Dialogi
Eurozine
Dialogi
2006-10-05
Summary for Dialogi 7-8/2006
The summer issue of Dialogi is centered on the state of new drama writing in Slovenia, a thematic contribution by theatre editor Primoz Jesenko.
The introductory editorial questions the reasons for the incessant feeling of crisis in the field of contemporary drama writing and sees the counter-argument for this feeling in the selection of performances for the upcoming Borstnik festival, the annual assembly of the best Slovene theatre can offer -- according to which the voices of local drama and stage production coexist in a relatively satisfying mutual relationship. This is followed by a basic historical overview of Slovene drama in the 20th century, of its typical moral and social character -- Slovene drama does not tend towards straight aggression or provocation. In this reluctance to shock and/or experiment, and the persistent use of indirect speech, Jesenko sees typical traits of the Slovene national habitus, whose roots stem from the most fertile period of Slovene drama, the 1960s. As stated by the editor, this issue does not attempt to provide fixed answers to the problematic points of Slovene stage writing. Moreover, it would like to indicate vital authors and their writings as potential architects of the future of Slovene drama.
The issue introduces five dramatic pieces, all presented as open staging possibilities. Only The Wild East by Iztok Lovric has already been staged, by Gledalisce Glej in 2005. The Comics of Evil by Matjaz Briski is accompanied by an essay by Taras Kermauner, literary historian and expert on Slovene dramatics, who provides a thorough context for the state of Slovene theatre and the new writing trends within it. In this connection, the author stresses the ignoring of the first play by Matjaz Briski, whose follow-up is being presented in the current issue. Similar is the story of Reykjavik by Martina Siler, another prize-winning piece from a young writers' competition. Two short plays follow, products of PreGlej, the first stage readings laboratory: Socks by Simona Semenic, a play of a promising comic profile, and White Rain by Sasa Rakef, a lyric take on the dramatic form which is an exception in the series of written plays.
Art critic Rok Vevar presents a broad overview of the activity of PreGlej. His contribution is followed by a short interview with Simona Semenic, the coordinator of PreGlej, who is also a partaker in PreGlej herself. She talks about the goals achieved and the future international plans of the initiative.
In the last part of the issue, Gasper Troha, researcher at the Faculty of Arts, contributes an essay on today's possibilities for political theatre, written after visiting the theatre festival in Nitra, Slovakia, in September 2005 -- and is a precise, however indirect, vision for the future of Slovene drama and theatre.