The Death of Ivan Ilych

The Death of Ivan Ilyich directed by Tomi Janežič represents, as indicated in the subheading of the play,  an act of “collective reading” of the Tolstoy’s novella. This form of stage performance is also a literal collective act where audience, along with the actors, participates in the action in several ways, thus opening up areas for new meanings and definitions. At a certain point in the play, actors invite the audience to read aloud passages from the novella to their neighbours, in order to remind themselves of the times when they (the actors) were mere listeners of other people’s readings, or the times when someone else was listening to their reading. The text of the novella is being broadcast through a video beam, so the spectators will be able to both listen to the actors (or their neighbours), and read the text. Therefore, reading as a means of communication becomes part of theatrical expression, but also a form of reconsideration regarding personal understanding of the read contents. Since reading (both loud or quiet) represents a special type of activity, it involves spectators in the action, allows a more direct experience of the Ivan Ilyich’s intimate drama, and becomes an element of unusualness in the sense of Russian formalism, and Brecht-like process of establishing distance. 

Tomi Janežič (1972, Šempeter pri Gorici) is a Slovenian theatre director and a professor at the Academy for Theatre, Radio, Film, and Television in Ljubljana. Tomi Janežič has worked in most of the former Yugoslav countries. His performances have toured several international festivals around Europe, in Russia, the United States and in the countries of former Yugoslavia. Janežič is a recipient of dozens of prizes and awards including the Borštnik Award, four Sterija Awards, two MESS Golden Laurel Wreath Awards, two Ardalion Awards, two Grand prix Golden Lion Awards, the Golden Mask, the Golden Bird and Judita Awards, two dr. Djuro Rošić Awards, and other awards by international critics and audiences (including the audience’s award for best performance at the Belgrade International Theatre Festival).

The Serbian National Theatre was founded in Novi Sad, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, during a conference of the Serbian National Theatre Society.The first general manager of the Serbian National Theatre was Jovan Đorđević. The current building of the theatre was opened in March 1981. The institution has three departments: drama, ballet and opera. In the area of international cooperation, apart from regular guest performances in the Regional countries, the theatre carries out joint projects within the European Theatre Convention (one of the most prominent European theatre associations, connecting more than forty theatres from around thirty European countries). Being one of the most important institutions of culture in the country, Serbian National Theatre initiated the establishment of other cultural institutions such as the Sterijino pozorje festival in 1956, the Academy of Arts in 1970, and the Theatre Museum of Voivodina in 1982.