Dog and Pony Show

At the premiere, I found myself surrounded by excited children, and all of us spent about an hour intensely following the action on stage. The (this time four-member) cast of the Mladinsko and six guest musicians created an inventive (also technically inventive) music and dance performance. […A]ll this with the help of poems set to music that wander through an entire spectrum of music styles (from blues and polka to Turkish beat and rock), and also with the help of dance. In short, perfect. Hats off to the author, actors, musicians and, of course, the director Jure Novak.

Although primarily aimed at younger audience, this theatre concert that saw its co-production premiere at the Bobri Festival in February is a wholesome theatre event that sets no age limits. The staging of Svetlana Makarovič’s animal poems opens dimensions of meanings one would expect to be exhausted by now due to the poems’ wide recognition – they’re possible to read on several levels that intertwine humorous and (socially) critical aspects of the contemporary situation in the world. […] This level of the presentation of attitudes towards foreigners and how we receive them clearly encourages a more tolerant and open society; all while evoking not so soothing, yet still entertaining allusions in those spectators that are a little older – the critical reflection of contemporary xenophobia with an economical usage of all elements also gets engaged on the meta-level of the reference frame. With its minute references to the not so distant, still topical hen-house present, which apparently never goes old in Svetlana Makarovič’s poems, Dog and Pony Show almost enters the level of political satire.

Songs that Uroš Buh has arranged to the lyrics by Svetlana Makarović constantly move within the realm of jazz fusion, but throughout the performance effortlessly, subtly introduce a number of music forms and styles. The music in this sense includes many genres (and through them, cultures from which it originates), and at the same time with the thoughtful combinations shows that every culture is an unstable, temporary constellation, and that accepting foreign influence is an important part of enrichment and development of all cultures, as this brings changes and new perspectives without which stagnation could occur.