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49th Week of Slovenian Drama

Anton Tomaž Linhart

The Merry Day or Matiček’s Wedding

Slovenian National Theatre (SNT) Drama Ljubljana

Crew

Director: Janusz Kica

Dramaturg: Mojca Kranjc

Stage designer: Karin Fritz

Costume designer: Bjanka Adžić Ursulov

Composer: Kyrre Kvam

Lighting designer: Aleš Vrhovec

Language consultant: Arko

Assistant director: Maša Pelko

Cast

Baron Naletel: Marko Mandić

Rozala, Baron's Lady: Polona Juh

Matiček, Manor's Gardener: Gregor Baković

Nežka, Housemaid: Nina Ivanišin

Tonček, Student on Vacation: Nik Škrlec

Zmešnjava, Country Lawyer: Igor Samobor

Žužek, Manor's Scribe: Ivo Ban

Budalo, Scribe's Scribe: Bojan Emeršič

Jerca, Mayor's Daughter: Eva Jesenovec

Jaka, Lackey: Rok Vihar

Gašper, a Worker: Zvone Hribar

Colleen: Sabina Kogovšek

Colleen: Lucija Harum/Mia Skrbinac

About the performance

The Slovenian drama scholar Taras Kermauner, argued that there was no other Slovenian play that was as free-thinking in dealing with the body, sexuality, truth, justice and ethics as Matiček, which makes it a paradigmatic representative of a socio-political libertarianism. "Matiček is a play of radical derision; it is a mockery of everything, including itself."


Distinguished Slovenian philosopher Mladen Dolar claims that Linhart demonstrated his immense spiritual liberty by modelling his play on The Wedding of Figaro (1781) by Beaumarchais: "It is hard to imagine the amount of freedom that preconditioned a selection of such a model, as well as what it took to get ripped out of the parochial Slovenian conditions, as well as of local power and subordination structures. Linhart’s freedom consisted in his acknowledgment that the model of his play, i.e. the French model, charged with subversive social ideas indicating different times altogether, was relevant here too, in the petty-minded circumstances of the crownland Carniola. Matiček tells our story, a story set in a given historical moment of our own history. The mottos of the play are our mottos, this time is ours, and the tasks it sets are ours. In terms of its universal validity, the model is as Slovenian as it is French, and this is exactly as much as Slovenian identity can participate in the universal alliance during the historical moment of its time."
 

Photo gallery

The Merry Day or Matiček’s Wedding <em>Photo: Peter Uhan</em>
Photo: Peter Uhan
The Merry Day or Matiček’s Wedding <em>Photo: Peter Uhan</em>
Photo: Peter Uhan
The Merry Day or Matiček’s Wedding <em>Photo: Peter Uhan</em>
Photo: Peter Uhan

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