Future

Curators’ Statement

The performance Future by Žiga Divjak, a co-production between Belgrade Drama Theatre and City Theatre Ljubljana, is one of the two local productions in this year's programme. The Slovenian director continues to explore dystopian visions typical of his style, only this time shifting the focus from an anthropocentric perspective to non-human experiences. This almost nonverbal performance of striking aesthetics tells a story of birds encountering the waste that humans leave behind. Divjak explores the destructive impact of capitalism and consumerism on the natural world, creating a touching piece that urges us to re-examine our relationship with nature.

About the Performance

Visible and invisible human waste travels through vast atmospheric layers and expansive ocean currents. It has spread far and wide, reaching the very navel of the ocean, to a solitary atoll two thousand kilometres from the nearest civilisation. It accumulates in the body of a loyal albatross, who, for hundreds of years and thousands of kilometres, collects food for its young, only to end up in the stomach of a young albatross.

Millions upon millions of years of flying above the restless surface of the sea, countless albatrosses who have cared and strived to ensure the continuation of their species, come into contact with human ingenuity—material less than a hundred years old: plastic.

Chemicals, plastic, living beings and their relatives, commitments, and relationships are combined in a complex web of interrelated influences.

The Future is a performance hidden within this complex web of interrelated influences.

The Author

Žiga Divjak is one of the most influential young Slovenian directors, known for his socially engaged performances that tackle the most pressing contemporary issues. His commitment to social engagement caught attention during his student project, Right Before the Revolution (2013-2015), which was based on the premise that theatre can influence and gradually transform society. In this spirit, and with fresh directorial approaches, he has created numerous acclaimed performances in various Slovenian theatres. Despite his youth, he boasts an impressive array of awards. He has already received two Borštnik Awards for Best Director: in 2017 for The Man Who Watched the World (SMG) and in 2021 for The Game (SMG and Maska Institute). His production of 6 (SMG) won the Borštnik Grand Prix for Best Production in 2018. In 2021, Žiga Divjak was awarded the Župančič Award for his directorial work over the past two years, and at the 51^st Slovenian Drama Week in Kranj, he received a special jury award for The Game. His productions Seven Days (2019) and Sediments (2022), which are remarkably precise anthropological studies of everyday life, were warmly received by MGL audiences. His other works have also made a significant impact: Servant Jernej and his Justice produced by Cankarjev dom Ljubljana, At Dawn (based on Cankar’s texts) and Cons: To the New Age (based on Kosovel’s texts) at Prešeren Theatre Kranj, as well as Lungs by Duncan Macmillan at SNG Drama Ljubljana and Fever at the Slovenian Youth Theatre. Žiga Divjak will collaborate with MGL for the third time in the 2023/2024 season.

From the Reviews

The Future has brought a much-needed freshness to our theatre with an unusual, appealing, and seductive yet engaged stage expression. This, so to speak, Bitef-like performance occupies a formally complex field of performing arts, a mixture of pantomime, performance, physical and dance theatre, and cinematic language. (...) These scenes, as well as the performance as a whole, present a challenging combination of clear critical engagement, an urgent awakening of ecological awareness, the need for careful nurturing and recovery of our battered planet, with a deeply thoughtful, finely aestheticized, and symbolically powerful stage language. They delicately reveal that presumptuousness and selfishness, carelessness towards other (human) beings, will lead us to a lifeless future, to the graveyards of industrial (prosperity) state."

Ana Tasić, Politika