11. Madách International Theatre Meeting

Arguably the most famous love story of all time, Shakespeare’s 1593 tragedy Romeo and Juliet, is also one of most frequently staged tragedies of the esteemed “bard” of the English theatre, although it has been so far staged only twice at the Maribor Drama – for the first time in 1929 and the second time in 1951. After nearly 70 years of absence, the Maribor Drama artistic director Aleksandar Popovski decided to return this world-renowned play on Maribor stage with the following commentary: “I must say, I find the story of a girl, who decides to defy death only to be found again in the embrace of love, quite fascinating. Thus, it was crucial to re-enact the story through her eyes. /…/ 

The dramaturg and co-author of the adaptation, Nina Kuclar Stiković, pointed out the following in her analysis No Harvest for me, or the Diary of Juliet Capulet: “This is essentially the main conflict: the Capulets and Montagues are fighting, there is a clash between hatred and love, yet above all, there is a great dissonance between human nature and expectations of society. Between instinct and the norm. The very instinct is leading both parties into the conflict, which might also reflect the lack of reasoning, why the families actually hate each other. Moreover, the same as one cannot, in spite of phantasms, fully justify the “love at first sight” phenomenon, there might be impossible to justify hatred.”