At the age of 94, Jurij Sou\u010dek, one of the last representatives of the so-called critical generation, which under the auspices of Odra 57 (1957\u20131964) thoroughly transformed the image of Slovenian theater and whose mental freshness defines Slovenian theater creators even today, has passed away. Sou\u010dek was already recognized as the bearer of a modern acting style, modern theatrical intent, at a time when the theater medium fully enabled meaningful pointed social subversiveness.<\/p>\n
After the end of Odra 57, he persisted in developing visions that deviated from this image official<\/em> theaters in the sixties. As a full-time employee at Drama SNG in Ljubljana, he was also part of himself, but at the same time he was looking for niches for experimentation outside the institution. He personified an energy that is nominally part of the institution, but is also its less adapted reformer. A kind of continuity can be recognized when Sou\u010dek, as a director and leader (in the years 1965-1970), founded independent theater groups with a variable name: the group 312-860<\/em> in the \u0160entjakob Theater, which in 1966 was the first in Slovenia to stage Ajshilov's play Chained Prometheus<\/em> (translated by K. Gantar), followed by the Side Entrance group and then the Sou\u010dkova group. Involvement in the creative hustle and devoted enthusiasm was complemented by adherence to the French dramatic avant-garde and a sense of the French language. Collaborations with increasingly established artists (Jaki, Lenassi, Spacal, Tisnikar) added their expression. In this sense, Sou\u010dek lived his "edge", but at the same time stood in the center, even as a symbolic sign in the midst of the institution's stereotypes. The original style of Sou\u010dek's game radiated his personality: self-contained, hard to bend, skeptical of routine and tradition. Among the roles in which he put his stamp, we should at least mention his Creon in Smoletova Antigone<\/em> on Oder 57 and in the production half a year later in Drama SNG (1960), Hoederer in Sartre Dirty hands<\/em> (Ad hoc Theatre, 1961), George in the first Slovenian production of Albee Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?<\/em> (Drama SNG Ljubljana, 1964), Cesarja v Architect and Assyrian emperor<\/em> F. Arrabala (Little Drama, 1968).<\/p>\n The importance of Sou\u010dek's acting style was confirmed by the awards of the professional public: Sterijeva (1961), five awards at the Sarajevo MESS festival, in 1994 he received the Bor\u0161tnik prstan, in 2019 the award of the Association of Dramatic Artists. In 2018, he received the Je\u017eko Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2022 became an honorary citizen of Ljubljana.<\/p>\n With his way of playing and specific vocal presence, he also attracted the attention of radio, film and television audiences. He was able to follow the technological changes from the front row, so to speak, and the increasingly "television" time inscribed Sou\u010dek into the subconscious of several generations as the voice behind the cartoons Pippi and Melhiades, he lent his voice to Mi\u0161kolin and Maksips Fik, we remember him from Little Smuka<\/em>, all of which confirm the high sense of television dubbing of cartoon series by professional speakers and acting personalities. Just as Sou\u010dek's play marked the development of Slovenian acting, his voice was indelibly imprinted in the memory of radio and television audiences.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Primo\u017e Jesenko, MA<\/p>\n <\/p>\n