Gregor Strniša
The Frogs
In The Frogs, the poetic drama written by Gregor Strniša on the model of a medieval morality play and subtitled The Parable of the Poor and the Rich Lazarus, a man, like Goethe’s Faust centuries ago, strikes a deal with the devil and sells his soul to him. On the first day of spring, poor Lazarus arrives at a tavern on the edge of the Moors, where he is served with frog legs that are frying in the kitchen by the Waiter. Lazarus tells him how often he dreams of being rich, and the Waiter whispers to him that he can make his wish come true, because in reality he is none other than the devil himself.
In exchange for forgetting his past and his identity, he offers him a new life in the body of the fabulously rich Lazarus.
The Frogs, 1969
Morality play
Premiere: 29. September 2022
Performance length is 1 hour and 25 minutes and has no pause.
Creators
Director
Jan Krmelj
Dramaturg
Petra Pogorevc
Costume designer
Špela Ema Veble
Composer and vocal pedagogue
Zvezdana Novaković
Language consultant
Martin Vrtačnik
Lighting designer
Boštjan Kos
Sound designer
Sašo Dragaš
The masks were made by
Nika Erjavec
Assistant to director
Marko Rengeo (študijsko)
Assistant to dramaturg
Tilen Oblak
Actors
Waiter
Lotos Vincenc Šparovec
Grannie and Eve
Mirjam Korbar
Lazarus
Although the devil keeps assuring him that in his new form he will think and feel the same as before, Lazarus hesitates for a while, because he rightly suspects that the rich Lazarus “will no longer be himself”. Nevertheless, Lazarus succumbs to temptation and makes a Faustian bargain with the Waiter. Then it all takes another turn, for the rich man’s life turns out to be even more unbearable than the poor man’s ... Just as poor Lazarus sold his soul for luxury and money, so rich Lazarus is willing to sell his soul for poverty and anonymity.
The Frogs are based on the biblical motif of Lazarus, but the author grants the power of resurrection to Satan, not God. The Waiter is overwhelmed by frog’s legs and little human souls, which jump into his pan of boiling oil. He is indescribably bored and longs for the time when the Archangel Michael had not yet cut him in two. He longs for the time when he and his feminine half were united as one. Lazarus, the Waiter and Eve are not given the chance to find
Premiera septembra 2022 na Mali sceni