The co-production between the Yugoslav Drama Theatre, the Slovene National Theatre Maribor, Burgtheater Vienna and Cankarjev Dom Ljubljana – I Saw Her That Night by Drago Jančar, directed by Janez Pipan, will open on Friday, 24th September at the Slovene National Theatre in Maribor. This is the most ambitious artistic project in the region, based on the eponymous novel by Drago Jančar, a renowned author in Slovenia but also in Europe and around the world. Jančar is a master storyteller who uses the medium of novel, novella, short story and drama to speak of the deep wounds that still exist in Slovenia and our wider cultural space, the so-called Mitteleuropa (Central Europe). His work speaks both of recent and distant past, of the cruelty of modern capitalism, the nameless spaces of absent freedom.
The short, unforgettable whirlwind of a novel by Jančar will be brought to life on stage by actors from several countries and of different nationalities who will all speak in their native language. Among them are actors from the Yugoslav Drama Theatre ensemble – Milan Marić and Nebojša Ljubišić
Janez Pipan is a renowned theatre director with decades of experience. Pipan has also directed a very successful production of a novel by Jančar – Katarina, Peacock and Jesuit at the Slovene National theatre Drama in Ljubljana where for many years he has worked as a very accomplished managing director.
The Yugoslav Drama Theatre joined this co-production as part of its regular programme financed from the City of Belgrade budget and with the help of the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia. The Belgrade première is scheduled for 4th November while the première at Burtheater Vienna is expected in early 2022.
Photo: Peter Giordani