Vili Ravnjak
A Journey to Rome (Caravaggio)
Vili Ravnjak (1960) is an artist with very broad interests; he is involved in theatre, writing and spiritualism. Between the years 1988 and 2002 he wrote five theatre plays, which are all very different from standard Slovenian plays; each features a unique artistic world and a fresh style, dramaturgy and content.
A Journey to Rome (1988) is Ravnjak’s most important play and has influenced his other writings ("Anex”, "Tugomer or the One Who Measures Sadness”, "Giordano Bruno”) and theoretical essays on theatre ("Illusionist Mirror” (1989), "Drama as a Mandala” (1991), "Theory of Chaos and the Possibilities of Dramaturgy” (1992)). In the article for the theatre programme entitled "I remember…, I Was Writing Plays”, Ravnjak wrote: "I remember how one spring night in 1987 I could not sleep and I was reading through a monograph about Caravaggio and when I saw one of his paintings I suddenly realized that there it was in front of me, theatre that I’d been looking for – art, which encompasses sensuality and spirituality, the sophistication of philosophy and the banality of everyday.”
A Journey to Rome is a dramatic fresco about the life and work of the great Italian baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610). However, biographical data only serve as background information in this play, which is set in different and mutually intertwining space and time. The main realistic narrative line encompasses real events from Caravaggio’s life between 1600 and 1610 in Rome. By chance they coincide with the political and military events in the late 1980s and with the theatre and erotic events in Orlando Furioso nightclub. A surrealist narrative line tells about the content of Caravaggio’s paintings, which are mostly based on biblical motifs. The story unravels in a similar way to dreams; events are connected with each other through associations and symbols. It is a dramatic symphony of various topics and variations joined around three parallel love stories between Caravaggio and his models. At the same time, a tragicomic disintegration of the world ruled by generals and cardinals is taking place as well as a parody of the perception of an artist as the "great creator of art” and art as the "mirror of truth”.
At the ninetieth anniversary of the Slovene National Theatre Maribor director Sebastijan Horvat will put A Journey to Rome as a post-drama multimedia theatre project on the Stara dvorana stage. His characteristic invention and a radical stage concept guarantee an innovative interpretation of the text, which will be the result of searching for new ways of artistic expression in the field of performance art.
Cast
Vladimir VlaškalićMaša Žilavec
Peter Boštjančič
Aleš Valič k. g.
Davor Herga
Nataša Matjašec Rošker
Eva Kraš
Matjaž Tribušon
Blaž Setnikar k. g.
Matevž Biber
Kristijan Ostanek
Viktor Meglič
Matija Stipanič
Ivica Knez
Anja Bornšek
Vlasta Veselko
Mojca Kasjak
Cast:
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio - VLADIMIR VLAŠKALIĆ
Lucia Aratori, Francesca Baglione - MAŠA ŽIDANIK
Giovanni Baglione - PETER BOŠTJANČIČ
Francesco Maria Del Monte - ALEŠ VALIČ k. g.
Matteo Contarelli - DAVOR HERGA
Gospodična Phyllis - NATAŠA MATJAŠEC ROŠKER
Grazia Lena - EVA KRAŠ
General Holefern - MATJAŽ TRIBUŠON k. g.
Ranuccio Tomassoni - BLAŽ SETNIKAR k. g.
Giulio - MATEVŽ BIBER
Toto - KRISTIJAN OSTANEK
Mihael – VIKTOR MEGLIČ
Forfaks – MATIJA STIPANIČ
Metatron – IVICA KNEZ
Kasiel – Anja Bornšek
Uriel – Vlasta Veselko
Zagzagel – Mojca Kasjak
Photo gallery
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Photo: Damjan Švarc
