projects.
“Psst, nikomu o tom nehovor!” — Forum Theatre to prevent discrimination and bullying in schools
Children encounter bullying and discrimination every day: at school, outside it and online. “Psst, nikomu o tom nehovor!” (“Psst, don’t tell anyone!”) offers a creative, safe approach that gives pupils practical ways to respond.
completed project.
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About the project
Instead of one-off lectures, we use the interactive method of Forum Theatre. Pupils and teachers step onto the stage together and explore alternative responses to conflicts they have experienced or heard about from peers. This approach develops critical thinking, assertiveness and the courage to act in real life.
The project was for primary and secondary schools in the Banská Bystrica region and ran from October 2025 to August 2026.
Project analysis and presentation:watch the video on YouTube (opens in a new tab)
What we achieved
- 50 pupils from five primary schools took part in Forum Theatre workshops and created five original performances based on real experiences of bullying and discrimination.
- Almost 500 pupils experienced the performances as more than an audience: they entered the stories and explored ways to change what was happening.
- We ran training for educators and produced a methodology guide so schools can continue using Forum Theatre.
- We established the Nahlas! Festival, staging four performances for more than 250 pupils from primary schools in Banská Bystrica.
Thank you
Behind these numbers are people.
Thank you to the pupils who found the courage to speak about things too often left unsaid.
Thank you to the teachers for their trust, openness and collaboration — ZŠ A. Sládkoviča in Sliač, ZŠ Hrnčiarska in Zvolen, ZŠ L. Novomeského in Lučenec, ZŠ Pieninská in Banská Bystrica and ZŠ Ždaňa.
Thank you to every participating school for opening its doors and making room for conversations that are not always easy.
Our heartfelt thanks also go to Nadácia Pontis (opens in a new tab) and its Impact Lab Inkubátor programme, which enabled this project to begin, grow and mature. The name “Inkubátor” felt especially apt: it gave us space to test, develop and strengthen the way we use Forum Theatre to address sensitive issues of bullying and discrimination in schools.
The project is leaving the Inkubátor. What grew there will continue.
We close by sharing a video from the Nahlas! Festival
Who delivered the project?
Diligo, a non-profit association of non-formal educators united by a love of art and creativity. We work across theatre as a social art form, literature and photography. Our aim is to share and use non-formal education methods with young people, including those facing disadvantage. We draw on years of direct work with people in difficult circumstances: young people in children’s homes and residential education facilities, and pupils who have disabilities or face discrimination. We work in Slovakia and abroad. By sharing inclusive approaches to education, we seek to include everyone who is open to working with us.
Diligo Child Protection Policy (Slovak PDF).
Co-funded by the European Union under ImpactAS 2 — Impact Acceleration of Slovak CSOs 2 (ImpactAS II). The views and opinions expressed are those of the author or authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
Lead facilitators
Mgr. art. Magdaléna Komárová
A drama therapist and non-formal educator working in Slovakia and abroad, including the Czech Republic, Italy, Austria and Spain. She has 19 years of experience with groups facing difficult circumstances, particularly people without homes, young people in residential education centres and people in prison. She facilitates Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed, has contributed to more than 20 Erasmus+ projects, and has acted in and directed performances created with women and men in prison and with people without homes. She works with several European organisations and currently leads Forum Theatre projects focused on preventing bullying in primary schools.
Mgr. Andrej Návojský
A certified Forum Theatre trainer and facilitator, Andrej completed a Theatre of the Oppressed qualification programme in Berlin in 2017–2018. Since 2018 he has regularly led Forum Theatre workshops, including with refugees and disadvantaged young people.
Across four editions of the “Jesenná škola — Mládež proti diskriminácii” (opens in a new tab), he worked with secondary-school groups on racism, body shaming and other forms of discrimination.
He led a Forum Theatre workshop for Roma young people in and around Košice. He now works at the National Institute of Education and Youth on changes to the primary-school curriculum. From 2005 to 2022 he worked in several non-governmental organisations on education projects promoting anti-discrimination and active citizenship.
Contact
Magdaléna Komárová
project coordinator
What is Forum Theatre?
Forum Theatre is an interactive method developed by Brazilian theatre director Augusto Boal. Actors first perform a short story about injustice or conflict, such as bullying or discrimination. The audience then joins in: people can stop the scene, suggest another course of action or try taking a character’s place themselves. The aim is not to find one correct answer, but to explore possibilities together and learn through experience.
For schools, this method develops critical thinking, empathy and conflict-resolution skills. Pupils become active participants rather than passive listeners, and can practise responding to real-life situations in a safe setting. Forum Theatre connects learning with lived experience and helps young people recognise that they can act even in difficult situations.