SANJA LOVRENČIĆ

WOMAN WITH A DRAGON

- A Comedy (most probably) -

THEME: How to get rid of a potentially dangerous dead dragon after the disappearance of the knight who killed it; from the perspective of the princess
NUMBER OF CHARACTERS 20 (5 female, 15 male)
NUMBER OF ACTS: 2 parts and 15 scenes
SETTING: A desert, a city, a desert
TIME: The time of fairy tales, that is, the present
WRITTEN IN: 2000

SUMMARY:
A princess is dragging a dead dragon through the desert, not knowing how to get rid of it in a safe and dignified manner. She meets Macha who invites her to go with him. However, he does not show any particular interest in her problem. They meet a powerful Woman with a pram, taking a child for a stroll through the desert, but her variant of life is unacceptable. They meet a group of atheists - contemporary artists with whom the princess might join up - but they reject her. She watches the presentation of the very newest bathroom equipment in a large discount store not far from the city, and seeks temporary shelter there, but is given only one night... and finally she reaches the city. The city magistrates, faced with the problem of the Dragon, concoct all sorts of practical and commercial solutions. The situation becomes more complicated thanks to an article by an unscrupulous reporter, who leaks the information that the princess if pregnant. It is not known whether the father of the baby is the Knight or the Dragon. In any case, the magistrates conclude that the dead Dragaon could be of some use, but the princess - definitely not. In the midst of their deliberations, she slips out of town unnoticed and returns to the desert. It is expected that the premiere of the radio play version will be broadcast on the Croatian Radio Drama Progamme early in 2002.

 

LETTER TO THE OTHER GUARD

- A Radio Drama-

THEME: Art and power
NUMBER OF CHARACTERS: 4 (1 female, 3 male)
NUMBER OF ACTS: 9 scenes
PLACE: The glass-house in the Botanical Gardens, and a Castle
TIME: An imaginary present
WRITTEN IN: 1995

SUMMARY:
Two guarđs work in the botanical gardens, but only one voice is heard, that of the female guard. The rules say that the guards must not meet. The garden is perhaps a sanctuary, a place of asylum, later perhaps the only island in a flood. The story-teller, the first guard, spends her time looking for someone to talk to, and writes letters to the other guard. She speaks in them of her former life, life in the Castle, where she had been hired as a chronicler, but her real assignment seems not to have been to describe what was, but to augur and create the Festivity to come.

First broadcast in 1995 on Croatian Radio. In the following year, it was performed at the Marul's Days festival..

 

THE FORGER

- A Radio Drama -

THEME: Art and forgery
NUMBER OF CHARACTERS: 6 (4 male, 2 female) and a Chorus
NUMBER OF ACTS: 7 scenes
PLACE: A villa beside the sea (probably in Southern France)
TIME: Soon after Wor(d War II
WRITTEN IN: 1997

SUMMARY:
Hans van Megereen was accused of selling to the enemy during the war priceless works of art by the Old Masters. He defends himself claiming that they were not original pictures, but fakes. To prove to the court that he is capable of making such convincing forgeries, he is incarcerated in his villa on the coast, and, under guard, is expected to paint one more picture, his last forgery. He is visited by the judge hanđling his case, who tries to reconstruct Hanšs life. His reconstruction of the artist's life, and indirectly the text of the drama itself, also shows itself to be a forgery of sorts.

The play was premiered in 1997.

 

NINE OCTAVES

- A Radio-Play -

THEME: The limitations of reality and the non-limitation of possibilities
NUMBER OF CHARACTERS: 5 (3 male, 2 female)
NUMBER OF ACTS: 21 scenes
SETTING: A city
TIME: The present
WRITTEN IN: 1998

SUMMARY:
Silvia, a young woman employed in a library, feels that she is being hampered by somebody's else's voice, the voice of an internal GUARD who embodies reality and her limitations. By chance, Sylvia finds the advertisement of the Magician Visovsky, a shouting teacher, and starts taking lessons from him. By various exercises and improvisations she manages, to an extent, to set free her voice, but when she finds herself on a small stage on the square where she is supposed to sing in public, all the old limitations once again appear.

The play was performed on Croatian Radio in 1999 and at the Prix Europa in Berlin in the same year. It will be broadcast on Slovakian Radio in June 2001.

The play has been translated into the English and Slovakian languages.

 

KOLHIDA

- A Drama with Dance Scenes -

THEME: The conflict between the individual and the collective
NUMBER OF CHARACTERS: 9 (6 male, 1 female, 2 children) and a chorus
NUMBER OF ACTS: 4
SETTING: An imaginary place located between a mountain and a river
TIME: Abstract
WRITTEN IN: 1999

SUMMARY:
In an imaginary village which sinks further and further in a quagmire every time it rains, in which archaic rituals and customs rule, a stonemason tries to built a stable path of stone tablets. Each tablet is meant to have an engraved sentence which must be true and undisputed. Gradually this lonely undertaken is replaced by the narration and dissemination of old legends, which then transforms into reality, bringing with it for a certain time fear and chaos. When that time passes, life largely returns to what it was before, but departure, death or great changes await the characters who stood out in one way or another.

The play was included in the programme of the V Conference of Female Playwrights which was held in Athens from October 1 to 8, 2000. It has been translated into English.

 

BIOGRAPHY:

Sanja Lovrenčić (1961), poet, author of prose and radio-plays, as well as children's stories. Her published books include: Insula dulcamara (1987); Scarlet Fabrics (1994); Esperel - the City of Small Miracles ((1994); The House Above the Monster (1996); Wien Fantasic (1998); Kolhida (2000) and Four Terrible Fufich-Eaters and One Small Fufich (2001). A series of her radio play texts have been performed on Croatian Radio progammes, including some which have won prizes (The Albatros, Perhaps I Was Sleep-Walking); some which have been selected for various collections (The Mills, Letter to Another Guard, Nine Octaves, Ariel's Island); and others which have been translated and performed outside of Croatia (Ariel's Island, Nine Octaves). Since 1997, Sanja has been writing texts for the theatre. Her Fairy-Tale of Sigismund and Krpimir won the ASSITEJ award, while her drama text Kolhida was included in the programme of the Fifth International Conference of Women Dramatists. She also translates literary texts from English, French and German.

ADDRESS:

Sanja Lovrenčić, Kraljevac 64a, 10000 Zagreb
Tel.: +385 1 457 8614; E-mail: sanja.lovrencic@zg.tel.hr