Most of the first issue of Year 11 Amphitheater present discussions prepared on the basis of contributions at the Amphitheater Symposium on the topic "Theatrical experiment in Slovenia (1966-1986) and its echoes" held in autumn 2022 at the Slovenian Theater Institute (SLOGI) in Ljubljana.
The idea of the theme of the symposium arose when the proceedings were published Generator:: to produce any number of drama complexes (UL AGRFT and SLOGI, 2022), in which the editor Blaž Lukan collected almost 60 Slovenian experimental dramatic and performance texts from the period of modernism (1966–1986) by more than 30 Slovenian authors. The anthology offered a starting point both for reexamination and new research into the lesser-known works of playwrights of that period, as well as for a (re)consideration of Slovenian performance practices of the 1960s and 1970s. At the same time, he drew attention to the largely overlooked fact of the influence that the theater and drama experiment had on the further development of drama writing and staging in our country up to the present day, and last but not least, it made it possible to compare this development with what was happening elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia and in the Western world.
This number Amphitheater thus brings eight original discussions: all of them are published in Slovenian and English (translated by Jaka Andrej Vojevec). The authors of the articles are: Branislav Jakovljević, Tomaž Toporišič, Gašper Troha, Barbara Orel, Varja Hrvatin, Maša Radi Buh and Jakob Ribič, Krištof Jacek Kozak, Gregor Pompe and Nika Leskovšek. The issue concludes with a review by Tajda Lipicer, who discusses Comedy Essays Jure Gantar (MGL, 2022).
Several articles deal with performance writing, new forms of which appeared in the 1960s and 1970s. Although they did not eliminate traditional dramatic forms, they radically changed the role of textuality in the theater. The authors of the treatises thus explore various relationships between writing and performance, between dramatic and (experimental) performance practices, as a rule in the Slovenian context. Special attention is given to reading performances, as well as some specific and lesser-known aspects.
In this way, Branislav Jakovljević shows the difference between mass performances, such as took place in Belgrade every May 25 on Youth Day, and similar performances that had subversive and aesthetic potential. In the end, this very difference, which is actually the difference between art and bare reproduction or by randomly combining elements, Jakovljević uses it to reflect on the potential of modern artificial intelligence, which is becoming extremely relevant with ChatGPT.
Tomaž Toporišič and Gašper Troha write about the question of dramatic text and theatrical event, generally in the context of Slovenian drama and (experimental) staging practices. The first deals with the deconstruction of the dramatic in selected authors from the 1960s to the present, who invent new forms of redramatization and post-dramatic intermedia interweaving. The second, on the other hand, points to the close connection between contemporary dramatic writing and the tradition of modernism, which today is based on different starting points. If modernism tried to arrive at automatic writing and truth through chance and event, today's female authors try to create a stronger sense of authenticity and emotional impact through processes of combination and manipulation of the viewer.
Several authors of the discussion tackle the theoretical placement of reading performances - both with regard to Slovenian neo-avant-garde practices (Barbara Orel) and with regard to the contemporary position of reading performances (Varja Hrvatin, Maša Radi Buh and Jakob Ribič).
Specific and lesser-known aspects are also discussed:
Krištof Jacek Kozak shakes up Taras Kermauner's forgotten dramatization, in which Kermauner's view of modernist poetry, especially Šalamun's, is interesting.
Gregor Pompe analyzes the rich musical theater oeuvre of Darijan Božič, who introduced the then most current modernist procedures, such as those explored in the USA by John Cage; however, the Slovenian theater and music scene remained extremely suspicious of opera, which is why Božič is always looking for suitable genre labels for his works.
Nika Leskovšek deals with the representation of women or by their absence in the proceedings Generator, which perhaps indicates the patriarchal nature of what happened at the time, which otherwise took place during student unrest and demands for complete individual freedom.
The issue was edited by the magazine's new chief and responsible editor, Maja Murnik.
Theatrical experiment in Slovenia (1966–1986) and its echoes
Branislav Jakovljević
Performance font: on, around, and off the page
Performance Writing: On, Around and Off the Page
Tomaž Toporišič
Gašper Troha
Contemporary drama and the question of the heritage of the neo-avant-garde of the 1960s and 1970s
Contemporary Drama and the Question of the Neo-avant-garde Legacy of the 1960s and 1970s
Barbara Orel
Performance of literature and reading performances
Performing Literature and Staged Readings
Varja Hrvatin, Maša Radi Buh, Jakob Ribič
GENERATOR:: for any number of read enactments
THE GENERATOR:: for Any Number of Staged Readings
Kristof Jacek Kozak
A Disputation on the Five Paradoxes of "Toilet Poetry" with Prologue and Epilogue
Disputation on the Five Paradoxes of "Toilet Poetry" with a Prologue and an Epilogue
Gregor Pompe
Nika Leskovšek
Review
Tajda Lipitzer
A layered charge of comedy (Jure Gantar: Comedy Essays)
Editor-in-Chief: dr. Maja Murnik (Institute for New Media)
Editorial Board: dr. Zala Dobovšek (University of Ljubljana), M.Sc. Primož Jesenko (Slovenian Theater Institute), dr. Matic Kocijančič (Slovenian Theater Institute), prof. dr. Bojana Kunst (Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, DE), assistant professor dr. Blaž Lukan (University of Ljubljana), Assoc. prof. dr. Aldo Milohnić (University of Ljubljana), Ph.D. Gašper Troha (SLOGI), editor. prof. dr. Barbara Orel (University of Ljubljana), editor. prof. dr. Mateja Pezdirc Bartol (University of Ljubljana), Ph.D. Maja Šorli (University of Ljubljana), Ed. prof. dr. Tomaž Toporišič (University of Ljubljana)
International Editorial Board: Mark Amerika, MFA (University of Colorado, US), Marin Blažević, PhD, Assoc. Prof. (Sveučilište u Zagrebu, HR), Ramsay Burt, PhD (De Montfort University, GB), Joshua Edelman, PhD (Manchester Metropolitan University, GB), Jure Gantar, PhD (Dalhousie University, CA), Anna Maria Monteverdi, PhD (Università degli Studi di Milano, IT), Janelle Reinelt, PhD (The University of Warwick, GB), Anneli Saro, PhD (Tartu Űlikool, EE), Miško Šuvaković, PhD, Prof. (Univerzitet Singidunum, RS), Stephen Elliot Wilmer, Prof. (Trinity College Dublin, IE)
Co-Publisher: Slovenian Theater Institute, (for him Gašper Troha, director) and University of Ljubljana, Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (for him Tomaž Gubenšek, dean)
