Peter Palik

Peter Palik is a Slovak director, dramaturg, writer, and educator who has served as the artistic director of the Jozef Gregor Tajovský Theatre in Zvolen (DJGT) since 2020. He initially graduated in Environmental Education from Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica in 2003, but later transitioned to theatre and studied puppetry directing and dramaturgy at the Academy of Performing Arts (VŠMU) in Bratislava, where he also completed his doctoral studies in 2009. From 2008 to 2014, he worked as a dramaturg at the Žilina Puppet Theatre, where he co-founded the Bábková Žilina festival, and subsequently from 2013 to 2017 as a resident director at the Spiš Theatre. He has collaborated extensively with the Bratislava Puppet Theatre, the Košice Puppet Theatre, Slovak Radio, and the amateur theatre ensembles Divadlo "A" and Divadlo Shanti from Prievidza. Since 2011, he has been teaching at the Puppetry Department of VŠMU, where he became an associate professor in 2017. Alongside productions for adults (e.g., Ballad for a Bandit, The Cap, and The Government Inspector at DJGT), he directs across the V4 countries and systematically dedicates himself to children's theatre. He is the author of the fairy-tale books Bol raz jeden kameň and Rozprávky z palety, a number of radio plays, and stage adaptations, which he published in 2017 in the collection 1 + 3 bábkohry. He has received numerous national and international awards for his acclaimed work.