Theatre Work: Brecht on Slovenian Stages

The exhibition Theatre Work: Brecht on Slovenian Stages offers a concise overview of the profound impact Bertolt Brecht – the great German playwright, poet, prose writer, essayist as well as theoretician, director, and reformer of the theatre – has had on Slovenian theatre. The title of the exhibition is inspired by the celebrated book Theaterarbeit, which documented productions by Brecht’s Berliner Ensemble. Similarly, this exhibition explores Brecht and theatre work, but within the context of the history of Slovenian theatre.

The first encounter between Brecht and Slovenian theatre took place in 1937, when Bojan Stupica staged The Threepenny Opera at SNT Drama Ljubljana, under the title The Beggar’s Opera. Brecht returned to Slovenian stages only some time later, but from the mid-1950s on, he became a regular part of Slovenian theatre repertoires. An average of at least one of his works has been staged per year ever since. In professional theatres, Brecht has been staged most often at SNT Drama Ljubljana and SNT Maribor - Drama, while his works have also regularly featured in the curriculum of the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television.

The exhibition Theatre Work: Brecht on Slovenian Stages was created as part of the broader interdisciplinary project Bertolt Brecht – 70 Years On, conceived by Dr Aldo Milohnić and Dr Jakob Ribič, members of the research group at UL AGRFT. Dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the death of Bertolt Brecht, it involves, besides UL AGRFT, numerous other organizations, including SLOGI, NUK, the journal Amfiteater, Založba /*cf. publishing house, Anton Podbevšek Theatre, the Bertolt Brecht Archive at the Academy of Arts in Berlin, the International Brecht Society, the Goethe-Institut Ljubljana, and Cankarjev dom. It encompasses an international symposium, book editions of new translations of Brecht’s writings, and exhibition events. The opening of the exhibition on October 6 at 6 p.m. at the Slovenian Theatre Institute – Theatre Museum will simultaneously launch the international symposium Speech on the (Dark) Times: Brecht’s Thought Then and Now, which will take place until 9 October in the same venue hosting the exhibition.

The exhibition will be open to visitors until 10 February 2027, when we will commemorate the 129th anniversary of Brecht’s birth.

Exhibition authors: Dr Aldo Milohnić, Dr Jakob Ribič and Ana Perne
Digitisation, graphic and technical design: Andrej Ovsec
Language consultant: Andraž Polončič Ruparčič
English language editor: Jana Renée Wilcoxen
Editing of AV material: David Verlič
Production: Slovenian Theatre Institute; project manager: Ana Perne

The exhibition was created in collaboration with the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television of the University of Ljubljana (UL AGRFT), as part of the research programme Theatre and Interart Studies (P6-0376), which is financially supported by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency.

The exhibition team gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the following in collecting the material: Simona Ješelnik and Miha Grum (Theatre and Film Studies Centre UL AGRFT), Matjaž Berger and Mitja Sočič (Anton Podbevšek Teater), Mojca Kranjc (SNT Drama Ljubljana), Sandra Požun (SNT Maribor), Martina Mrhar (SNT Nova Gorica), Alenka Klabus Vesel (Ljubljana City Theatre), Marinka Poštrak (Prešeren Theatre Kranj), Katarina Saje (Mladinsko Theatre), Rossana Paliaga (Slovene Permanent Theatre in Trieste), Dr Bojan Himmelreich (Historical Archives Celje), Barbara Poček (Glej Theatre), Marjeta Lavrič and Valerija Intihar (En-Knap Productions), Ana Kocjančič, MA, Tea Rogelj, MA, Dr Matic Kocijančič and Katarina Kocijančič (Slovenian Theatre Institute) and Ula Talija Pollak.

SLOGI is funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.

The visual design is based on a photograph of the production Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (music by Kurt Weill, libretto by Bertolt Brecht), directed by Hinko Leskovšek, SNT Opera and Ballet Ljubljana, premiere 15 July 1969. Photo source: SLOGI Iconotheque – Theatre Museum.