1974

The actors of the Mladinsko Theatre are hugely talented, which they have proven in many other productions. In this performance however, they really had the opportunity to showcase their skills. The play’s structure – each character’s story is told one after another, allows every actor to create their own monologue. Following the conventions of epic theatre, the actors address the audience, narrating their characters’ stories in the third person and just after that they become their characters and play their role. However, this sense of distance does not diminish the audience’s emotional engagement with the characters’ complex psyches. At times, the actors form a “collective actor’s body” – standing together as if posing for a photograph, attentively listening to another character’s story and following their journey. Sometimes they react collectively to the narratives or even step into them. […] Although many theatrical tools are used in this production, the most important one, shaping its emotional reception, is nostalgia – perfected by the director and actors. It is nostalgia that can evoke both tears of sadness and joy, bring back memories or give them a new dimension. The play is almost the epitome of nostalgia, balancing between emotion and laughter, guiding the audience through extreme emotions – a moment of crying can instantly be replaced by laughter. It also touches on the nostalgia of falling in love for the first time, especially in the scene where Anja and Vito meet for the first time. It awakens memories of youthful dreams in an amazing concert scene, where the male part of the acting ensemble performs an arrangement of the song Piši mi. The performance weaves personal stories into a tale so real and human that it becomes universal. […] The atmosphere created by the show makes you want to stay in the world of the 1974 family and never leave the theatre.