issn 1846-0860 1 ITI CROATIAN THEATRE ITI 2 3 ITI CROATIAN THEATRE MUSES IN CRISIS dear readers, – THE CROATIAN THEATRE TODAY Matko Botić You are holding the latest issue of cultural variety is its theatre house, 6 Croatian Theatre, whose basic inten- with a rich tradition which is explored tion is to present the current events, by theatrologist Hrvoje Ivanković. CONTENTSTHE LATEST trends and protagonists of Croatian GENERATION OF theatre, with an emphasis on every- We also bring you an interesting in- CROATIAN PLAYWRIGHTS thing that strikes us as interesting terview with Croatia’s busiest theat- Tajana Gašparović and transparent to foreign audiences rical director abroad, who comments 18 as well. the state of theatre in Croatia but also analyzes the global theatrical zeitgeist THE PLACE WHERE This time, we have devoted special we live in. CROATIAN THEATRE attention to a cult location and defi- GROW UP nitely one of the most important plac- In the second part of the issue, we Igor Ružić es in the recent history of Croatian present to you two playwrights. The 32 drama and theatre, the Zagreb-based first of them is Tomislav Zajec, an al- Theatre &TD, which became a key lo- ready established dramatic writer THE MARIN DRŽIĆ cation for alternative theatre in the and teacher of dramatic writing at the THEATRE IN DUBROVNIK 1960s, and today provides a space Academy of Dramatic Art; the other Hrvoje Ivanković for young, up-and-coming directors one is Dino Pešut, a young graduate 44 and playwrights. Its original moniker student fresh out of the Academy. We has been expanded to include the give you two complete translations of IN CROATIAN THEATRE, phrase Kultura promjene – A Culture their plays, Someone Should Walk the ALL THE DISCUSSIONS of Change. Theatre critic Igor Ružić Dog and Static, which might be of in- ARE FOUNDED ON covers this topic. terest to foreign theatres. INADEQUATE PRECEPTS A conversation with Like in previous issues, once again Finally, we bring you a report on the director Ivica Buljan we bring you an overview of what has activities of the publishers of this Matko Botić been going on in Croatian theatre magazine, the Croatian ITI Center. As 54 since the last ITI congress in 2011, in ever, we have provided you with the a report by theatrologist Matko Botić. addresses of all major Croatian the- SOMEONE SHOULD atrical institutions, in the hope that WALK THE DOG Theatre critic Tajana Gašparović some of our texts might prompt you Play by Tomislav Zajec covers the youngest generation of to contact them. If, on the other hand, 72 Croatian playwrights whose stylistic you would like to obtain previous is- and thematic variety is an extraordi- sues of our magazine, we would like to STATIC nary asset of Croatian dramatic writ- remind you that they are available on Play by Dino Pešut ing. Even though Dubrovnik is a pow- our website: http://www.hciti.hr. 92 erful tourist brand worldwide, the fas- cination of its cultural heritage is at željka turčinović INFO/IMPRESSUM its strongest when we find ourselves President of 118 within the city itself. A part of this the Croatian Centre of ITI ITI 4 5 ITI CROATIAN THEATRE GOOD THEATRE, THANKFULLY, GROWS WELL EVEN IN II OLJA Lozica: ReceSs-I-On, Theatre EXIT, photo by SaNJA TIMES OF DROUGHT.PRNJAK ITI 6 7 ITI CROATIAN THEATRE MUSES IN CRISIS – THE CROATIAN THEATRE TODAY MATKO BOTIĆ If the old Latin saying inter arma mu- financial restructuring, which is the sae tacent were to be adapted to the effect of brave new social circum- current situation in Croatian theatre, it stances: most of the finances from would go something like this: in times the city and state budgets end up in of crisis – the muses are definitive- the hands of slumbering mastodons ly more silent, and more dissatisfied who have made no changes to their than usual. At a time when an alarm- structure since the Austro-Hungarian ing portion of the population is sliding Monarchy, the independent the- towards poverty, caught between the atre scene survives on breadcrumbs, disappearing system of government and private initiatives are struggling funding and the merciless emergent against the competition from faster logic of the marketplace, theatre, like and more modern media. In a coun- other aspects of cultural production, try in which culture has always been is trying to fight for a dignified exis- financed by government sources, the tence and a space of personal artistic awareness of the necessity of a shift in freedom, in spite of the increasingly the organizational paradigm is still in aggressive deterioration of the pub- its infancy, so the theatrical program is lic discourse. However, in this sort of currently on life support: there is less social environment, the true theatrical and less money and time to adapt to muses cannot pretend that they live in a society in which culture is nowhere an ivory tower – indeed, the crisis of near the top of the priority list. the social system is the central motif I IVOR MartiNIć: of most relevant theatrical produc- The great national theatre compa- MY Son JUST WALKs tions in the past couple of seasons. nies, whose neo-baroque palaces A Little Slower, are homes to three or four distinct Zagreb YOUTH The Croatian theatre is currently suf- departments (drama, ballet, opera, Theatre, photo fering from an acute lack of will to ini- minority-language drama sections), by MARA Bratoš tiate a thorough organizational and expensive representative festivals ITI 8 9 ITI CROATIAN THEATRE like the Dubrovnik Summer Festival theatre, which, under the wing of the and several theatres in Zagreb are European Theatre Convention, gath- the only ones who can count on sol- ered theatres from eight European id financial backing, regardless of the countries, and a collaboration on Ivica quality of their repertoire, while the Buljan’s play Garaža with New York’s rest of the theatre production is pro- La MaMa Theater. duced in spite of unfavorable material circumstances. This season, the Zagreb Youth Theatre confirmed its international orientation If we were to shift our perspective by staging guest performances of its from economy to aesthetics, the sit- three most successful plays: writer/ uation does not look any better or director Jan Fabre’s Car neuspjeha more optimistic – almost no theatrical (The King of Failure) was performed institutions give off any hints of a vi- in the Theatre de Gennevilliers, Goran sion which includes uncompromising Ferčec’s Pismo Heineru Mülleru (A aesthetics and organizational know- Letter to Heiner Müller), directed how. By examining the repertoires of by Bojan Đorđev, was performed at the major theatre companies in recent the La MaMa theatre, and Nataša years, one can notice that the Zagreb Rajković and Bobo Jelčić’s S druge Youth Theatre is the only real excep- strane (On the other side) was per- tion in a grey and unexceptional do- formed nightly for a whole week at mestic trend: this theatre was the the Parisian La Colinne theatre. In ad- most successful in determining its dition to these plays, we should men- own trajectory, its task and capabili- tion the premiere of the new play of " This path, on which I JAn FABRE: THE ties, so their path, consisting of a ded- the most interesting young Croatian role models and KING OF FAILURE, ication to local repertoires and global playwright Ivor Martinić, Moj sin samo competition are Zagreb YOUTH connections with big global partners, malo sporije hoda (My son just walks not sought among Theatre, can serve as a shining example for a little slower), directed by Januš Kica, the stifling run-of- photo by others. The manager of the theatre, but also several unconventional proj- the-mill domestic MARA Bratoš former theatre critic Dubravka Vrgoč, ects of emerging regional directors productions, but has successfully married a socially – all these successes are the crown- among the peaks of provocative and brave repertoire to ing achievement of the efforts that the global theatrical an expertly formulated strategy of co- the Zagreb Youth Theatre has made repertoire, is one that productions and collaborations, there- to establish itself at the European big Croatian theatres by creating a theatrical oasis of aes- and global level. This path, on which should at least thetics of risk which has been recog- role models and competition are not consider following. nized on an international level. In the sought among the stifling run-of-the- last couple of seasons this theatre has mill domestic productions, but among collaborated on a wide range of inter- the peaks of the global theatrical rep- I ZDENKO MESARIć: national co-productions, including col- ertoire, is one that other big theatri- Garage, Zagreb laborations with Jan Fabre’s Troubleyn cal companies should at least consid- YOUTH Theatre, Theatre from Belgium, with La er following. photo by Comedie de Saint-Etienne in France, MARA Bratoš with the Orient Express travelling ITI 10 11 ITI CROATIAN THEATRE If we divert our attention from the Eurocentric ZKM (Zagreb Youth Theatre) to the rest of the domestic repertoire, it is apparent that the dif- ference is primarily made by young directors, unburdened by the legacy of the past, and focused on tackling contemporary issues. Zagreb’s &TD Theatre, under the leadership of dra- maturge Nataša Rajković, has been the most consistent in recognizing this trend, so this atmosphere of an incubator of sorts for up-and-com- ing stars they have been nurturing has lately been producing a colorful, though not always successful, but def- initely exciting and fresh brand of the- atre, unfettered by genre restrictions.