Son, mother and father sit at the table in silence

Ivor Martinić is one of the most prominent contemporary Croatian playwrights, known for his exceptional sensitivity to intimate relationships, silence, and the unspoken. He has received several major awards for his plays, including the Marin Držić Award and the prizes at the Sterijino Pozorje Festival. The Slovenian audiences know him well from successful productions at the Ljubljana City Theatre (A Play About Mirjana and Those Around Her, When the Child Was a Child, and As Long As We Die in an Orderly Way), in which the hallmarks of his style were highly acclaimed and recognised: a gentle yet sharp dissection of family and romantic relationships, and situations that are rewarding for actors, revealing the inner fragility of contemporary man. His latest play is no exception.

When the parents, now retired, were filling out an official government questionnaire, they responded to the Question 10—which read, “Which of your children would you choose if, due to a nuclear attack and a lack of space in the shelter, you could only keep one?”— by saying that in that case they would save their youngest son, who is indeed an alcoholic but a very warm and emotional person. Their daughter, a general practitioner by profession, stoically accepts their decision, since the statistical analysis show that parents usually give up their daughters, while their eldest son, a successful scientist, is hurt by their choice. When the offended son visits his parents, his mother, who skilfully meanders between attacks and defence, bombards him with accusations of his alleged indifference, arrogance, and self-sufficiency, while his father adds that, after all, the nuclear family’s duty is to protect the weakest, since successful offspring can fend for themselves.

This family drama is written in dense dialogue that constantly oscillates between sharp arguments and fleeting reconciliations, between unfulfilled expectations and bitter disappointments, between being trapped in the past and the anxiety of an apocalyptic present. The only one who remains shrouded in mysterious silence is the beloved child of both parents, whom we never see, for in Ivor Martinić’s drama, words and situations do not serve merely to unfold the conflict, but also to seek out the unspoken, wordless, and inexpressible core that triggers all conflicts.

Alen Jelen is a theatre and radio director known for his sensitive guidance of actors and his keen dramaturgical insight. He has received numerous awards for both his stage productions and his radio plays, which he creates with an exceptional ear for rhythm, voice, and the inner landscapes of his characters. This is precisely why Martinić’s drama provides the ideal space for his poetics.