Slovenia's Borstnik theatre festival

The Borstnik theatre festival held in the city of Maribor is the main theatre festival of its kind in Slovenia. Ignacij Borstnik, whose name the festival bears is considered the founder of artistic theatre in Slovenia. Around the turn of the century he was a master of the most demanding theatre roles at the turn of the century.

The sound of a fanfare is a sound that theatre goers in Slovenia's second city Maribor know very well. It is the sound of the official opening ceremony of the Borstnik Theatre Festival, Slovenia's leading theatre festival. Every year in the second half of October, it hosts the best performances from this season's domestic theatre, selected by the authorised selector for this purpose. This year's jubilee 40th festival features eight shows competing for awards as well as a fringe programme of three productions and it still attracts a number of people, who visit the festival every year:

"I am a regular guest at the Borstnikovo theatre festival and I looked at this years selection and must say that I am mostly looking forward to the performances of 'Queen Margot' and the 'Brothers Karamazov'".

This year's competition programme also features "The Corridor" written and directed by Matjaz Zupancic; Yasmine Reza's "A Spanish Piece" and Christopher Marlowe's "Edward II". Also competing will be Thinking of the Servants.pdf Drama by the well known Slovenian writer Ivan Cankar and Srecko Fiser's play "Meanwhile".

Theatre goers were also able to enjoy the play My Father, A Socialist Kulak, which is immensely popular in Slovenia. The audience enjoyed the funny play about the socialist past of Slovenia: The festival will last until the 26th of October and it offers a variety of concerts and symposiums on the plays that are competing during the festival. During the closing ceremony on the final day of the festival awards for best performance, best directing, best acting, musical and other accomplishments are given. The most prestigious award, conferred outside of the competition programme, is the Golden Borstnik Ring for lifetime achievement in acting.