Ivan Cankar
Scandal in St. Florian Valley
Director: Janusz Kica
How to approach the 'Cankar phenomenon' in a new way is the issue here. Playwright Ivan Cankar (1876–1918) is one of the pillars of the Slovene theatre and most of his plays entered the Slovene canon soon after they were published or put on stage. Unburdened by the Slovene theatre and the national social and political collective memory, this time it was Janusz Kica who put Scandal in St. Florian Valley (1907) on stage. In this play, he recognised an interesting artistic study of the specific
psychological and social structure of a rigid and mentally primitive society which is not only Slovene, but is a general phenomenon which can happen anywhere and in relation to that also the existence of art in such conditions. No other Slovene artist or social critic could portray the dark and demonic characteristics (destructibility and self-destructibility) of the Slovene archetype in such a precise and convincing manner. Slovene social history of the last twenty years is a clear portrayal
of the transformation of ‘the servant to the master’ where the ‘master’ kept all the personal and behavioural characteristics which he held as a ‘servant’.
The people of St. Florian Valley act according to principle ‘You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours’ so they continuously blackmail each other and have each other on hold. If they wish to survive in such a system, they must appear nice on the outside with hypocrisy and cold duplicity of their character becoming the basis of their communication. ‘The unexpected visit’ of the artistic and criminal pair Peter/Jacinta, who bring ‘truth and beauty’ among the people of St. Florian Valley, is so
fateful and stressful precisely for this reason and ‘successful’ for the newcomer – with tricks, which is a custom amongst the people of St. Florian Valley. In this way they manage to throw the people off their orderly routine and bring down the system of homely values at least temporarily. However, the visit is an utter failure for Devil who came to win over the people of St. Florian Valley – morally corrupt them and prepare them for the ‘eternal hell’, but unfortunately he soon finds out
that the people of the Valley are so utterly corrupt already that he is a dilettante compared to them.
What can happen to art among the people of St. Florian Valley? How can an artist survive here? This is the question that is at the core of this play.
Adapted from the article by Vili Ravnjak
Cast
Benjamin KrnetićNika Rozman
Peter Boštjančič
Ksenija Mišič
Kristijan Ostanek
Mirjana Šajinović
Mateja Pucko
Jurij Drevenšek
Eva Kraš
Matija Stipanič
Maša Žilavec
Davor Herga
Viktor Meglič
Aleš Valič k. g.
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
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Photo: Damjan Švarc
Photo: Damjan Švarc
