PHOTOS: Successful 70th Dubrovnik Summer Festival closes 

(Photo: Dubrovnik Summer Festival)

DUBROVNIK, 27 August 2019 – The 70th anniversary edition of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, which is one of the oldest and most prestigious European festivals, has come to an end after 47 days of entertainment. 

Almost 2 000 artists from around 20 countries (USA, Russia, Sweden, China, Israel, Italy, Germany, Liechtenstein, Belgium, Austria, France, Serbia, Slovenia…) took part in this year’s festival with performances at 20 venues around Dubrovnik. 

(Photo: Dubrovnik Summer Festival)

In total, there were 80 programmes including, 30 theatre performances,16 music performances, 2 dance/ballet performances, 5 folklore performances, 9 film screenings, 3 art exhibitions and 14 accompanying side events.

Theatre:

The theatre programme of the 70^th Festival included 3 premieres:

• William Shakespeare’s Hamlet directed by Paola Magelli and performed by the Festival Drama Ensemble on the Lovrjenac Fort (7 performances);

•The musical theatre piece the Little Prince based on the eponymous Antoine de Saint-Exupéry classic as directed by Hrvoje Korbar and with music composed by Ivan Josip Skender in the Rector’s Palace atrium (5 performances);

• Geranium by director Marina Pejnović, based on the eponymous short story written by Ivo Vojnović and Antun Šoljan’s short story the Island as performed by the Festival Drama Ensemble in the Art School Park (6 performances).

Also on the programme were repeat performances of the following play:

• Ranko Marinković’s Under the Balconies directed by Dario Harjaček with dramaturgy done by Vedrana Klepica and performed by the Festival Drama Ensemble in the University of Dubrovnik Campus Park (3 performances).

Guest performances on the theatre programme were the following:

• One Song A Day Takes Mischief Away by director Rene Medvešek, performed by the Croatian National Theatre of Zagreb ensemble, in the Gradac Park (2 performances);

•Dušan Kovačević’s Balkan Spy as directed by Tatjana Mandić Rigonat and performed by the Belgrade National Theatre, in the Gradac Park (2 performances);

• Drops byLero Students’ Theatre,written and directed by Davor Mojaš (2 performances);

• Diary of a Madman directed by Marjan Nećak and performed by Ozren Grabarić, a mono-opera based on a N. V. Gogol short story, on the Bokar Fort (1 performance);

• Mistero buffo based on the Dario Fo work and directed by Lee Delong, a monodrama performed by Dražen Šivak, on the Bokar Fort (1 performance);

• Room For A View, a monodrama based on Virginia Woolf’s The New Dress directed by Marina Petković Liker and performed by Ivana Buljan Legati, on the Bokar Fort (1 performance).

(Photo: Dubrovnik Summer Festival)

Music:

A total of 16 music performances were held, by orchestras (Lower Saxony State Orchestra from Hannover, Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, Croatian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra), chamber ensembles (Zagreb Soloists, Esperanza Ensemble, Zagreb Quartet, Croatian Baroque Ensemble…), choirs (Ivan Goran Kovačić Academic Choir, Dubrovnik Chamber Choir, Libertas Mixed Choir, Croatian Radio and Television Choir) along with many soloists (Evelin Novak, Janja Vuletić, Tomislav Mužek, Krešimir Stražanac, Martina Filjak, Håkan Hardenberger, Ana Vidović, Yuja Wang, Andreas Ottensamer, Katarina Kutnar, Ivo Pogorelić, Luka Šulić, Aljoša Jurinić, Simone Rubino etc. ) and maestros (Ivan Repušić, Franz Anton Krager, Enrico Dindo, Ivo Lipanović…), who presented their musical mastery across various styles and genres.

(Photo: Dubrovnik Summer Festival)

Dance/Ballet:

• Mariinsky Theatre, with the two-act ballet The Four Seasons choreographed by Ilya Zhivoi to the Max Richter recomposition of Vivaldi’s piece, in the Gradac Park (2 performances).

Folklore:

•National Folk Dance Ensemble of Croatia LADO (1 performance);

•Folklore Ensemble LINĐO (4 performances).

City Keys (audience development programme): 

Films:

• City Festival, Festival City two-part documentary written by Vedran Benić and directed by Lukša Benić,co-produced by the Dubrovnik Summer Festival and Croatian Radio and Television, Jadran Open-air Cinema (4 screenings);

• Diary of Diana B by director Dana Budisavljević, the award-winning film from the 66^th Pula Film Festival, Jadran Open-air Cinema (2 screenings);

•The documentary Georgij Paro – Cleaning up written by Lada Džidić Barić and produced by Croatian Radio and Television, part of the In memoriam Georgij Paro evening, Sponza Palace atrium (1 screening);

• Vox Lux by Brady Corbet, part of the Motovun Film Festival in Dubrovnik collaborative programme (1 screening);

• Motovun Shorts, best short films from the Motovun Film Festival, also part of Motovun Film Festival in Dubrovnik programme(1 screening).

(Photo: Dubrovnik Summer Festival)

Exhibitons:

• LAUBA in Sponza Palace – Fascinations, Sponza Palace atrium;

• Encounter at the Depot III byDubravka Lošić, Former Radeljević Oil Factory;

• Marko Ercegović’s Festival Backstage, Sponza Palace atrium;

Other:

•The Future of Ambience three-day public symposium, at the Palace in the Brothers Andrijić Street, part of the Future Epics project co-funded by the European Union Creative Europe project;

• Happy Place by Bojan Grgić, a sound installation, Foundry under the Minčeta Fort;

• Hrvoje Hiršl’s Spheeres, a sound installation, the Bokar Fort;

• In memoriam Georgij Paro: presentation of the Georgij Paro’s City Stage book, by editor Hrvoje Ivanković and premiere of the Georgij Paro – Cleaning up documentary, Sponza Palace atrium;

• The City Recites Držić, an interactive event, Libertina café bar;

• Video-games workshop held by artist Ivan Marušić-Klif, the Festival Palace;

• How Plays Are Made workshop by Zdravka Ivandija Kirigin, Rector’s Palace atrium;

•The three-day youth workshop ItHurts: Anatomy of Shame, at the Palace in the Brothers Andrijić Street;

• The Frenzy of Orlando, a puppet play by the Italian company Figli d’Arte Cuticchioon the occasion of the Year of Orlando, achieved in collaboration with the City of Dubrovnik and sponsored by the Lokrum Reserve, the Revelin Fort terrace;

• Storytelling by Jasna Held, stories of the Dubrovnik region as written down by Baltazar Bogišić, Diocesan Seminary Garden in the Bošković Square;

•The presentation of Sandra Uskoković’s book ANAMNESIS – Dialogues of Art in Public Spaces, the Festival Palace;

• Vocal masterclass held by Krešimir Stražanac supported by the Caboga Stiftung Foundation.