Škofja Loka Passion Play is the Winner of the 51st Week of Slovenian Drama

The 51^st Week of Slovenian Drama ended with the award ceremony in Kranj. The grand winner was the production of Škofja Loka Passion Play, directed by Jernej Lorencij and co-produced by the Prešeren Theatre Kranj and the Ptuj City Theatre. The production won the Šeligo Award as chosen by the jury, the Audience Choice Award and the Acting Award, which was awarded for the first time.

"The Škofja Loka Passion Play, in production of the Prešeren Theatre Kranj, translates the historical sediments and the weight of the biblical tradition surrounding the first Slovenian dramatic text into modern, pulsating material that actually transposes the word into flesh. It places the content of the theatrical event in suffering bodies, which perform the canonical story in a unique stage language," the jury of Rok Bozovičar, Diana Koloini and Viktorija Rangelova wrote in their explanation of the award for the best performance of the festival.

The Škofja Loka Passion Play also convinced the audience, who saw eight performances in the competition and accompanying programme, as selected by selector Rok Andres; three of the performances were not staged in Kranj due to production problems.

For the first time, the jury also awarded prizes for the best actor and actress. They were awarded to Doroteja Nadrah and Blaž Setnikar, actors of the Škofja Loka Passion Play. The actress enters the roles of Eva and Maria without verbal apparatus and does not lean on typified images of the victim, but with her physical expressiveness and persistence establishes a striking stage presence, according to the jury. As for Setnikar, they wrote that "like Adam and Christ, he uncompromisingly submits to the torture, while remaining pure in his adolescent naivety within it."

The Special Prize of the Week of Slovenian Drama, which was also bestowed for the first time, was awarded by the jury to the performance The Game, directed by Žiga Divjak and produced by the Mladinsko Theatre and Maska Ljubljana, for the social sensitivity of the production. "The play does not take place in fictional worlds, but is played out by real issues that resonate locally and globally," they wrote in their explanatory statement.

The closing ceremony also saw the presentation of three prizes, the winners of which were announced in April, when the festival would have ended if it had been implemented as usual. The Slavko Grum Prize for the best new play was awarded to Maja Šorli for You Have Never Tasted This Taste Before. The Young Playwright Award went to Nina Kuclar Stiković for Tomorrow Looked Different in My Dreams. The Grün-Filipič Award for achievements in the field of dramaturgy and theatre studies went to Milan Ramšak Marković

The festival was exceptionally held in November whereas the next, 52^nd Week of Slovenian Drama will traditionally start on 27 March, on the World Theatre Day.

You can see the highlights from the closing ceremony here.

Congratulations to the winners!