The Days of Comedy is the only festival in the country to offer a review of the best comedy from the past season.

The festival dates back to the early 1990s, when the late actor Marjan Bačko thought it would be good to bring the work of other Slovenian theatres nurturing comedy to Celje.

The idea was immediately embraced by the then management of the SLG Celje theatre, which has been organising the festival since 1992.

The festival will open with a special ceremony and Trio (A Trio), a production by the theatre outfit Gledališče Koper, directed by Jaka Ivanc.

It will end on 19 March with an award ceremony and "Staro za novo" (Old for New), a comedy conceived and played by actor Boris Kobal and stand-up comedian Tin Vodopivec.

"Writing comedy is a rather demanding job," says the selector of the festival Tatjana Doma.

"Comedy is a mirror of the times we live in, and given its directness it can also be a rather unpleasant one," says Doma, who is also the SLG's dramaturge.

The eight competing productions are vying for the awards for finest production, director, female comedian and male comedian of the year.

The winners will be selected by a three-strong judging panel, while the audience will select their best show of the festival.

This year, the organisers will also give out the Finest Comedy Pen, which is awarded biannually to a playwright for best new comedy play.

Last year the award ceremony was dominated by Prevare (The Deceits), a production by the MGL from Ljubljana, which won three main awards. The show, based on the Italian Renaissance comedy The Deceived, was also the audience's favourite.

While especially proud of its festival of comedy, the SLG stages all genres as well as Slovenian and foreign, classic and contemporary plays. In 2015, it celebrated its 65th anniversary.

Competing productions:

Trio (A Trio) by Gašper Tič, directed by Jaka Ivanc for the theatre Gledališče Koper

Divjak (Savage) by Erlend Loe, directed by Aleksandar Popovski for SiTi Teater BTC and Kreker

Tartuffe by Moliere, directed by Vito Taufer for the SNG Nova Gorica

Čudežna terapija (Love virtually) by Daniel Glattauer, directed by Tijana Zinajić for the MGL

Demokracija (Democracy) by Joseph Brodsky, directed by Matjaž Zupančič for the SNG Drama Ljubljana

Pašjon (The Passion of Christ) by Iztok Mlakar, directed by Vito Taufer for the SNG Nova Gorica and Gledališče Koper

Nostalgična komedija (Nostalgic Comedy) by Vinko Möderndorfer, directed by Boris Kobal for the SLG Celje

Za vedno mlad (Forever Young) by Erik Gedeon, directed by Sandy Lopičić for the SNG Drama Maribor