The Prešeren Theatre Kranj Presents the Programme of the 56th Week of Slovenian Drama

Prešeren Theatre Kranj has already begun preparations for the 56th Week of Slovenian Drama, which, as tradition dictates, will open on World Theatre Day, 27 March.

At today’s press conference, Prešeren Theatre Kranj managing director Rok Bozovičar, festival programme selector Zala Dobovšek and assistant to the director Nika Leskovšek introduced the programme of the 56th Week of Slovenian Drama, the central festival for productions based on Slovenian drama texts which the Prešeren Theatre Kranj organises with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the City of Kranj.

"The 56th Week of Slovenian Drama will bring a selection of the best and most artistically incisive theatre productions of the past year and many accompanying events. With its focus on outstanding drama creativity, the festival’s 56th edition will be another celebration of Slovenian drama," said Bozovičar.

Theatre scholar and assistant professor at the Department of Dramaturgy and Performing Arts at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television of the University of Ljubljana (UL AGRFT), Zala Dobovšek, served as the selector for this year’s festival. Throughout the last year, she saw 64 productions based on Slovenian drama scripts that premièred in 2025, produced by both institutional theatres and by independent producers, in Slovenia and abroad.

After a year of closely following the latest theatre productions, Dobovšek estimates in her report that "a detailed (comparative) analysis of these events reveals plenty, perhaps even everything. These aren’t just artistic projects, they are always aesthetic manifestations of actual, existing, but often still invisible and unarticulated tensions, inequalities and complacency that leave their mark on our performing scene (and, of course, on our society at large). In terms of programming and concepts, 2025 demonstrated exceptional engagement and activism, with a lot of responsibility, sensitivity and boldness in research and experimentation."

Dobovšek included seven productions in the Competition Programme and five productions in the Accompanying Programme.

As she describes in her report, "Of the 64 productions, 53 were conceived using the principles of devised theatre. They were based on carefully selected documentary materials, texts created during the process, textual materials, and hybrids of original dramas and their reinterpretations. Undoubtedly, the selected documentary theatre productions not only thematise but also critically and courageously open the sensitive spots of our lives: they are principled in their unveiling of the deliberately overlooked aspects of history, they dig into the dehumanisation of the local positions of power, and without reservations speak about war as a sick perversion that unfolds in front of our eyes. These are the productions that are primarily marked by responsibility in the noblest sense of the word: responsibility to the world materialised through the responsibility of art towards society, when the majority ‘uses’ its power to speak about minorities, when it ‘uses’ public space for the stories that were pushed out of this space. These are productions that don’t flee from (collective or individual) discomfort because this discomfort is the only way to move forward and outward."

Competition Programme

(listed by the date of the production’s première)

Katarina Morano: Why We Got Divorced, directed by Žiga Divjak, produced by the Ljubljana City Theatre, première 16 January 2025

Devised theatre project: 1973, directed by Tomi Janežič, produced by the Slovene National Theatre Nova Gorica and GO! 2025 – European Capital of Culture, Nova Gorica, première 1 February 2025

Devised theatre project: Incubator, directed by Oliver Frljić, produced by the Mladinsko Theatre, première 16 May 2025

Devised theatre project: Article 55, directed by Tjaša Črnigoj, produced by the Mladinsko Theatre, première 24 May 2025

Devised theatre project: Anhovo, directed by Žiga Divjak, produced by the Slovene National Theatre Nova Gorica, première 28 May 2025

Tereza Gregorič, Borut Petrović, Jakob Šfiligoj: It Was All Possible, directed by Tereza Gregorič, produced by the Slovene National Theatre Nova Gorica, Scaramouche Institute and GO! 2025 – European Capital of Culture, Nova Gorica, première 25 September 2025

Barbara Kukovec, Katarina Stegnar, Urška Brodar: The Art of Living: The Act of Killing, produced by the Mladinsko Theatre, Rizoma Institute and City of Women, première 10 October 2025

Accompanying Programme

Devised theatre project: Boško and Admira, directed by Živa Bizovičar, produced by the Mladinsko Theatre, première 31 January 2025

Devised theatre project: OIL, directed by Jan Krmelj, produced by Mini teater Ljubljana, première 28 February 2025

Lučka Neža Peterlin: Now, Suddenly, I Was a Creature of Vice, produced by Maska Institute, première 25 April 2025

Tjaša Mislej: Mama Is the First Word, directed by Brina Klampfer Merčnik, produced by the Slovenian National Theatre Drama Ljubljana, première 10 October 2025

Ivan Cankar, Varja Hrvatin, Bor Ravbar: And Many Others ..., directed by Bor Ravbar, produced by the Prešeren Theatre Kranj and Celje City Theatre, première 12 November 2025

Nika Leskovšek presented highlights from the remaining festival activities, explaining that "Rounding out the core productions of the 56th Week of Slovenian Drama, the Additional Programme – prepared with the festival’s many partners – offers reflection on current developments in Slovenian drama and theatre, alongside cross-disciplinary events beyond the theatre stage."

The festival also provides an opportunity to strengthen ties with partner organisations and professional associations. The team is preparing a series of round tables in collaboration with the Association of Theatre Critics and Researchers of Slovenia (DGKTS), the Playwrights’ Unit of the Slovenian Association of Dramatic Artists (ZDUS/SADA), the Slovenian Centre of the ITI and the Oder Cultural Institute. Together with the UL AGRFT and the Slovenian Theatre Institute (SLOGI), the festival will extend the Day of the Nominees to two days. The students of UL AGRFT will also present their 10-minute dramas. Audiences will also get to experience a new radio drama, produced in collaboration with Radio Slovenia – Program Ars.

The Slovenian government has declared 2026 the Year of Zofka Kveder, and the Young Playwrights Award has been renamed in her honour. The 56th Week of Slovenian Drama will mark the occasion with readings of her short plays and a round table dedicated to her.

The Additional Programme, which also includes debates, a film programme and a concert, will be presented in more detail at the next press conference leading up to the 56th Week of Slovenian Drama. The festival opens with the première of The Text of the Body, the 2023 Slavko Grum Award-winning work by Anja Novak – Anjuta, directed by Tjaša Črnigoj.

This year’s expert jury for the Slavko Grum Award and the Zofka Kveder Award (previously the Young Playwrights Award) consists of dramaturg, educator and winner of the 2021 Slavko Grum Award, Dr. Maja Šorli (president of the jury), theatre and literary critic, editor, journalist and the recipient of the Vladimir Kralj Award, Petra Vidali, and dramaturg at the HNK Zagreb, internationally acclaimed and translated author and recipient of several Marin Držić Awards for the best drama text, Dino Pešut. The two competition calls received 52 entries, 39 for the Grum Award and 13 for the Zofka Kveder Award. The jury is already busy reading the entries. The nominees for both awards will be revealed in mid-February, and the winners will be announced at the closing ceremony of the 56th Week of Slovenian Drama.

At the close of the press conference, Prešeren Theatre Kranj managing director Rok Bozovičar thanked selector Zala Dobovšek for her work and confirmed that she will also serve as the selector for the 57th Week of Slovenian Drama. The new selection period runs from 1 January to 31 December 2026.