The new production is much more intimist and goes much more in-depth, the director has said before the opening night at SNG Drama Ljubljana tonight.

He has cut down on the number of characters and focused on the love triangle. He cast Polona Juh once again in the leading role, while changing the actors portraying her husband and lover.

Matjaž Tribušon features as Alexei Alexandrovich Karenin in place of Igor Samobor from the first production, while Klemen Janežič will now play Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky instead of Jurij Zrnec.

The changes bring new sensibility, new intimate understandings and new ideas, Jovanović says, adding that Juh has created one of her crown roles with Anna Karenina.

Being an epic writer, Leo Tolstoy is not easy to dramatise, dramaturge Darja Dominkuš said. Jovanović's new adaptation focuses on the protagonists' internal dramas; the words are Tolstoy's but sound modern.

Juh created her role anew by trying to erase her first interpretation. The first production was emotionally hermetic, but now there is "much more flesh" when it comes to love and Anna's self-destructiveness.

The first production sought to bring on stage the atmosphere of 19th century Russia. This time around, the play is set in the 1950s featuring black and white costumes.