Slzy Janka Borodáča (The Tears of Janko Borodáč) was founded in 2020 in Prešov by director Júlia Rázusová and theatre manager Linda Durkáčová following the closure of the Prešov National Theatre. The independent ensemble was created with the aim of decentralizing the arts in the country and expanding the theatre landscape in Eastern Slovakia. The name of the ensemble satirically references the founder of Slovak professional theatre, the representative of traditionalism and artistic conservative Ján Borodáč (1892–1964), who – as the two founders say – “would not approve of the work of our company and would probably only shed tears over it.”
One of the main objectives of the theatre is to explore new perspectives of acting in close actor-director collaboration. This includes specific work with movement to the point of physical theatre. In their original projects they open up current and burning social topics such as nationalism, radicalism, populism or social inequality and the crisis of the family. In addition to experimental work, they research theatrical methods and acting techniques and organize acting workshops for professionals.