Summer Stage Ruše
Background
Villages in the municipality of Ruše have an extremely rich cultural, historical and political heritage, including decades of cultural tradition on the site of the stone amphitheatre in Ruše. Ruše's cultural tradition on this venue is long and presents the base of the Annual Stage Festival Ruše. Ruše's natural theatre Pod goroj was built below the foothills of Pohorje in 1932. The first performance – Franc Saleški Finžgar's Wild Hunter – was staged in that year, followed by one performance each year which attracted thousands of visitors in this idyllic natural environment. The reputation of these theatre performances reached the entire Slovene territory. The stone amphitheatre has always been a symbol of local connectedness. It was built with the idea of providing Slovenes with infrastructural support for their cultural and national awakening mission, which was threatened because of the then strong germanization. "Here a handful of strong individuals gathered – the theatrical Franjo Sornik, poet Janko Glazer, opera singer Vekoslav Janko – who needed a space for creation. One of the local landowner left them the place, and the townspeople themselves built the stage", describes the creation of the venue Tomi Prosnik, the director of Cezam.
Programme
Events in this boutique natural theatre - its capacity is for 1500 to 1700 visitors, with 700 seating and 800 standing – still provide the most unique experience of nature combined with urban culture.
The very motto of the Summer Stage Festival Ruše is: "Let the streets, halls and the summer stage at the foothills of Pohorje become alive once more!" The Festival – the 19th edition in 2018 – continues with a wide range of cultural events on this theatrical stage, from concerts and other musical performances, workshops, theatre performances, for example street theatre, stand-up evenings or puppet shows, fine arts activities and exhibitions, social events, culinary offerings, dancing and more.
The festival hosts many commercial names that attract wider public, but also events of an alternative culture: for example, the pop singer Tony Cetinski, but also the virtuosos like guitarist Vlatko Stefanovski or saxophonist Vasko Atanasovski, or the United Nations Association Film Festival, which connects the authors of documentary films on the topic of human rights. With respect for tradition, amateur culturists as well as professional artists perform on Ruše's stage. The festival is also taking place at accompanying venues in Ruše, for example at Tržnica Triglav or at the Drava River Boathouse, but its recognisability is built around the atmosphere of the old stone amphitheatre.