Premiere of the theatre play “The Life of provincial playboys after WWII or We want what’s not ours and won’t give away what’s ours”

By Dushan Jovanovic

Directed by Ivan Penovic

Co-production project of NI Drama theatre Skopje, Drama theatre Belgrade, City theatre Ljubljana and PI “City theatre” Budva

At first glance, the comedy The Life of Provincial Playboys after the Second World War or We Want What’s not ours and Won’t Give Away What’s Ours, stands out in the early dramatic work of Dushan Jovanović, as it stays fairly faithful to the form of a comedy. The “Playboys” was written in 1972 and first performed at the Ljubljana City Theatre a year later. It was written in the spirit of the sexual revolution and the Spring of 1968, but was also influenced by the situation in the then Yugoslavia, to which the artists of the youngest generation responded. In their works, a new phenomenon emerged, the so-called ludism – a unique response to the “difficult” themes of the post-war generation. Ludism is characterised by a complete detachment from any quest for meaning, answers or solutions to man’s existential distress; it prefers to accept things as they are and, instead of seeking a way out of this distress, to let oneself go with the flow of events in a relaxed play. All this is also true of The Playboys. It is a whirlpool of joyful eroticism, of youth, of unbridled passion that never gets satisfied. But the undertones also reveal emptiness, banality and egoism of a society that is constantly chasing pleasure. Today, half a century after 1968, the emptiness and aimlessness are still present, but they have been joined by the pursuit of money and existential fear.

Dushan Jovanovic (1939-2021), playwright, director and essayist co-shaped the Slovenian and wider regional theatre scene for more than five decades. In his early years, he earned a reputation as an enfant terrible, but after 1970 his creative career began a steep ascent. With the broad sweep of a holistic author, he is a key authority in the renewal of the contemporary language of drama and the stage. He directed well over a third of the world premieres of his own plays, as well as many other works, more than 90 altogether. He received numerous awards for his work, including seven Borshtnik Awards for Directing and four for best overall production, the Preshern Fund Award and the Preshern Award for his creative oeuvre.

Ivan Penovic (1992), a young Croatian playwright, dramaturg and director, is already paving his way among the most exciting authors in the region, with his holistic and committed approach. A turning point in his career was the award-winning production of You Know Who I Am produced by the Croatian National Theatre Zagreb. In 2025, Ivan Penovic took over as the artistic director of the Croatian National Theatre Split.

The performance is in honor of Dushan Jovanovic who passed away 5 years ago.

Roles:

Marjan Naumov

Jovana Spasic

Lazar Hristov

Marko Gvero

Vukashin Jovanovic

Sonja Stamboldzioska

Nejc Jezernik

Julita Kropec

Lazar Nikolic

Set design: Laze Tripkov

Costume design: Aleksandar Noshpal

Coreography: Damir Klemenic

Composer: Vladimir Pejkovic

Dramatourg: Ivan Penovic