The Republic of Slovenia

Mladinsko Theatre and Maska Institute

Première: 20. 4. 2016, Mladinsko Theatre and Glass Hall of GR - Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre
Running time approximately 1 hour 40 minutes. One interval.

All the authors of the production remain anonymous. In this context, the individual simply is not important. What is important is the stat(ur)e. 

Three situations back from the time following the independence, when we were living the collective success story while entirely different things were going on somewhere in the background. Three stories on a hidden bit of recent history that we can hardly be proud of: the testimony of an executor of orders, the transcript of a debate among those who were issuing orders and five versions of an event that at the time was a scandal and later on turned into a myth. An event that changed the perfectly ordinary name of a perfectly ordinary village into a synonym for something that everybody knew both everything and nothing about, something that became material for books and the subject of gossip on street corners. Apparently none of it conforms to reality, which in reality is pretty comfortable for quite a few.
Inter faeces et urinam nascimur. Coming to life is a wonderful and dirty business and the creation of a state is immersed in fog; somewhere between heroism and corruption, between the UN palace and the Mafia underground, immersed in a time when the leaders’ wisdom and vigour were put to the test. It is when one gets hold of power that one’s true nature becomes manifest; that is when one proves oneself either way. Some proved themselves in one way. Others in another.
It is our citizens’ duty to take a look at the post-independence period; at a time when dreams were no longer sufficient or allowed.

"The Republic of Slovenia doesn’t confine itself to speak only of political armament scandals nor does it say everything, but it also doesn’t stay quiet. It persists in the stance that each interpretation is a matter of perspective and that is probably why it may seem somewhat indefinite, indecisive and incomplete. Nevertheless I consider this to be one of its virtues. The Republic of Slovenia is neither a provocation nor an explicitly delivered critique but a platform for reflection left to the alert and active spectator. For an individual is as important as his attitude, which is the fundament of state, however that state may be.”

Nika Arhar, Delo, 5 May 2016

Photo: Nejc Saje

Photo: Nejc Saje

Photo: Nejc Saje

Photo: Nejc Saje