My grandfather, Lojze Kovačič, wrote Stories from the Beehive Front-Boards in 1993, when I was two years old. He gave one copy to Darja and Darko, my parents. This book, in my opinion, has an unusual energy, a primitiveness, and, in terms of language, its unusualness lies in its vocabulary, which is based on Germanisms and old-fashioned words, and in the fantasy motifs of folklore. The Stories from the Beehive Front-Boards are something special, I think mainly for two reasons. Firstly, because, as the explanatory note for the 1993 Prix Morishiga, which my grandfather won in Japan, put it, 'with its universal symbolism, it opens up glimpses into the primitive world and, at the same time, into the subconscious of European Christian civilisation' (Glušič: 185). In addition to the critical view of Christian morality, there is a departure from the rest of his works in terms of both substance and style, since these are not autobiographical materials, nor are they novelistic literary works, but humorous and educational tales instead. Accordingly, Helga Glušič argues that the short fiction book Stories from the Beehive Front-Boards "surprised all readers and connoisseurs of Kovačič's storytelling" (1993: 185).
The performance tells six stories and is interwoven with musical, poetic and choreographic interludes, which are the original works of the six participating musicians. The elegant sound of the violin, the mysterious crackling of the cone scales, the deep sound of the potted bass, the sound of the electric guitar in an apocalyptic atmosphere... All of this gives Kovačič's stories an additional expressive power in this performance. The shocking and strange stories are concluded in a way that strongly recalls "the paradoxical conclusions of the prose circuits of Jorge Luis Borges and also Franz Kafka, i.e. with completely irrational truths, it reminds us of man's entrapment in the rhizome of the endless repetition of life" (Bratož 1993).
Klasja Kovačič
(based on the book of the same title by L. Kovačič)
Story 1: The Tale of the Two-Headed Son
Petra Govc and Miranda Trnjanin, music by Ljoba Jenče
Story 2: The Story of Joyful Johca
Patra Govc and Miranda Trnjanin, music by Mateja Starič
Story 3: The story of George the weirdo and his fly
Petra Govc and Vita Kobal, music by Vita Kobal
Story 4: The story of the dead Ljudmila
Petra Govc and Miranda Trnjanin, choreography by Mojca Leben
Story 5: The Story of the Giant Glas
Petra Govc and Miranda Trnjanin, music by Boštjan Gombač
Story 6: The story of Jos Maluk, the last woodcutter in paradise
Petra Govc and Miranda Trnjanin, music by Mitja Vrhovnik Smrekar
