News and responses
OPEN CALL
VN Lab 2026
Applications are open for participation in the performance development laboratory. VN Lab takes place from January to June in the form of six weekend workshops. It is intended for anyone who wants to develop their creative potential and test their performance ideas. Application deadline: 31. 12. 2025
RESPONSES • VN LAB 2025
The necessity of reflecting on (artistic) priorities
The question of how to breathe life into contemporary art after the devaluation of all values in the middle of the 21st century is a valid one, but altruistically putting the performer on their feet will not be enough — the viewer will also have to be re-educated to come to the front line and boldly cross it. Sigledal.org
AWARDS • SLOVENIAN MOUNTAIN TRAIL
Two Golden Lions for Rok Kravanja
Rok Kravanja won the Golden Lion for the performance Slovenian Mountain Trail and the Golden Lion for the best performance of the audience’s choice at the Golden Lion Chamber Theatre Festival in Umag. “Slovenian Mountain Trail is not a classical theatre performance – it is a unique combination of theatre and performance, in which body, space and memory become equal counterparts.” From the jury’s explanation
RESPONSES • A MOMENT WHEN EVERYTHING STOPS
Axis of rotation
“A moment when everything stops invites us to reflect on the increasing pace of existence and, in its final act – the switching off or stopping – asks where it will spin us. The alternating synchronicity and asynchronicity of the performers opens up a reflection on the levers of power that dictate this rotation. Who makes us spin?” Sigledal.org
RESPONSES • THREE QUARTERS OF A HUMAN
Dancing through the end of the world
“Before us is a dancing people, a social order that is constantly breaking apart and putting itself back together again, little by little. And in the imaginary air above them, somewhere high up, there are planes with bombs, approaching relentlessly. And people dance on, unaware.” Radio Študent, Ljubljana
RESPONSES • UNDER CONTROL
And you drop it …
“While juggling with ping-pong balls, a narrative about the controllable and uncontrollable events of life unfolds, while the dramaturgy of the “panchlines” skilfully conveys the dynamics of hope and disappointment, of trying to keep things under control and letting them slip away. It is here that Piletić’s presence, his ability to communicate and to charm the audience are revealed.” Sigledal.org
RESPONSES • METASTASIS OF FREEDOM
The boat no longer floats peacefully
“Gradually and surely, we have felt what the metastases of freedom are, what we have done as a cohesive and fractured community, and what our future holds. Which is to say that Olja Grubić is a master of combining ambiguity, humour, subversive contradictions and idiosyncratic approaches to the deadly serious issues that affect us all.” Dnevnik, Ljubljana
RESPONSES • MANDIĆCIRCUS
The actor as manic fragment and shock therapist
“Mandić cannot be reduced to narcissism. He is an actor who constantly shatters his image in the mirror. A powerful actor. His performance is memorable – it is a performance/announcement, a performance/manifesto, a performance/challenge. A celebration and a “horror” reflection on the acting and the actor.” Novi list, Zagreb
