SOURCE: Large-format manuscript volume (34 x 21 cm), containing 109 numbered pages (sig. AD 181). The back pages are unnumbered and mostly blank. Exceptionally, they are intended for translation corrections or later additions.
HISTORY OF TRANSLATION OF NORA INTO SLOVENIAN
The first Slovenian translator of Ibsen's famous play Crazy (Dollhouse, 1879) was Fran Gestrin. His translation was first performed on March 27, 1892, directed by Ignacij Borštnik, who also played the role of Nora's husband, lawyer Helmer.
Nora was played by Borštnik's wife Zofija. Soon after, they went to Zagreb and continued their creative journey there. The next Ljubljana production of Ibsen's famous play was dedicated to Zofija Borštnik Zvonarjeva: on December 10, 1907, on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of her artistic career, she re-presented herself to the Slovenian audience in the role of Nora. She was also played by Hinko Nučič, Danilo, Avgusta Danilova and Leon Dragutinović, who also directed the production.
Next premiere Crazy was on March 13, 1920. The leading role was again played by Zofija Borštnik, who had left Zagreb and returned to the Ljubljana drama ensemble, almost thirty years after the first performance. Critics were not impressed with her interpretation this time. The actress sparked a public newspaper controversy that ended with her final departure from Ljubljana.
The theatrical scandal overshadowed all other special features of the production. Nora's husband was played by Ivo Gaberščik from Trieste, and Danilo, Rade Pregarc, Nana Wintrova, Angela Rakar and others also performed. A new translation into Slovene, prepared by the writer Miran Jarc (1900 – 1942), was also used as a template for the production for the first time. The translator was – in contrast to the charming Nora – still very young. At the premiere, he was nineteen years old and faced such a demanding task for the first time.
The previous translation, by Fran Gestrin, is only partially preserved. The folder with Jarč's translation also contains the roles in Gestrin's version, but Nora's text is missing. For at least a partial presentation of Gestrin's translation, we have chosen the role of Nora's husband, Torvald Helmer, because it is the most extensive of all the preserved ones. Gestrin's translation was also performed twice in Trieste. In 1909, Crazy directed and played by Avgust Danilov, and in 1919 the drama was staged in Trieste by Emil Kralj.
Jarč's – typed – version of the translation of Helmer's text is also archived in the same folder, so that we can compare the texts of both translators.
The folder with the reference number AD 181 also contains sheet music (tarantula dance), which we can conclude was used in all three Ljubljana performances.
The director Hinko Nučič is listed as the translator of the Maribor production between the two wars, but his translation has not been preserved. The next person to tackle the translation of Ibsen's Crazy, was written by Andrej Hieng, who prepared the text for the post-war Trieste production. The premiere was on July 10, 1952, and the production was directed by Ljudevit Crnobori.
In the sixties, Crazy Translated from Norwegian by Janko Moder. The translation is included with Pillars of society and Fears published in a book collection Condor.
Blue version Crazy It also lived on stage in the following decades. Directed by Dušan Mlakar, it was performed in Gorizia (1979) and Kranj (1992), and it said goodbye with a reading performance at the MGL (2014, directed by Ira Ratej).
Besides Condors the translation was also published in other book editions with large print runs.
For the performance at the SLG in Celje Crazy translated by Darko Čuden in 2016. The text was published as a supplement to the theatre magazine (Gl. list SLG Celje 2016/17, no. 4). The production was directed by Nikola Zavišić.
