The Life of Provincial Playboys (guest at the RUTA Festival Ljubljana, Slovenia)

"The Life of Provincial Playboys after World War II or We Love What Is Foreign - We Do Not Give Our Own" is a text from Dušan Jovanović's early dramatic opus, written in the form of commedia dell'arte. "The Playboys..." was written in 1972, and was first performed at the Ljubljana Local Theatre (MLT) a year later. It was written during a period of extremely turbulent international and regional historical movements, in the spirit of the "Sexual Revolution" and the "Spring of 1968", as well as under the influence of the circumstances in the then Yugoslavia to which the artists of the youngest generation reacted. Their works feature the so-called "luddism" - a specific response to the "difficult topics" opened by the post-war generation of young people. Luddism is characterized by the complete absence of any search for meaning, answers or solutions to existential difficulties; he accepts things as they are and, instead of looking for a way out of the given circumstances, allows events to unfold through a "relaxed game". All this also applies to "The Playboys...". It is the vortex of lively eroticism, youth and unbridled, eternally insatiable passion. However, between the lines one can also sense a void, vanity and egoism of a society that is constantly running after pleasure. Today, half a century after '68, vanity and aimlessness remain relevant, and they are joined by the race for material status, but also existential fear. The play is a four-part co-production of the Drama Theatre, Skopje (DTS), Belgrade Drama Theatre (BDP), Mestno gledališče Ljubljana (MGL) and "Grad Teatar", Budva.

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