The gentleman and the pears
Music: Dušan BavdekLyrics: Dušan Bavdek in Simona Drenik Bavdek (po slovenski ljudski pesmi)
Co-production: Slovenian Chamber Music Theatre, Cankarjev dom Ljubljana, Association of Ballet Artists of Slovenia and Conservatory of Music and Ballet LjubljanaPremière: Cankarjev dom Ljubljana, September 8, 2018
Director: Eva Hribernik
Music director: Mojca Lavrenčič
Set designer: Jaro Ješe
Costume designer: Anjana Pavlič
Choreographer: Vesna Cestnik Tehovnik
Producer: Katja Konvalinka
Photographer: Darja Štravs Tisu
From the directing concept:
“In the performance the pears symbolise dreams. The girl wants and longs to realise her dreams, a world where people and nature live in harmony and cooperation. When we help others, we help ourselves and the whole community. The realisation of such dreams can bring us happiness and faith in a better future. Like the gentleman, we can only watch from a distance as the pears smile at us from the tree, seeming ever more out of reach, but we can, like the girl in the fairy tale, climb the tree of our dreams and make them come true.”
From the review:
“The staging of the work, prepared by director Eva Hribernik and set designer Jaro Ješe, is picturesque, dynamic and very aptly materialises the sometimes somewhat abstract protagonists and the relationships between them. Much good-natured humorous impersonation successfully underlines, but at the same time also conceals, the fundamentally moralistic and educational character of the story. In many ways, the play The Gentleman and the Pears is more than just one of the many performances for children that have been prepared for the Slovenian stages, particularly in the last few months of the year. With its originality, invaluable adaptation to children's perception and the extraordinary creative contribution of the author and the performers, it can serve as an example for similar future projects. And we can only hope that these will increase in number.” (Aleš Nagode, GLASNA, Vol. 50/No. 1)