Slovene National Theatre Maribor

One of three state-owned theatres in Slovenia, the Slovene National Theatre (SNG) Maribor was established in 1919. It is organised into five units: Drama, Opera, Ballet, Symphony orchestra, and the annual theatre festival Borštnik Meeting.

History

Theatre activity in Maribor began in 1785, when the first theatre hall was organised, which mainly presented works by travelling theatre groups. The building was enlarged in 1864 and remained practically the same since then. Until 1919, the building was the home of the German professional drama and opera theatre, when the Dramatic Society, established in 1909, moved to the existing theatre building and formed the first Slovene professional theatre with a permanent drama ensemble. The opening première was Josip Jurčič's Tugomer directed by the first director of SNG Maribor Hinko Nučič. In over 90 years-long history, SNG Maribor presented over 900 premières of dramatic works, over 450 operas, and 100 ballets, the programme was realised by over 700 authors and collaborators.

In 1966, Week of Slovene Theatres festival was organised for the first time and was in 1971 renamed to Borštnik Meeting festival, the central Slovene theatre festival in which all Slovene drama theatres compete for different awards. Each year, the highest award for acting achievement, Borštnik Ring is awarded.

The first ballet staging Možiček took place in 1926, though the first evening-length ballet performance premièred only in 1949, when Leo Delibes' Coppelia was choreographed by Maks Kirbos.

In 1978, 25 years-long renovations of the SNG Maribor building started, which were realised in several stages. In 1994 the Grand Hall was added to the existing building, in 2003 the Old Hall was renovated.

Drama

The programme of the SNG Maribor Drama presents both classical and contemporary dramatic texts, including works by Slovene dramatists (Ivan Cankar, Slavko Grum, A. T. Linhart, Dominik Smole, Tone Partljič, Drago Jančar, Rudi Šeligo) as well as international playwrights. Many original Slovene texts staged at SNG Maribor are national premières. At present the ensemble comprises 27 permanent members. The theatre continually collaborates with established Slovene directors of a younger and middle generation

The stagings of SNG Maribor Drama comprise elements of traditional dramatic theatre with contemporary postdramatic approaches. Although the programme is oriented toward unconventionality and radicality, the majority of selected texts and staging concepts however remain within communicative, popular genres, such as spectacle, comedy, performans art.

The emphasis of the programme for 2009/2010 season of SNG Maribor Drama is placed on the re-examination of the traditions of 20th century historical avant-gardes. The texts selected for the repertoire originate from the periods of symbolism (Maeterlinck's Blue Bird), futurism (the project with the working title Futurism based on texts by Marinetti and his contemporaries), and surrealism (a love comedy with songs Bepop based on Boris Vian's play Head of Medusa and That Obscure Object of Desire based on Luis Bunuel's film of the same title). The programme also includes Patrick Marber's play Closer [Od blizu] and Dominik Smole's Antigone [Antigona], the restaging of which will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first institutional staging of this very important Slovene play.

Opera

The history of the SNG Maribor Opera Company goes back to 1919 when a small company staged mostly operettas. Today it presents a diversified programme featuring its own orchestra and regular appearances by visiting international guest performers, while its productions also go on regular tours (Croatia, Austria, Italy, Luxemburg, Taiwan, etc) - see also SNG Maribor Symphony Orchestra.

Ballet

The SNG Maribor Ballet Company co-operates with the Opera and Drama Companies and produces around two ballet performances per year. The ensemble also hosts many guest dancers and choreographers from other countries, eg Romanians Edward Clug and Valentina Turcu who recently created the performances Tango and Lacrimas with SNG Maribor. The 2004 programme included Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker and Mikis Teodorakis' Zorba the Greek. In 2006 SNG Maribor Ballet Company staged Edward Clug's Radio and Juliet, firstly at the prestigious festival Le temps d'aimer in Biarritz, France, and subsequently in two performances at the Dance Europa festival in Tel Aviv and Haifa, Israel, attracting more than 3,000 spectators. It was then staged at Scala in Helmond, Netherlands and also in Belgium. The title refers to the interplay between the music (it is based on the music of the world-famous British band Radiohead) and movement (Juliet).

In September 2007 the new performances were premiered: The magic Flute, La Callas and The Elf based on Ben Minoli's children's play.

External links

Slovene National Theatre (SNG) Maribor website

Slovene National Theatre Maribor

Contents

History

Drama

Opera

Ballet

See also

External links

Operated by

Financed by