The Holocaust May Be Important, But It’s No Longer Original: Representations of the Holocaust in Slovak Theatre Reviews from 2000 to 2017

: This article reports findings from a qualitative thematic analysis of 142 Slovak theatre reviews published from 2000 to 2017 about 25 Holocaust dramas staged in Slovakia. Until 2015, most Holocaust dramas employed the “Brechtian” estrangement effect, but since the beginning of 2015, Slovak theatre has shifted towards the use of realistic representation. Dramas employing the estrangement effect were in their reviews considered to be original artworks, and the social value of these plays was emphasized, while realistic representation was considered to be outdated and unoriginal. With the emergence of unoriginality in reviews, the attributed social value of these dramas diminished and the interest of reviewers in the Holocaust drama faded. The subsequent quantitative analysis supports these conclusions.