Mladinsko Theatre

Theatre performance Damned be the Traitor of his Homeland! by Oliver Frljić, Mladinsko Theatre, 2010

Mladinsko Theatre (Slovensko mladinsko gledališče or SGM) is one of two municipal theatres in Ljubljana and is considered to be a laboratory for actors and directors, choreographers and musicians to research and develop, risk and create. Throughout its history, Mladinsko has collaborated with the reformers of the Slovene theatre of the second half of the 20th century. Mladinsko Theatre's recent premières were: Sarah Kane's text Crave [Sla] directed by Vito Taufer, and a stage adaptation of Anthony Burgess' cult novel A Clockwork Orange [Peklenska pomaranča], directed by Matjaž Pograjc, both house stage directors of Mladinsko Theatre. The theatre regularly tours worldwide and was awarded the title European Ambassador of Culture by European Commission in 2008.

History

Mladinsko Theatre was established in 1955 as the first professional theatre for children and youth in Slovenia. Although Mladinsko Theatre's productions of its first decade aimed at younger audiences with the stagings of adaptations of classical as well as domestic youth literature, the theatre's first director Balbina Battelino Baranovič (who established in 1955 also the first experimental theatre in Slovenia, introducing the theatre-in-the-round principle) succeeded to professionalise the theatre's activities and also include into the theatre's programme productions intended for a wider audience. Thus in the 1960s and 70s, Mladinsko collaborated with distinguished Slovene directors, such as Mile Korun, Dušan Jovanović, etc., in which time its productions and actors were gaining wide recognition, exemplified also by several prominent awards. For example, Mile Korun's staging of Aurand Harris's Androcles and the Lion [Androkles in lev] (1973) brought to the theatre the first Borštnik Award for best performance in 1973.

In the 1980s Mladinsko Theatre initiated a unique interdisciplinary stage research and its productions (Victims of the Bang Bang Fashion [Žrtve mode bum-bum] (1975), Missa in a minor [Maša v a molu] (1980), The Class Enemy [Razredni sovražnik] (1982), Romeo and Juliet – Commentaries [Romeo in Julija – komentarji] (1983), The Persians [Peržani] (1980), Anna [Ana] (1984), etc.) were widely acclaimed during the 1980s for their political engagement as well as for their innovative approach to mise-en-scène. The performance Victims of the Bang Bang Fashion, directed by Dušan Jovanović, who was the artistic director of Mladinsko Theatre in the 1980s, put Mladinsko Theatre on the international map of experimental theatres.

However, the complete aesthetic break was brought about with the performance Missa in A Minor, directed by Ljubiša Ristić, who staged an original montage of Danilo Kiš's text A Tomb for Boris Davidovich with fragments from political texts of Lenin, Trotsky, Proudhon, Bakunin, etc., thus departing from the traditional relation between the literary text and theatre. This gesture constituted a new understanding of theatre and proved to be decisive for the general orientation of Mladinsko Theatre in the future. By the end of the 1980s, Mladinsko Theatre production took a turn from making subversive, director-oriented theatre to making theatre by deconstructing modernist theatre traditions, a transition that was most notably epitomised by Vito Taufer's dramatisation of Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland [Alica v čudežni deželi] (1986), which combined the apparently incompatible: childlike sensibility and daredevil theatre experimentation.

The production of the 1990s was marked by spectacle and intimacy, the aesthetic radicality approached the post-modernist theatre of images, while Mladinsko Theatre continued to work with stage directors whose dialogue with dramatic texts and personal poetics was inventive and avant-garde (Matjaž Pograjc, Vito Taufer). The last turn in Mladinsko Theatre production was introduced at the turn of the 21st century by the youngest generation of directors (Diego de Brea, Tomi Janežič, Jernej Lorenci), who again brought to the focus the dramatic text. In its productions, Mladinsko Theatre continues to thematise the universal paradoxes of civilisation, its programme being founded in problematisations of new times and spaces.

In 2006 Mladinsko Theatre celebrated its 50th anniversary, publishing an illustrated book about its history, entitled Has the Future Already Arrived? [Ali je prihodnost že prišla] (in English and in Slovenian editions).

Youth programme

Mladinsko in English means "youth". However, although the theatre has outgrown its primary role while keeping the name, Mladinsko Theatre has always included performances for children in its programme. These productions have met with great success and have toured extensively in Slovenia and abroad, winning also a number of Slovene and international awards. Vito Taufer's Alice in Wonderland [Alica v čudežni deželi] (1986) received the Golden Laurel Wreath Award at the 1988 MESS Festival in Sarajevo, his staging of Pippi [Pika] (1998) received the Silver Laurel Wreath Award for best children performance at the same festival in 2008 (after 10 strong years in the repertory). Pippi, based on Astrid Lindgren's beloved Pippi Longstocking character, also won three Little Golden Stick Awards at the Golden Stick Festival in 1999 for Best Performance, Best Actress (to Janja Majzelj) and Special Award of the Jury (to Ivan Rupnik).

Besides stagings of classical children stories, such as Snow White and Seven Dwarfs [Sneguljčica in sedem palčkov] (2003), which was selected as the best performance of 2005 in the Bologna-based Teatri di Vita, and Kekec (2004), based on the Slovene story about the adventurous, courageous, and kind shepherd Kekec, Mladinsko also stages performances for young adult audiences, most recently Mark Ravenhill's Totally Over You [Kok ti men zdej dol visiš] (2007).

sneguljcica - snow white by "Mladinsko" theatre Slovenia by Matilda Lina on YouTube

Since 2009, Mladinsko co-organises the Ljubljana-based festival of children education in culture and the arts called Bobri (in English: Beavers), featuring a number of theatre and music performances, a film programme, and workshops for children.

Programme

Mladinsko Theatre prepares around five new productions each year, some of them in co-operation with guest directors and in co-production with independent producers. Mladinsko's productions include adaptations of classical and contemporary texts (from Shakespeare's The Tempest [Vihar] (2008) to Tena Štivičić's Fragile! (2005) or Sarah Kane's Blasted (2008) and Crave (2009) as well as projects by guest directors such as Dragan Živadinov or a puppetry author Silvan Omerzu, and directing projects by actors of Mladinsko Ivan Peternelj, Neda Rusjan Bric and Janja Majzelj.

Pier Paolo Pasolini - Amado mio by prodoktv on YouTube

The 2009/10 season, entitled "Art, Eros, Hope", presented six premières: a project by the uncompromising Croatian director Oliver Frljić and five texts (two of them commissioned by Mladinsko Theatre) staged for the first time in Slovenia. Vito Taufer presented his twenty-first direction in Mladinsko Theatre, namely Crave [Sla] by Sarah Kane, Ivan Peternelj's project Amado mio by Pier Paolo Pasolini inspired by the novel, Vinko Möderndorfer directed the new play Šumi by the late Peter Božič, a presentation of socially marginalised characters in the now-demolished Ljubljana café in which artists and philosophers used to gather, and Ivica Buljan presented his adaptation of Marina Tsvetaeva's The Swain [Vampir].

Since 2007 the Mladinsko Theatre runs its own festival called Overflight International Theatre Festival: an overview of Mladinsko Theatre productions quite soon became an international manifestation with selected performances from abroad.

International cooperation

Mladinsko Theatre regularly makes guest performances at international festivals worldwide (Nancy, Hamburg, Belgrade, London, Moscow, Essen, Cardiff, Lisbon, Madrid, Bogota, New York) and also hosts selected performances from other countries. Its most acclaimed performances have included Alice in Wonderland, Drama Observatory Zenith, Scheherezade, Roberto Zucco, Miss Juliet, Silence Silence Silence, Queen Margot, Fragile! and The Epic of Gilgamesh.

Obra: "Crimen y Castigo" - País: Eslovenia by FITBogotá on YouTube

Damned be the traitor of his homeland! by O.Frljić was presented at the International Small Scene Theatre Festival in Rijeka and at the Days of Satire festival at the Kerempuh Satirical Theatre in Zagreb, Croatia in 2010, and at the Perforations Festival at La MaMa Theatre, New York City, at the Nová dráma Festival in Bratislava, the Sterijino pozorje festival, Novi Sad, and the Stage, Helsinki Theatre Festival.

Venues

The Mladinsko Theatre is found in Ljubljana's Bežigrad neighbourhood, occupying a part of Slovene architect Jože Plečnik's unfinished Akademski kolegij which was intended to be the Baraga Seminary. The theatre incorporates two venues – the Upper Hall (Zgornja dvorana) and the Lower Hall (Spodnja dvorana), however, some of Mladinsko performances are also held at the Old Post building in immediate vicinity of the theatre.

Upper Hall (Zgornja dvorana)

Type of venue: Multi-purpose hall
main use: theatre, puppetry, film, music
seating: 275 seats total
proscenium opening: 8m W x 4.4m H
performing area: 9m W x 12m D x 4.4m H flat wooden stage floor, suitable for dance
forestage: 2m D
wing spaces: 2m W SR, 2m W SL
soft hangings: black house curtain, black tabs, legs and borders
lighting: Euro system lighting desk, 500-1000W beamers
sound: Euro system mixer, power amplifiers and loudspeakers
stage equipment: 35mm projection equipment, cinema screen, technical staff available
backstage: dressing rooms for 40 persons total
climate control: air-conditioning
availability: available for hire

Lower Hall (Spodnja dvorana)

Type of venue: Multi-purpose hall (non-conventional space)
main use: theatre, puppetry, film, music
seating: 200 seats total
performing area: 8m W x 25m D x 3.15-4.47m H, flat stage floor suitable for dance
wing spaces: 2m W SR, 2m W SL
soft hangings: black house curtain, black tabs, legs and borders
lighting: Euro system lighting desk, 500-1000W beamers
sound: Euro system mixer, power amplifiers and loudspeakers
stage equipment: 35mm projection equipment, cinema screen, technical staff available
backstage: dressing rooms for 20 persons total
climate control: air-conditioning
availability: available for hire

External links

Mladinsko Theatre website
Mladinsko Theatre performances - with many performances video clips by ProdokTV
List of Mladinsko Theatre touring abroad and in-country since 1996
Mladinsko Theatre history overview
Mladinsko Theatre architecture - the history of the building from the Theatre Architecture in Central Europe web database
Mladinsko Theatre on Wikipedia (in Slovenian)
Castration Machines on Wikipedia (A book which discusses many productions of Mladinsko Theatre, in English)

International cooperation

European Theatre Convention (ETC)
Revolutionary Voices: Performing Arts in Central & Eastern Europe in the 1980s – an exhibition in the New York Public Library including presentation of photo documents and posters of the Mladinsko Theatre performances in the 1980s

Gallery

Theatre performance Damned Be the Traitor of His Homeland! by Oliver Frljić, Maribor Theatre Festival, 2010.

Still from Pavla Nad Prepadom [Pavla Above the Precipice], a play inspired by the life of mountain climber Pavla Jesih, with the text for the play was written by Andrej E. Skubic. First staged in 2013, the play was featured at Mladinsko Showcase in 2015 (called Prelet at that time).

A scene from Naše nasilje in vaše nasilje (Our Violence and Your Violence) by Oliver Frljić (HR). The play was chosen for the 2017 edition of the Mladinsko Showcase. Photo taken at Wiener Festwochen, where it premièred in 2016. The performance opened the Maribor Theatre Festival in 2017.

A still from Republika Slovenija [The Republic of Slovenia], a docudrama about the arms trafficking events from the early years of Slovenia. Shown at Mladinsko Showcase in 2016 and that same year also given the Borštnik Jury Award.

Harris Aurand's Androcles and the Lion, directed by Mile Korun, Mladinsko Theatre, 1973

Victims of the Bang Bang Fashion, directed by Dušan Jovanović (playwright & director), 1975. Foto arhiv SMG

Theatre performance Missa in a minor, directed by Ljubiša Ristić, Mladinsko Theatre, 1980

Alice in Wonderland, directed by Vito Taufer, Mladinsko Theatre, 1986

Šeherezada, East West Opera, written by Ivo Svetina, directed by Tomaž Pandur, Mladinsko Theatre, 1989

Silence Silence Silence by Vito Taufer, Mladinsko Theatre, 1996

Pippi, a performance directed by Vito Taufer, Mladinsko Theatre, 1998

Pika, featuring Janja Majzelj in the main role, directed by Vito Taufer, Mladinsko Theatre 1998

Theatre performance Šumi, directed by Vinko Möderndorfer, Mladinsko Theatre, 2009

Supremat, directed by Dragan Živadinov, Mladinsko Theatre, 2002

Theatre performance Fragile!, directed by Matjaž Pograjc, Mladinsko Theatre, 2005

Theatre performance Fragile!, written by Štivičić Tena and directed by Matjaž Pograjc, Mladinsko Theatre, 2005

Eda – the Rusjan brothers story by Neda Rusjan Bric, Mladinsko Theatre, 2009

Theatre performance Damned be the Traitor of his Homeland! by Oliver Frljić, Mladinsko Theatre, 2010

Sarah Kane's Blasted [Razdejani], directed by Vinko Möderndorfer, Mladinsko Theatre, 2008

Theatre performance Šumi, directed by Vinko Möderndorfer, Mladinsko Theatre, 2009

Our Violence and Your Violence, a play by Oliver Frljić, performed at Wiener Festwochen and produced by Mladinsko Theatre, 2016

The Mladinsko Theatre's adaptation of Dostoyevsky's Zločin in kazen [Crime and punishment] was directed by Diego de Brea. With Matija Vastl as Raskolnikov, the show premièred in 2009.

Mladinsko Theatre

Contents

History

Youth programme

Programme

International cooperation

Venues

Upper Hall (Zgornja dvorana)

Lower Hall (Spodnja dvorana)

See also

External links

International cooperation

Gallery

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Financed by