TALENT drama studio in youth groups since 2012
I perceive Jirka as an open-minded person and a creative artist who loves wild ideas, dives into uncharted territory, and seeks meaningful challenges. He is not guided by success, but by meaning. Anything closed, lifeless, and without development he leaves behind. He also loves working with young people, perhaps because they are still full of a desire for truth and personal, creative exploration.
Asked by Erika Merjavá
September 2024
Interview: Childhood is a sensitive period—vulnerable, difficult, and, in a way, unfair.
this time with our alumna, Lada Marková, a psychology student at Masaryk University
When I do interviews with our former students and pupils, I am always fascinated by where they have ended up—what they are studying, and where their searching, determination, persistence, and depth have taken them. Lada is studying psychology for a semester in Istanbul as part of Erasmus. We connected via video conference and talked mainly about children, studies, sadness, but also the hopes of the younger generation. When I talk to her, I feel that her golden star is located deep in her heart.
Asked by Erika Merjavá
June 2024
Rozhovor: Chci objevovat dál, do jaké míry mohu být svobodná
Tentokrát s naší absolventkou, studentkou činoherního herectví na DAMU Bětkou Dolečkovou
Bětka is in her second year of studying dramatic acting at DAMU. She attended TALENT for 14 years. She started as a four-year-old child and went through our entire development, from a traditional drama club to authorial creation. I admired her determination, resilience, laughter, positive energy, humility, and inner purity.
asked by Erika Merjavá
April 2024
Rozhovor: Člověk je stvoření tvořivé
Tentokrát s naším 17letým studentem, hercem a spolupracovníkem Matějem Trnkou
Matěj u nás začínal jako dítě, nyní je hercem naší skupiny mládeže Spektákl, hraje, tvoří a před rokem se stal členem spolku TALENT drama studio. Zabývá se tvorbou nových webových stránek Talentu, zkoncipoval projekt herecko-divadelních dílen pro děti a mládež Drama Happening, stará se o propagaci a má spoustu nápadů.
asked by Erika Merjavá
January 2024
