The New Drama Festival also presented works by Ukrainian authors. Since 2007, the event has included a special Focus section devoted to European theatre cultures with which Slovakia could cooperate in the future. The main theme of this year's Focus section of the festival was Ukrainian work. One of the main events was a lecture by Ukrainian director Oleg Liptsin on contemporary Ukrainian drama and theatre. He described in detail the characteristics of Ukrainian art. John Freedman is an American writer, translator and theatre critic. But he is also an activist who seeks to support writers from countries threatened by the loss of democracy. He created the concept of sharing the work of playwrights in a project called Worldwide Play Readings.