Events
Ljubljana Puppet Theatre will be visiting the 11th ASSITEJ Hungary Theatre Biennial for Children and Youth and putting on the play "Tunnel". Supported by Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Budapest.
Three performances of "Things Thing - Reči reči", a children's play about things and ... well, things. Produced by Emanat Institute and coproduced by Ljubljana Puppet Theatre, in collaboration with FELD Theater für junges Publikum Berlin.
Things Thing, a performance by Jan Rozman and Julia Keren Turbahn, produced by Emanat Institute and coproduced by Ljubljana Puppet Theatre. Related to the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Berlin
EU Projects
Transport: Sustainable puppet co-creations for European young audiences
Project summary at CEDConnectUp – The Life of the Others | European Theatres for Young Audience in a Union of Diversity
Project summary at CEDMAPPING - A Map on the aesthetics of performing arts for early years
Project summary at CEDSmall Size Big Citizens - widening of the european network for the diffusion of the performing arts for early years
Project summary at CEDSmall Size – European Network for the Diffusion and Development of the Performing Arts for Early Childhood
Project summary at CEDsee more
Background and notable performances
Established as the City Puppet Theatre, LPT emerged as a follow-up to numerous semi-professional puppet groups organised in the region since the beginning of the 20th century. The theatre fast developed its own mode of expression and soon became the leading puppet theatre in the then Yugoslavia. At first, the performances were based on the marionette technique, but later it also got engaged in the possibilities of hand puppetry. However, from the 1970s onward the theatre has been consistently trying to advance the technological and dramatic possibilities of puppetry, cultivating a captivating mixture of classical contents and experimentation.
Though it initially focused on works by Slovene authors, the theatre's most important early performances were adaptations of foreign works. One such production is the Žogica Marogica (Speckles the Ball), written by the Czech puppeteer Jan Malik, which remains unchanged in the repertoire ever since its première in 1951. Another timeless hit appears to be the Zvezdica zaspanka (Twinkle Sleepyhead), written by Frane Milčinski - Ježek and in the repertoire since 1955. It was followed by the eponymous film, the first Yugoslav colour marionette film, which greatly contributed to its huge success.
Doktor Faust (Doctor Faustus) is based on the motifs from the first Slovene production of the play (1938) by Milan Klemenčič, the founder of Slovene puppetry, after whom the most prominent Slovene award for achievement in puppetry is named (the Klemenčič Award). The slightly refreshed performance still uses puppets from the original staging.
Programme
The repertory programme of the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre is divided into two segments: puppet performances and drama performances, with about twelve premières annually. The programme includes stagings of classical works, performances based on fresh texts by emerging as well as established Slovene authors (Svetlana Makarovič, Boris A. Novak, Anja Štefan and Silvan Omerzu among the more prominent ones), works by international authors as well as original, often multimedia performances. LPT collaborates with Slovene and international directors specialised in puppetry as well as theatre directors and even choreographers.
The theatre cultivates all the main puppetry genres (marionette, hand puppets, Javanese puppets, shadow puppets, mimic puppets) and also develops new ones. It also preserves more than 2000 puppets from past performances. It keeps an important collection relating to the Slovene puppetry heritage – see the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre Museum Collection, now partly incorporated into the Museum of Puppetry.
Besides its regular performances, the theatre runs the Biennial Festival of the Contemporary Puppetry Art LUTKE and co-produces the Golden Stick Festival. Productions of Ljubljana Puppet Theatre are active on international stages and also often awarded. The theatre organises puppetry workshops and generally devotes a lot of attention to various educational activities through which it wishes to advance the art of puppetry. To this end, it systemically collaborates with schools across Slovenia.
The theatre is a member of the International Puppetry Association UNIMA, the first congress of which was held in Ljubljana in 1933, and then repeated in 1992 again (the Lutke festival was initiated on that occasion). It is also a member of ASSITEJ, the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People; Small Size, the international association focused on productions for early years (under six years of age); and is one of the founding members of NEECPA, a network of puppet centres joining primarily the key players from Scandinavia, the Baltic region and Russia.
Venues
- Large hall, 253 seats total.
.jpg)
- Small Hall, 100 seats total.
.jpg)
- Stage Under the Stars, 300 seats total.
.jpg)
- Culturoom, 70 seats total.
.jpg)
- Tunnel
.jpg)
See also
External links
- Ljubljana Puppet Theatre architecture - the history of the building from the Theatre Architecture in Central Europe web database
- Twinkle Sleepyhead, a reconstruction of the 1955 puppetry performance, video
Gallery
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
![Silvan Omerzu's Prepovedane ljubezni [Forbidden Loves]. Produced by Ljubljana Puppet Theatre and Konj Puppet Theatre in 2009.](/en/File:Ljubljana_Puppet_Theatre_GL_Konj_2009_Prepovedane_ljubezni_Photo_Ziga_Koritnik_(3).jpg)
![Queen Parsiphea, who makes love with the divine bull and gives birth to Minotaur: just one of the famous antique motives featured in Prepovedane ljubezni [Forbidden Loves] conceived by Silvan Omerzu, a director and artist. Produced by Ljubljana Puppet Theatre and Konj Puppet Theatre in 2009.](/en/File:Ljubljana_Puppet_Theatre_GL_Konj_2009_Prepovedane_ljubezni_Photo_Ziga_Koritnik_(2).jpg)
.jpg)
![Ti loviš [You Catch] written by Saša Eržen and directed by Silvan Omerzu, who created the puppets and set design, toured internationally. Produced by Ljubljana Puppet Theatre and Konj Puppet Theatre in 2012.](/en/File:Ljubljana_Puppet_Theatre_GL_Konj_2012_Ti_lovis_Photo_Urska_Boljkovac_(3).JPG)
![Ti loviš [You Catch] performance was directed by Silvan Omerzu who created the puppets and set design. Ljubljana Puppet Theatre's ensemble toured with it to Sarajevo, Rijeka, Switzerland, Austria and United Kingdom.](/en/File:Ljubljana_Puppet_Theatre_GL_Konj_2012_Ti_lovis_Photo_Urska_Boljkovac_(2).JPG)
![Ti loviš [You Catch] written by Saša Eržen and directed by Silvan Omerzu, who created the puppets and set design. Produced by Ljubljana Puppet Theatre and Konj Puppet Theatre in 2012.](/en/File:Ljubljana_Puppet_Theatre_GL_Konj_2012_Ti_lovis_Photo_Urska_Boljkovac.JPG)
![Silvan Omerzu's interpretation of Pinocchio [Ostržek], Produced by Ljubljana Puppet Theatre and Konj Puppet Theatre in 2015.](/en/File:Ljubljana_Puppet_Theatre_GL_Konj_2015_Ostrzek_Photo_Miha_Fras_(2).JPG)
![Silvan Omerzu's interpretation of Pinocchio [Ostržek], Produced by Ljubljana Puppet Theatre and Konj Puppet Theatre in 2015.](/en/File:Ljubljana_Puppet_Theatre_GL_Konj_2015_Ostrzek_Photo_Miha_Fras_(3).JPG)
![Silvan Omerzu's interpretation of Pinocchio [Ostržek]. Produced by Ljubljana Puppet Theatre and Konj Puppet Theatre in 2015.](/en/File:Ljubljana_Puppet_Theatre_GL_Konj_2015_Ostrzek_Photo_Miha_Fras.JPG)
![Dane Zajc's play Kralj Matjaž in Alenčica [King Matjaž and Alenčica], staged in 1976 at Jože Pengov Puppet Theatre, Dravlje, Ljubljana. Directed by Helena Šobar - Zajc with puppets designed by Melita Vovk.](/en/File:Museum_of_Puppetry_2015_Kralj_Matjaz_in_Alencica_Photo_Ada_Hamza.jpg)
![Goldfish puppet from Zlata ribica [The Goldfish] performance premièred at the City Puppet Theatre (today's Ljubljana Puppet Theatre) in 1953, directed by Jože Pengov with puppets by Ajša Pengov.](/en/File:Museum_of_Puppetry_2015_Zlata_ribica_-_The_Goldfish_Photo_Ada_Hamza.jpg)
![Žogica marogica puppet from Jan Malík's Žogica Marogica [Spotty the Ball]. The popular performance premièred at the City Puppet Theatre (today's Ljubljana Puppet Theatre) in 1951, directed by Jože Pengov with puppets by Ajša Pengov.](/en/File:Museum_of_Puppetry_2015_Zogica_Marogica_-_Speckles_the_Ball_Photo_Ada_Hamza.jpg)