PREMIERE OF THE NEW POST DRAMA PERFORMANCE
AND THE LAST PREMIERE OF THE SEASON 2011/2012.
IN THE SOLITUDE OF THE COTTON FIELDS
Mini teater. Koltès. New dimension of the theater.
Mini teater has in the landscape of Slovenian art set its own house in a moment when esthetics of the eighties after the zenith of the nineties lived with a new generation of directors.
Baroque visual theater, retro avant-garde, post-political theater and formal research on one side and Mini teater as a new, almost extreme frontier that basis on tradition of the European artistic theater from Peter Brook, Ariana Mnouchkina, Giorgio Strehler, Patrice Chéreau, Anatolij Vasiljev and American avant-garde from Living Theater to Ellen Stewart on the other.
Mini teater has from its beginning been carefully selecting its poets, voices of some other reality. Rimbaud, Heiner Müller, Elfriede Jelinek, Melville, Jean Genet, Tomaž Šalamun but firstly and mostly Bernard-Marie Koltès. Considering European tradition that every theater has to have a statue of its author in its foyer, Mini teater became an exclusive Koltès’ home – even in world frames.
Even the auditorium at Križevniška 1 street in Ljubljana carries his name. Mini teater’s director Ivica Buljan is a passionate Koltès’ incinerator even in world frames. Buljan translated him, adjusted his works and became a dramaturge, set on stage the texts The night just before the forests, Return to the desert, La Marche, Recits Morts, Sallinger, Black battles with dogs, Nickel stuff etc.
Over the entire relationship Buljan-Koltès-Mini teater floats the text In the solitude of the cotton fields. Due to friendship with François Koltès, Bernard-Marie’s brother, we were able to in some cases carry out world’s ancient versions of his texts, yet Solitude remains as a black pearl amongst them. The masterpiece of the eighties, stylishly complete work from the end of the last century, the dialogue between the Dealer and the Buyer in an incredibly precise and also refined metaphorical way writes the history of our time, history built upon commerce and libidinal economy. When we don’t exactly now the cause of the deal, what we are trading with, we are not deprived of beauty, passion, sorrow of deprivation and happiness of retraction of a wanted person or thing. Buljan cooperates in Solitude with, as he says himself, his two most important actors - Robert Waltl and Marko Mandić.
Robert Waltl has been since the foundation of the Mini teater performing The night just before the forests – a fragile monologue of a lonely stranger in a rainy night, surrounded by dealers, whores, drunken passer-byes, Arabs. Buljan says that this is Waltl’s emblematic role.
Marko Mandić has later on in Sallinger and after that in its radical version Ma and Al created a character of a war veteran who lost one of his sons at war and the other is vanishing in front of his eyes in unstable acting waters. For Mandić’s brave interpretation this work is unforgettable.
The two actors and the directors will meet in the quest of the mystery “stuff” in the environment of an enormous factory hall in Kidričevo.
Premiere: 21st June 2012 at 9pm in B Hall - Talum Kidričevo.
Replays: 22nd, 23rd, 29th and 30th June 2012 at 9pm in B Hall - Talum Kidričevo.
IN THE SOLITUDE OF THE COTTON FIELDS
Bernard Marie Koltes
Directed by Ivica Buljan
Starring: Marko Mandić and Robert Waltl
Translator Suzana Koncut
Stage design: son:DA
Music: Nenad Sinkauz and Alen Sinkauz
Costumes: Ana Savić Gecan
Dramaturge Diana Koloini
Coproduction: City theatre Ptuj, Mini teater Ljubljana, Novo kazalište Zagreb and Maribor 2012 – European capital of Culture
Location: Talum Kidričevo, B Hall
The performance was created in terms of International European Projects “Puppet Nomad Academy 3” and “Nomads of beauty” co-financed by the European commission, program Culture (2007-2013). This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
