Series of lectures and talks SLOGI and Drama
Gašper Troha: What did we want from Shakespeare?
William Shakespeare: Whatever you want or Twelfth Night on Slovenian stages
Shakespeare's probably best comedy is titled Whatever you wantHe wrote it at the height of his career, in 1600, at the same time as Hamlet and just before his most famous dramas, which include Othello, King Lear and Macbeth. Whatever you want was first performed at the court of Queen Elizabeth I on the eve of 6 January (the feast of the Three Kings) 1601, when the queen hosted the Italian nobleman Virginia Orsino. It is recorded that both enjoyed themselves and that Orsino was allowed to keep his headgear on, even though he was in the company of the queen.
To avoid the title being offensive to first-time visitors, Shakespeare changed it to Twelfth Night, after the date of the first performance, which was on the Twelfth Night after Christmas. The comedy was therefore clearly written to order, but at the same time we can also detect Shakespeare's ironic jab at his own audience, since none of the titles have anything to do with the content of the comedy. As if to suggest that he was adapting to the taste of the era or perhaps the general taste of all times.
And this comedy is full of everything. An adventure with a shipwreck and the miraculous rescue of twins (Viola and Sebastian), numerous substitutions and disguises (Viola disguises herself as a man, they switch twins), passionate loves and love triangles (Olivia loves Cesario, Orsino loves Olivia, Viola loves Orsino...) and ultimately a happy ending with three weddings. And then there's the entertaining Fool, who is of course also a philosopher, reasoner and poet.
The comedy was very successful at its first performance, and the same fate has followed it in its productions in Slovenia. It was first performed in 1923 (National Theatre in Ljubljana, directed by Osip Šest) shortly after it was translated into Slovenian by Oton Župančič. To date, it has been performed 15 times, of which 5 times at the SNG Maribor, 3 times at the SNG Drama Ljubljana, 2 times at the SSG Trieste, 2 times at the SLG Celje, and once each at the Prešeren Theatre in Kranj, the Ljubljana City Theatre, and the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television.
Lecture Gasper Troha, director of the Slovenian Theatre Institute, will walk through Slovenian productions and try to show what the Slovenian audience wanted from Shakespeare. When were the productions successful and why? Does Shakespeare's text always adapt to new productions and social contexts? Is it a kind of chameleon of appeal, which does not forget to tickle its own audience?
Free entry! Free tickets are available at the Drama box office (weekdays from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Saturdays from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., one hour before the performance or other event).
You are cordially invited!
Archive recording of the lecture
From the media (in Slovenian)
Why do we love Shakespeare?, Cultures, II. program of Radio Slovenia – Wave 202, December 18, 2023
In the series of lectures and talks SLOGI and Drama the colleagues of the Slovenian Theater Institute (SLOGI) put the current performances of SNG Drama Ljubljana in a wider historical, artistic and social context before the premieres in the 2023/24 season. The events offer an exclusive insight into the collections of the SLOGI - Theater Museum and encourage the audience to think about the themes and questions raised by the selected dramatic works, their critical reception and staging history even before viewing individual performances.
