THEATRE AS HISTORY - Slovenia and its dilemmas
Borštnikovo srečanje,
18. november 2013
― Slovenia was described recently in a UK newspaper as the EU's 'skeleton in the closet', and as I write the Slovenian government has narrowly avoided a financial bailout, and the prime minister has survived a vote of confidence. So it might be interesting to ask how the cultural field here represents its country's progress or lack of it, given that Slovenia's borders with the West, and Austria in particular, made it a more or less safe EU bet. An excellent place to examine cultural things recently was at the International Theatre Festival in Maribor, Slovenia's second city, and a mixture of mediaeval streets and modern urban development, with touches of Austro-Hungarian architecture dotted around the city. It also has the empty River Drava, empty since industry declined and the wine started moving by road. In the squares and streets many people are out drinking coffee, but a glance behind one or two of those ancient street doors finds buildings in a dire state of decay. The festival