Ljubljana Puppet Theatre

From Culture.si
Revision as of 18:33, 7 October 2018 by Editor (talk | contribs) (INFOBOX)




Contact
Download this image
Lutkovno gledališče Ljubljana
Krekov trg 2, SI-1000 Ljubljana
Phone386 (0) 1 300 0970
Uroš Korenčan, Director



Past Events
Show more




Ljubljana Puppet Theatre 2012 Photo Nejc Saje (1).jpgLjubljana Puppet Theatre, 2012

The Ljubljana Puppet Theatre (LPT) is the central puppet theatre in Slovenia, running a varied programme of puppet and also theatre performances. Mainly – though not exclusively – intended for children and youth, the theatre encompasses both traditional puppetry as well as its many contemporary forms. Involved in various international endeavours and working with domestic as well as foreign authors, its productions are often included at distinguished theatre and puppetry festivals in Slovenia and abroad. Established in 1948, it is still actively shaping the development of puppetry as such.

The theatre organises the Lutke International Puppet Festival and co-produces the Golden Stick Festival, both taking place every second year. Having merged with the Theatre for Children and Youth (GOML) in 2009, LPT also sets up children's and youth theatre productions. The Museum of Puppetry, another project co-founded by the theatre, opened its doors in 2015 and is stationed at the Ljubljana Castle.


Background

Established as the City Puppet Theatre, LPT emerged as a follow-up to numerous semi-professional puppet groups organised in the region since the beginning of the 20th century. The theatre fast developed its own mode of expression and soon became the leading puppet theatre in the then Yugoslavia. At first, the performances were based on the marionette technique, but later it also got engaged in the possibilities of hand puppetry. However, from the seventies onward the theatre has been consistently trying to advance the technological and dramatic possibilities of puppetry, cultivating a captivating mixture of classical contents and experimentation.

Though it initially focused on works by Slovene authors, the theatre's most important early performances were adaptations of foreign works. One such production is the Spotty the Ball [Žogica Marogica], written by the Czech puppeteer Jan Malik, which remains unchanged in the repertory ever since its premiere in 1951. Another timeless hit appears to be the Twinkle Sleepyhead [Zvezdica zaspanka], written by Frane Milčinski - Ježek and in the repertory since 1955. It was followed by the same-titled film, the first Yugoslav colour marionette film that greatly contributed to its huge success.

Ljubljana Puppet Theatre 2003 Zogica Marogica Photo Blaz Samec.jpgGranny with the drums and Granddad with the lajna instrument, joined by Speckles the Ball who has flown in through the window. The puppets were fabricated by Jan Malik, the performance saw its première at the City Puppet Theatre (today's Ljubljana Puppet Theatre) in 1951 and became immensely popular around Slovenia.

Main activities

Besides its regular performances the theatre runs two festivals and is extremely active on the international stage. It also organises puppetry workshops and is generally devoting a lot of attention to various educational activities through which it wishes to advance the art of puppetry. To this end it thus systemically collaborates with schools across Slovenia.

The theatre cultivates all the main puppetry genres (marionette, hand puppets, Java puppets, shadow puppets, mimic puppets; it also develops new ones), and preserves more than 2000 puppets from past performances. It keeps an important collection relating to the Slovene puppetry heritage – see the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre Museum Collection, now partly incorporated into the Museum of Puppetry.

Repertoire

Ljubljana Puppet Theatre repertory programme is divided into two segments, puppet performances and drama performances, with about fifteen premières annually. The programme includes stagings of classical works as well as performances based on fresh texts by emerging as well as established Slovene authors (Svetlana Makarovič, Boris A. Novak, and Silvan Omerzu being among the more prominent ones), yet also of many writers from elsewhere.

LPT has collaborated with several Slovene directors specialised in puppetry as for example Silvan Omerzu, Jan Zakonjšek, Brane Vižintin, Eka Vogelnik, Barbara Bulatović, Matija Solce, or Anja Valcl, and with a great number of renowned theatre directors Zvone Šedlbauer, Mile Korun, Janez Pipan, Vinko Möderndorfer, Jaka Ivanc, Ivana Djilas, Jaša Kocelli. They hosted also international directors Yulia Roschina, Chiara Guidi, Jiří Havelka, Renaud Herbin, and Fabrizio Montecchi,

Ljubljana Puppet Theatre 2017 Virginija Volk Photo Urska Boljkovac.jpgThe staging of Virginija Volk (Virginia Wolf), based on the motifs from the picture book by Kyo Maclean and Isabelle Arsenault, 2017

Notable performances

With all the curious new productions, many of which stand out in significant ways, but a few important works can be mentioned. For example, a few striking creations by the renowned Slovene artist Silvan Omerzu (Konj Puppet Theatre), i.e. Forbidden Loves, based on antique motifs, and awarded in Hungary, Croatia and Bulgaria in 2010, and an interpretation of Pinnochio, featuring different puppet techniques and dimensions, acting, shadows and music.

Doctor Faustus [Doktor Faust] is based on the motifs from the first Slovene production of the play (1938) by Milan Klemenčič, the founder of Slovene puppetry, after whom the most prominent Slovene award for achievement in puppetry is named (Klemenčič Award). The slightly refreshed performance still uses puppets from the original staging.

Ljubljana Puppet Theatre 2005 Doktor Faust Photo Nejc Saje.jpgDoctor Faustus performance staged in 2005 with the puppets made in 1938 by Milan Klemenčič. Directed by Jelena Sitar, music by Igor Cvetko, produced by Ljubljana Puppet Theatre.

Tours and international awards

Ljubljana Puppet Theatre has toured through more than 80 cities in 30 countries and received many awards at international festivals, such as the International Puppet Theatre Festival Pierrot (Bulgaria), PIF Festival (Croatia), International Puppet Festival Golden Sparkle (Serbia), World Festival of Puppet Art (Czech Republic), International Theatrical Festival Valise, etc.

International projects

Ljubljana Puppet Theatre has been awarded funds from the Creative Europe programme of the European Union for a project entitled All Strings Attached: Pioneers Of European Puppetry Behind the Scenes. A more recent international project is also the Numeric’s Art Puppetry Project, an enterprise of developing and staging the various intersections between puppetry, technology and digital arts.

An example of international co-production was LPT's 2009 performances that included a highly engaged puppet performance for adults about alienation in contemporary society. Love Dolls (2009), co-produced with the Dutch DudaPaiva Company, curiously fused modern dance, puppetry, music and multimedia.

Ljubljana Puppet Theatre 2009 Love dolls Photo Ziga Koritnik.jpgLove dolls by Duda Paiva (Brazil/Netherlands), a puppetry/objects extravaganza with live music, coproduced by Ljubljana Puppet Theatre and Duda Paiva Company in 2009

The theatre is a member of the International Puppetry Association UNIMA, of which first congress was held in Ljubljana in 1933, and then repeated in 1992 again (the Lutke festival was initiated on that occasion). It also a member of ASSITEJ, the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People; Small Size, the international association focused on productions for early years (under six years of age); and is one of the founding members of NEECPA, a network of puppet centres joining primarily the key players from Scandinavia, the Baltic region and Russia.

Venues

  • Large hall, 253 seats total.

Ljubljana Puppet Theatre 2010 Large hall Photo Ziga Koritnik (1).jpgLjubljana Puppet Theatre, Large hall, 2010

  • Small Hall, 100 seats total.

Ljubljana Puppet Theatre 2010 Small Hall Photo Ziga Koritnik (1).jpgLjubljana Puppet Theatre, Small Hall, 2010

  • Stage Under the Stars, 300 seats total.

Ljubljana Puppet Theatre 2010 Stage Under the Stars Photo Ziga Koritnik (1).jpgLjubljana Puppet Theatre, Stage Under the Stars, 2010

  • Culturoom, 70 seats total.

Ljubljana Puppet Theatre 2010 Culturoom Photo Ziga Koritnik (2).jpgLjubljana Puppet Theatre, Cultroom, 2010

  • Tunnel

Ljubljana Puppet Theatre 2010 Tunnel Photo Ziga Koritnik (2).jpgLjubljana Puppet Theatre, Tunnel, 2010

See also

External links

Gallery

... more about "Ljubljana Puppet Theatre"
Lutkovno gledališče Ljubljana +
Uroš Korenčan +
46.05 +
Lutkovno gledališče Ljubljana +
14.51 +
SI-1000 Ljubljana +
Director +
Krekov trg 2 +
The Ljubljana Puppet Theatre (LPT) is the central puppet theatre in Slovenia, running a varied programme of puppet and also theatre performances. +
The Ljubljana Puppet Theatre (LPT) is the central puppet theatre in Slovenia, running a varied programme of puppet and also theatre performances. +
+386 / 1 300 0970 +
Ljubljana +
SI-1000 +
Has subobject"Has subobject" is a predefined property representing a container construct and is provided by Semantic MediaWiki.
EmailThis property is a special property in this wiki.