ABSTRACT
Slovak theatrical traditions stem from dramatizations of early pagan myths, evolve through Medieval farce, religious and scholastic theatre and culminate in a rise of amateur theatre in the nineteenth century at a time of growing national self-awareness. The most significant authors of this later period were comic writers such as Ján Chalupka (1791–1871), Ján Palárik (1822–70) and Jonáš Záborský (1812–76), the latter also writing historical tragedies. A major exponent of realistic drama at the end of the nineteenth century and in the first two decades of the twentieth century was Jozef Gregor-Tajovský (1874–1940) who wrote strongly emotional plays with a village setting.
