Theatre show re-enacts events still dividing Slovenia today
A co-production of the SMG theatre and Zavod Maska, Republic of Slovenia draws on publicly accessible documents to shed light on some of the post-independence events that keep stirring controversy today.
The three-part show opens with a real person, a retired counter-intelligence agent telling the audience how he was tasked by the Defence Ministry to take 17 million Deutsch marks out of a closet and pack them.
Part two is a reconstruction of a 1993 session hosted by the then President Milan Kučan and featuring PM Janez Drnovšek, Defence Minister Janez Janša, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, Interior Minister Igor Bavčar and Speaker Herman Rigelnik.
The six officials discuss developments in the country, including an arms transit through the country. They agree Slovenia will stop arms trade and tell the public it has never been involved in it.
The part is a truthful re-enactment of the verbatim records of the 1993 session which were declassified in 2011, and refrains from any interpretation.
While the first two parts of the show will be put on at the SMG theatre, the third part will be held at the nearby glass hall of the Ljubljana fairgrounds.
The more spectacular, parody-like part of the show will see a combination of interpretations of a 1994 intelligence scandal which led to Janša's dismissal.
The incident, known as the Depala vas affair, saw four defence ministry operatives arrest an undercover police operative. The incident and Janša's subsequent dismissal deepened the political rift in Slovenia.
Speaking to reporters a week ahead of the premiere, SMG director Tibor Mihelič Syed noted that legal responsibility for the incident had never been defined as the case became statute barred.
He said that the show was not politically committed, but merely focused on events that kept fuelling various interpretations and kept dividing the nation to this day.
Arguing that their names are not important in the context of the show, the authors and performers have decided to remain anonymous. An important contribution has come from investigative journalists.
Mihelič Syed said the production was a result of collaboration between investigative journalism and art, something that appears to be a global trend today considering the winner of this year's Academy Award for best original screenplay.