Miler - Mladinsko Theatre

A Conversation
with Eduard
Miler
photo Barbara âeferin
miler
THEATRE
AS A HOME
FOR
ARTISTS
During the four years (1991–1995) in which
Eduard Miler was artistic director of the
Mladinsko Theatre, the theatre saw a shift
in emphasis, from political to intimate
themes, and from homogeneity to diversity.
This turbulent period following Slovenia’s
independence was characterized by a new
restlessness, fledging democracy and the
end of dialectic materialism, but also the
shrinking of the cultural area – now reduced
to the 2 million population of Slovenia. Eduard
Miler, born in 1950, graduated in dramatic
arts from the University of Stuttgart. His early
work in the German cultural environment
was followed by several highly acclaimed
productions which he directed for Slovene,
Yugoslav, Austrian and German theatres,
among them Herbert Achternbusch’s Ela,
Heiner Müller’s Quartet, Bertolt Brecht’s A
Respectable Wedding, Enzo Corman’s Credo
and Augusto Boal’s Fist of Copper. During
the 1980s these productions earned him
the reputation as one of the most spirited
researchers of contemporary stage
expression. In the 1990s, this led him to the
journey through theatre works particularly of
German playwrights of the 20th century
(e.g., Frank Wedekind’s Lulu, Magic and
Loss based on Ferdinand Bruckner, Georg
Büchner’s Leonce and Lena, a series of plays
by Müller entitled The Explosion of Memory,
and Bernard-Marie Koltès’s Roberto Zucco).
Our interview with Eduard Miler focuses on
the concept pursued by the Mladinsko
Theatre in the first part of the 1990s,
inevitably touching upon the cultural and
political aspects of theatre management.
217
miler
218
❏ Your contacts with the
Mladinsko Theatre date back to
the period long before you became
its artistic director in 1991. To be
more precise, you were Mira
Erceg’s assistant stage director in
the beginning of the 1980s. How
do you see this period in the life
of the Mladinsko today?
■ You’re right. During the early 1980s,
whenever I found myself in Belgrade or
in Ljubljana, to where I occasionally
returned from performing and directing
at various theatres in Germany, I was
pleased to observe the growth of the
Mladinsko, a theatre that held great
attraction for me. It was particularly
Ljubi‰a Ristiç’s early productions that
made the greatest impact on me, for
example, Missa in a minor, and before
that, Heiner Müller’s Cement, directed
for SNG Drama Ljubljana (which, by
the way, was a very interesting theatre
during the later stages of Bojan ·tih’s
management followed by that of Lado
Kralj). What fascinated me about the
Mladinsko of that time, and about
Ristiç in particular, was not so much
political theatre but rather the bold
aesthetic approaches that were
bursting with ideas and energy.
Du‰an Jovanoviç, who was then
working on Martin Krpan, invited me
to collaborate. Our initial plan was that
I would direct Waechter’s School for
Clowns. Our plan wasn’t realized,
but I assisted Mira Erceg in directing
Medea’s Children.
Then followed a long pause in
my collaboration with the Mladinsko.
I worked for various other theatres
directing plays which at that time were
of interest for me, for example,
Achternbusch’s Ela for the Glej theatre,
Müller’s Quartet and Brecht’s A
Respectable Wedding for SNG Drama,
then plays by German authors from the
1930s (Horváth, Bruckner). I also
worked for other Yugoslav theatres,
and among them, I was most closely
connected with the Croatian National
Theatre in Split. There, Paolo Magelli,
Marina âuturilo and myself functioned
as some sort of artistic council for the
theatre, conceptualizing projects, such
as an international collaboration with
Roberto Ciulli. We were also making
plans to launch a European theatre
Ivan Cankar – Martin Ku‰ej,
Ivo Svetina, Mateja Bizjak
A Scandal According to Cankar (1991)
directed by Martin Ku‰ej
stage design Martin Zehetgruber
costume design Karin Ko‰ak
in the photo Ivan Rupnik, Pavle Ravnohrib, Olga
Kacjan and Janez ·kof
photo Barbara âeferin
219
miler
Herbert Achternbusch
Susn (1993)
directed by Eduard Miler
stage design Meta Hoãevar
costume design Gordana Ga‰perin
in the photo Olga Grad
photo Radomir Sara∂en
na sliki Olga Kacjan
Herbert Achternbusch
Susn (1993)
directed by Eduard Miler
stage design Meta Hoãevar
costume design Gordana Ga‰perin
in the photo Nata‰a Barbara Graãner
photo Radomir Sara∂en
❏ The first production following
Herbert Achternbusch
Susn (1993)
directed by Eduard Miler
stage design Meta Hoãevar
costume design
Gordana Ga‰perin
in the photo Olga Grad
Herbert Achternbusch
Susn (1993)
directed by Eduard Miler
stage design Meta Hoãevar
costume design Gordana Ga‰perin
in the photo Olga Grad
photo Radomir Sara∂en
na sliki Marinka ·tern
foto Radomir Sara∂en
your appointment was A Scandal
According to Cankar (Pohuj‰anje
po Cankarju) directed by the
young Austrian director Martin
Ku‰ej, who at that time was not
yet a European star. Ku‰ej had
assisted you before, so you knew
him well by then.
■ That’s right. As a matter of fact,
Ku‰ej’s production was part of the
programme conceptualized by my
predecessor, but I was very glad that
he had included Ku‰ej, because I knew
photo Radomir Sara∂en him well and respected him for his
other productions (for instance, Ödön
von Horváth’s Faith, Hope and Charity
directed for SNG Drama). Well, this
performance proved to be a baptism of
fire for me given the critical response
that followed and I still feel guilty about
it. And you know why? Because I failed
festival in Split and Hvar. Just before
to keep it going on. Various theatre
critics, and in particular Andrej Inkret,
the outbreak of war and following the
widely acclaimed performance of Baal, who was the leading critic at that time,
I was working on Friedrich Schiller’s
literally tore it to shreds. I still do not
The Robbers for the Yugoslav Drama
know why it elicited such bitter
Theatre in Belgrade. At the outbreak
negative response. Perhaps it had
of the war in Slovenia, I interrupted my something to do with the fact that
preparations and went to Ljubljana
Ku‰ej was a young director from
where I was offered the position of the Austrian Carinthia who dared to say,
artistic director at the Mladinsko, a
without qualms, what he thought about
theatre that was very dear to my heart, Cankar’s plays and Slovenia, although
and was asked to reinvent its
it is also true that we had seen several
programme. Well, you’re familiar
scandalous interpretations of Cankar
with the story of the four years that
even before that; just remember Mile
followed, since you joined the theatre
Korun’s Scandal and Du‰an
soon after my arrival, first as my
Jovanoviç’s The Bondsmen (Hlapci).
assistant and then as a dramaturg.
If the play, such as it was, was
directed by some eminent Slovene
❏ What challenges were awaiting director, or even by Ku‰ej himself but,
say, three years on, when he had
you as the artistic director who
already made a name for himself in the
took up this position virtually in
German cultural environment, it would
the midst of war?
have probably been quite different. But
■ The challenges were diverse.
as it were, Ku‰ej’s experimenting with
I was most fascinated by the peculiar
Cankar caused true aversion. The
structure of the Mladinsko, which,
show was not invited to the Slovene
compared to other Slovene and
theatre festival Bor‰tnikovo sreãanje.
Yugoslav theatres that strictly adhered It indeed appeared at the Spectrum
to repertories and season ticket
festival in Austria (Beljak/Villach),
systems, was the most flexible
and received excellent criticism in the
organism of all and the most expedient Austrian and German media, but in
Slovenia it failed to get off the ground.
The reception of Ku‰ej’s Scandal was
symptomatic of the Slovene cultural
environment and its fate was similar to
that of, say, Janez Pipan’s far reaching
staging of Dominik Smole’s The
Baptism at the Savica (Krst pri Savici)
during Lado Kralj’s management of
SNG Drama. To put it differently, its
fate was similar to that of other
innovative interpretations of Slovene
dramatic works that were ahead of
their time which did not know how,
or did not want, to accept them. When
it comes to the staging of Slovene
classical writers, sensitivity was
(and probably still is) high.
Therefore, what is very important
in this and similar cases is the wider
context, for instance, the awards
received or merely the appearance of a
performance at important international
festivals, and this especially held true
for the Mladinsko during the 1980s
and 1990s. A number of the
Mladinsko’s productions got off the
ground and gained value in the eye of
the Slovene audience only after
appearing at renowned festivals such
as MESS, BITEF, LIFT, Theater der Welt
and so on. Unfortunately, the Slovene
cultural scene is small in size, so it is
frequently not capable of recognizing
the significance of certain essential
productions. Moreover, it lacks a
charismatic personality, such as is,
say, Jovan ]irilov, the director of
Belgrade International Theatre Festival
(BITEF), who would be prepared to
stake their authority on young, still
unknown authors, argue for them and
so wrest them out from the marsh and
secure a place for them within the
consciousness of theatre and culture.
During the early 1990s, when I took
the position of the artistic director at
the Mladinsko, the situation was very
difficult, because we had lost many
important contacts after the
disintegration of Yugoslavia. The
cultural circle had shrunk, so we had
to seek new links and re-establish a
name for our theatre in the new
environment. We were able to do this
with the help of Zagreb’s international
festival of new theatre, Eurokaz, and
its director Gordana Vnuk among
others, but on the other hand, through
our persistence we also sought to
attract new partners, as you yourself
know well. We established links with
the Stadttheater Klagenfurt, its
dramaturg Maja Haderlap and its
manager Dietmar Pflegerl, which
resulted in two co-productions,
Achternbusch’s Susn and Strindberg’s
Miss Julie. To put it differently, on the
one hand, we began to embed the
miler
for artistic production itself. Since
I myself have a tendency towards nonrigidity and innovation, I was pleased
to accept the challenge of carrying on
into the unknown that specific
structure and logic. The concept
I wanted to promote rested on
maximum openness aimed at creating
a sort of home, or platform, for various
artists who would form a creative
nucleus, with the theatre being
in their service, in the best meaning
of that word.
221
photo Îiga Koritnik
▼
miler
222
Ernst Toller
Hinkemann (1999)
directed by Eduard Miler
stage design Marko Japelj
costume design Leo Kula‰
in the photo Janja Majzelj, Dario Varga and Ivan Peternelj
I’ve always been interested in outsiders who can help us pose
questions about ourselves and our civilization. Self-exclusion as a
mode of freedom will probably become the key problem of modern
individuals confronted with increasingly subtle mechanisms of
manipulation in a world that will offer various apparently
attractive possibilities for simulated loneliness. For me, a
representative of the generation born immediately after the
Second World War, directly traumatized by it and exposed to
indoctrinating interpretations of that war, the main issues I
wanted to address were the French Revolution, the avant-garde,
and the eruption of art following the experience of human misery
during the First World War. I am interested in the mechanisms of
an individual’s resistance to civilization through which theatre as
an imaginary medium of freedom becomes established. Humans
feed on the utopian picture of possibilities, faith in the world, the
possibilities for changing the world with the help of theatre, and
this is a picture in which we had trust in the 1970s.
I still maintain deliberately that naïve hope which draws on that
unique state that is created at the moment a theatre show is born.
However, today’s time parameters are quite different; there is no
more eternity and no future, just today, a moment in which we can
dream about a revolution, a mass appearance on the stage, when
time becomes shortened and condensed and utopia becomes
possible. I’ve bid farewell to the period of reality and I increasingly
devote myself to the exclusive theatre meant for a few chosen ones,
no more a theatre for all spectators, or the majority, but for the
spectator who is intuitive and intellectually capable of a direct
experience of theatre. That which has already become possible in
theatre are special modes of presence, of the consciousness of the
audience as individuals, their response to the powerful experience
of powerful moments. I’m still interested in the ethical code,
which is, indeed, a very dangerous ground, but also inevitable and
necessary. For example, Roberto Zucco as a murderer without a
cause, who profoundly challenges the ethical code, unnerves you,
provokes resistance in you, and compels you to break away from
the mechanisms of ideology.
Through a dialogue with actors and other artists, a theatre
project enables us to get familiar with the matter that is essential
to our survival. The fundamental state of today’s artistic moment is
disinterest in the issues of politics, ethics and ideology, and I must
add that I even envy this trait in my younger colleagues. My
explanation for this disinterest is that it’s a symptom of the
transition period: still disoriented and incapable of defining
a political shift, but nevertheless leading to even sharper
confrontations. Today’s world has not yet reached the point at
which it would consider the polis, the basic themes of freedom
inside the world of polis. The Slovene theatre of today pursues
many interesting concepts and there are many new individuals
who will thematize these sets of subjects in the future. I myself
understand theatre art as a dialogue, as a possibility for reflection
and collaboration with people surrounding me. That is the reason
for Baal, Hinkemann, Zucco, Debuisson …
An extract from the article entitled “Eduard Miler on Hinkemann, Theatre and Modernity” that appeared
in the programme for Hinkemann (Mladinsko, 1999)
Mladinsko within the new European
framework, and on the other, we
penetrated “German” theatre stages
and the Austrian media with the
Slovenian language.
It was precisely the need to break
out of the small cultural environment of
Slovenia that contributed to my
decision to entrust one of the first
productions in the new season to
Branko Brezovec from Zagreb.
I especially believed that the most
important thing was to establish the
Mladinsko not as a theatre dominated
by one strong personality, but as a
space where various artists would
meet, that is, artists with strong
personalities but above all bringing
diversity. So Vito Taufer continued with
his work; we also engaged and
employed MatjaÏ Pograjc, because we
saw his Betontanc dance theatre as
bringing a breath of fresh air to the
Slovene theatre world.
❏ During this period the circle of
directors and other collaborators
radically changed. We invited
Damir Zlatar Frey and his show
They are Coming (Prihajajo) and
Emil Hrvatin. Damir Zlatar Frey
later also staged Cankar’s
Beautiful Vida (Lepa Vida). These
were two among several authors
who earned a reputation through
pursuing their characteristic
poetics based on clearly defined
concepts. At the same time, they
could continue the tradition of the
Mladinsko that began with Missa
and was carried on by, say,
Scheherezade, Zenith and Alice in
Wonderland.
■ That’s true. So together we created
the theatre of diversity, a hybrid
theatre that walked along the edge of
what we have in mind when we say
“theatre”. As a director committed to
my own poetics, I sometimes found it
difficult to follow that diversity and
encourage it. However today, and with
hindsight, I can say that I learned a
good lesson. During that time we again
began to collaborate with Dragan
Îivadinov. The Mladinsko hosted his
grand Fifty-year Project 1:1 (19952045). For me, and for the theatre
itself, Îivadinov was a very important
partner in a conversation helping us to
become open to the different. I
recognized that the closest to my
sentiment was the theatre
conceptualized as not belonging to
anyone, empty and waiting to be filled
with the most diverse content. I
dreamed about a theatre centre that
would be a home to the theatre
experiment and would live with it; it
would also include an information
centre where people would come to
socialize and debate. This vision rested
on the concept of the Mladinsko that
had already been realized in part.
However, it could not be realized in its
entirety, and the main obstacle was
the cultural policy of Slovenia that was
(and still is) ossified, unable to
perceive theatre in this open sense,
and non-supportive of these types of
initiatives towards the restructuring of
the theatre enterprise as a whole. But
we did succeed in establishing the
Damir Zlatar Frey
Beautiful Vida (1995)
directed by Damir Zlatar Frey
stage design Andrej StraÏi‰ar
costume design Jerneja Jambrek
in the photo Mojca Partljiã,
Maru‰a Geymayer-Oblak, Vera Per,
Niko Gor‰iã, Ivan Rupnik,
Pavle Ravnohrib, Janez ErÏen, Îeljko Hrs,
Draga Potoãnjak, Jadranka TomaÏiã,
Metka Trdin and Olga Grad
photo Goran Bertok
4
narediti
prehod iz slike
navzgor
▼
miler
224
That “life truly turns all human beings into refugees” was proved
by four Slovene actresses who presented Susn as a woman
frightened by emptiness and powerlessness. Eduard Miler, the
director, again employed a minimalist approach and reduction to
present life liberated from grand and pathetic themes. He captured
the sensibility of the generation lost in the search for its place in
society. He presented with mathematical accuracy the fear born of
the longing for the presence of the other. And that fear, so it seems,
clearly propels the scenes, occasionally worn down by repetition
yet congruous with the feeling of being lost, one experienced not
only by Achternbusch’s characters.
Indifference, despair, fear, domination and powerlessness were
all equally convincingly and with virtually the same prefix
presented by four brilliant actresses, Olga Kacjan, Marinka ·tern,
Olga Grad and Nata‰a Barbara Graãner. The alluring superficiality
of similar shows was substituted with suggestive performance,
with actresses embodying the hopelessness of the chaotic reality
helped by a fictitious writer Ivan Rupnik. Actors Pavle Ravnohrib,
JoÏef Ropo‰a, Niko Gor‰iã, Sandi Pavlin, Janez ·kof and Uro‰
Maãek could be seen wandering around in the distance,
confirming Achternbusch’s notion that, after all is said and done,
this world is a man’s world. / Dubravka Vrgoã, Vjesnik, Zagreb, 24 March 1993
Cosmistic Action – Cupola,
1:10.000.000, Vertical
Tunnel (1995)
directed by Dragan Îivadinov
stage design Vadim Fi‰kin
costume design Breda Kralj
in the photo Marko Mlaãnik
in the air
photo Igor Delorenzo Omahen
belongs to its employees rather than to
everyone. Why was Pandur, for
example, so successful in promoting
his poetics in the SNG Drama in
Maribor? Because, among other
things, he managed to establish a
photo Marko Klinc strong artistic team and unite the
theatre around his artistic project while
at the same time attracting others to it.
a novelty then, and it still is today, Of course, this was possible also
because of the deep crisis in which the
and as such it was difficult to
Maribor theatre found itself. For nearly
realize. The obstacles were both
a decade, it had been a ruin which
internal and external. When an
Pandur revitalized into a new home for
apparent, exterior monolithic
foundations for the further
artists and theatre.
structure was eliminated and a
development of the Mladinsko
However, the fact is that even
new syntagm describing the
organism towards a diverse and wide
today, a few years after joining the EU,
1990s, the hegemony of
offer.
we have not yet created the right
heterogeneity, was established
This brings us to the topic to which I and gained currency in theory, the conditions for the institutional boom of
persistently return and which I confront critics objected about its alleged
contemporary theatre art. So it is a
through my practical work. It is the
miracle that we nevertheless have
dispersion.
question of non-propulsive and ossified
extraordinarily creative artists, given
theatre politics that insists on the
■ That’s true. At that time the fate of
that even the basic conditions for their
status quo. Our openness and
the Mladinsko was shared by all
work to flourish are missing. We are
elusiveness sometimes provoked
Slovene theatre institutions that could not prepared to lend them theatre
objections, since the Mladinsko no
not be modernized because of the firm premises for some time and enable
longer pursued a distinct and clear
adherence to the policy of continuity
them to create freely. Many still
definition or doctrine.
and permanent employment of theatre understand theatre as private property,
artists and other theatre staff. The
but this property should be taken away
❏ The concept of theatre as an
result was the understanding of a
from those who think that they own it.
artistic and production centre was theatre as a private institution, one that Well, the Mladinsko has always been
Sigmund Freud
Die Traumdeutung, 1900 (2000)
directed by MatjaÏ Berger
stage design Vadim Fi‰kin
costume design Alan Hranitelj
in the photo Sandi Pavlin and Jadranka
TomaÏiã
August Strindberg
Miss Julie (1994)
directed by Eduard Miler
stage design Meta Hoãevar
costume design Alan Hranitelj
in the photo Nata‰a Barbara Graãner, Maru‰a
Geymayer-Oblak and Pavle Ravnohrib
photo Barbara âeferin
Poster and programme for the performance
Miss Julie (1994)
Designed by MatjaÏ Vipotnik
Georg Büchner
Leonce and Lena (1995)
directed by Eduard Miler
stage design by Meta Hoãevar
costume design Alan Hranitelj
in the photo Marinka ·tern and
Maru‰a Oblak
photo Barbara âeferin
5 Here we have, first, a
valuable and important
dramatic text by Georg
Büchner, then splendid and
inventive directing by Eduard
Miler, all coupled with
fantastic acting […] on an
extremely suggestive stage
designed by Meta Hoãevar,
plate-smooth, glassy-cool, with
protruding pillars, black-andwhite and slanting, in blackand-silver costumes by Alan
Hranitelj, with surprisingly
fresh choreography by Ann
Papoulis, and penetrating
music by Boris Kovaã …
All that fused into a complete,
condensed, frostily radiant
stage event […]
The combination of stylized
movement and speech, on the
one hand, and realistic cores
serving as the points of
departure on the other, created
a remarkable flow of events
brimming with glittering
situations and even more
glittering curves, unexpected
developments or leaps into
different perspectives, when
all that is essential and
important was brilliantly told
in an hour or so of the
admirable stage performance
[…]
All this is obviously more than
a sufficient argument for our
conclusion that Leonce and
Lena, at the Mladinsko, is a
superb theatre event, and on
all levels.
Lojze Smasek, Veãer, 14 November 1995
Georg Büchner
Leonce and Lena (1995)
directed by Eduard Miler
stage design Meta Hoãevar
costume design Alan Hranitelj
in the photo Ivan Rupnik and Ivan Godniã
photo Barbara âeferin
special, among other things because it
allows the shows to be staged in, say,
the National and University Library, in
the Postojna Cave, or at a horse riding
school. That is one of its qualities not
supported by cultural policies. Even so,
I am convinced that more theatres like
the Mladinsko should exist in Slovenia.
❏ It is interesting that in the wider
Heiner Müller
The Mission (1998)
directed by Eduard Miler
stage design Marko Japelj
costume design Leo Kula‰
in the photo Ivan Rupnik,
Janez ·kof
photo Îiga Koritnik
environment – that is, abroad –
the Mladinsko has been perceived
as a kind of a liberated territory
reserved for art; it is referred to in
this sense and quoted as a model.
This practice culminated within
the Italian theatrical circles which
at the Mittelfest festival in
âedad/Cividale presented the
Mladinsko as an organizational
and artistic model for other
theatres. But in Slovenia, it is still
perceived as marginal and by no
means as a model.
■ Yes, that is a symptom that has
been with the Mladinsko ever since its
beginning.
❏ To shift away now from the
macro conditions and focus on
more intimate issues internal to
the theatre, I find it necessary to
mention that you introduced some
new, different accents that
particularly touched upon the art
of acting and the transfer of
interest from, say, macro-politics
to micro-psychology.
■ Yes, it happened like this. In order
to enable the further development of
the ensemble, I assumed the role of,
let’s call it, the in-house director, or
someone who takes care of the
development of individuals within the
ensemble. So I set about female
projects bringing together the topics
related to women’s status in
contemporary society and the acting
potential of the female part of the
ensemble which remained neglected in
a way owing to the logic of dramatic
works where male roles predominate.
We attempted to set up a system
without stars but resting on
individualized roles that enable precise
Heiner Müller
The Mission (1998)
directed by Eduard Miler
stage design Marko Japelj
costume design Leo Kula‰
in the photo Janez ·kof and Dario Varga
photo Îiga Koritnik
miler
228
Sarah Kane
Phaedra’s Love (2001)
directed by Eduard Miler
stage design Marko Japelj
costume design Leo Kula‰
in the photo Nata‰a Matja‰ec and
Damjana âerne
photo Îiga Koritnik
5 Sensual expressiveness of The Mission
That which most fascinates the spectator of this show is water.
Also everything else that is captivating about this show, and there
are quite some fascinating elements, is related to the experiencerich and associative phenomenon of water; everything that
happens and everyone that becomes involved in the events is
inevitably marked by water, endowed with it or threatened by it.
Since this text – utilizing documentary fragments, witnesses’
accounts, meditative insertions and highly poetic bits – speaks
about the revolution and chaos into which it plunges the human
soul, about the erotic elation it may stir and metaphysical
tendencies that dissolve into powerlessness, nostalgia and despair
which the power of the artistic distance could occasionally even
turn into cynicism if only it succeeded in not openly appearing like
hopelessness. The director Eduard Miler chose the superbly
suitable central metaphor for The Mission – “Death is a mask of
revolution, revolution is a mask of death.” It is the expressive
metaphor of water, the breather and the destroyer of life. The “live
foundation” provided by slick and all-inundating water helped him
to turn this fragile and fragmentary text, mainly a monologue, into
a dramatic one, with the actors in this saturated representation of
the “stories” about the revolution and revolutionaries
surrendering to it in a sensually expressive and dynamic manner.
All this fuses into a single “story”, an utterly convincing one.
The performance contains quite a number of superb scenes and
acting achievements. An unforgettable scene is the extremely
intense, stylized representation of the claustrophobic
“metamorphosis” of Ivan Peternelj. At the other end of the
spectrum is an exquisitely grotesque depiction of parodied
revolutionaries, the executors of Robespierre and Danton, played
by Janez ·kof and Dario Varga in this classic buffoonery. Three
excellent prototypes: the traitor, played by Ivan Rupnik, who
moves from the revolutionary fervour that pulverizes him from
within to the state of being lethally wounded; the faithful,
completely committed Dario Varga; a black man, played by Janez
·kof, marked by his slave’s fate and doomed to resist for ever.
Thanks to the inexhaustible “wateriness” of water, the actors’
consistent but “distanced” surrender, and last but not least, the
accurately expressive costumes (L. Kula‰), Miler’s The Mission has
probably become the paradigmatic realization of Müller’s
Brechtian-Artaudian dramaturgy.
Veno Taufer, Razgledi, 10 June 1998
acting. So I directed Achternbusch’s
Susn featuring a female quartet, and
then Miss Julie and Leonce and Lena.
Of course, the important thing was that
we worked not only on productions
that placed emphasis on acting but we
simultaneously produced shows that
were expressly conceptual. In this
way, actors and actresses could
preserve that strong sense for the
collective and at the same time
develop into independent, full-bloodied
and fully-fledged interpreters of
demanding psychological roles as well
as post-Brechtian commentaries.
As you mentioned before this
interview, I myself, along with my
fellow directors, ventured onto the
investigation of the interplay of the
political and the intimate, which
exacted staging strategies that were
different from those employed during
the 1980s’ period of so-called political
and experimental theatre. In so doing,
we invariably took advantage of the
ensemble’s sensibility. So later, when
you were the artistic director of the
theatre, I returned to the political
themes and the authors who I always
admired but pushed aside during the
first half of the 1990s. For example,
Heiner Müller (The Mission – Memory
of a Revolution) and Ernst Toller
(Hinkemann), while I was also coming
to grips with the fascinating dramatics
of Sarah Kane (Phaedra’s Love, 4.48
Psychosis). So I returned to the
obsession of the century, so to say, the
explosion of memory that
simultaneously represents the settling
of accounts with the past and with the
present. Well, this takes us almost to
the present time, about which we will
probably talk on some other occasion.
The interview with Eduard Miler was
conducted by TomaÏ Topori‰iã.