Krešimir Dolenčić
Stage director and playwright Krešimir Dolenčić was born in 1962 in Zagreb, where he attended Conservatory "Pavao Markovac” (piano department), as well as Classical Gymnasium (Middle School). In 1988, he graduated at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. He directed in numerous Croatian theatres (Croatian National Theatres in Zagreb, Split, and Rijeka; as well as Gavella, &TD, Zagreb Youth Theatre, Komedija, etc.), and various festivals, such as Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Split Summer Festival and Rijeka Summer Nights. Until now, he staged more than forty respective drama titles by different authors, starting with Machiavelli, Držić, Shakespeare, Molière, Gogol, Verne, Wilde, and by many modern (Ilf and Petrov, Giradoux, Brecht) and contemporary authors (H. Pinter, A. Tonković Dolenčić, I. Vidić, etc.). As a Fulbright scholar he was a guest lecturer of drama acting at the Rice University in Houston, and Trinity College of Music in London. In addition, he has also staged more than forty operas in Croatian, Slovenian, English, American, and Chinese operas houses, among them classic titles such as Verdi’s Rigoletto, Aida, Puccini’s Triptych, Madama Butterfly, Mozart’s Così fan tutte, The Magic Flute, Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann, Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex, Purcell’s The Indian Queen, Diocletian, Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, La fille du regiment, L’elisir d’amore; Gotovac’s Ero s onoga svijeta, Saint-Saëns’s Samson and Delilah, Zajc’s Nikola Šubić Zrinjski, Tijardović’s Spli’ski aquarel, Gounod’s Faust, Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, Wilhelm Tell, and many more. He directed Verdi’s Aida in Shanghai and Beijing with more than 2800 performers. As a stage director, Dolenčić received more than thirty awards (Judita, Zlatni smijeh, Gavella Nights’ recognition, Marul; Naj, naj festival …), he is also a recipient of the Denis de Rougemont award (award for the best young artist, bestowed by the European Theatre Festivals Association), the prestigious Tito Strozzi award, and two orders of the Republic of Croatia. He was awarded many times by the Croatian Dramatic Artists’ Association. In addition to drama and opera directing, he is an active playwright and screenplay writer for various manifestations, celebrations, sport events and concerts. He is also a senior lecturer (for the subject drama acting) at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb.
