The Borštnik Ring Jury
Ljerka Belak
Actress. Upon concluding her studies at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television in Ljubljana, she worked in Celje People’s Theatre from the 1970/71 season and then in Ljubljana City Theatre from the 1993/94 season until her retirement. She also worked outside her home theatres (Mladinsko Theatre, Slovene National Theatre Nova Gorica, etc.). Throughout her acting years she collaborated and acted on radio where she created roles in over 200 radio plays. She was also a highly popular actress both on TV and the film screen, including roles in some twenty teleplays out of which many were awarded. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the Student Prešeren Award, the Prešeren Foundation Award, the Sever Award, the Borštnik Award, the Gracious Comedian Award at the Comedy Days in Celje and the Borštnik Ring (2015).
Blaž Lukan
Assistant professor in the Department of Dramaturgy and vice-dean at the University of Ljubljana, Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (UL AGRFT). He works as a practical dramaturg in theatre and in film, writes theatre reviews and introductory texts for publications of plays and texts of Slovenian and foreign authors, as well as scientific papers in the field of dramatic arts and performance art theory. He was artistic leader of the Experimental Theatre Glej (1985–88) and Celje People’s Theatre (1989–93), co-selector of the International Puppet Festival Puppets (2000, 2002) and selector of the Maribor Theatre Festival (2002, 2003). Between 2008 and 2012 he was president of the Association of Theatre Critics and Researchers of Slovenia. He has written several books including Theatre Dictionary for Young People (1996), We Search for Theatre (2000), Slovenian Dramaturgy: Dramaturgy as Theatre Practice (2001), Still Lives and Grimaces: Theatre Expressions (2007), Performative Writings: Deliberations on Performance and Theatre (2013), Considering Everything: Theatre Reviews 1993–2013 (2015) and co-edited the books The Dynamic of Changes in the 20th-century Slovenian Theatre (2010) and Free Hands: An Anthology of Theoretical Thoughts on Slovenian Theatre 1899–1979 (2012).
Vlado Novak
Actor. In 1974 he graduated in the first degree at the Economic-Commercial High School in Maribor. That same year, he enrolled at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television in Ljubljana. He performed his first role in professional theatre – Cosimo de Medici in Brecht’s Gallileo – in 1972 in the Slovene National Theatre Maribor (SNT Maribor). In the 1976/77 season he was member of the Primorsko Drama Theatre in Nova Gorica and in the 1977/78 season he became a member of the Drama of the SNT Maribor. He graduated in 1995 and that same year became a member of Celje People’s Theatre. The following year, he returned to the Drama of the SNT Maribor as acting artistic leader for half a year upon which he went on with his actor’s work in the same theatre. During his time in the Drama of the SNT Maribor he created over 70 roles, mostly as dramatic protagonist. Throughout his long and rich theatre, film and TV career he received numerous awards, including Borštnik Awards for acting (1989, 1993, 1995, 1995, 2004), the Prešeren Foundation Award, the Jury Award at the Croatian Drama Festival Marulić’s Days in Split, the Glazer Diploma, the Glazer Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Borštnik Ring (2014).
Matjaž Zupančič
Playwright, director and pedagogue. Following his studies of directing at the University of Ljubljana, Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (UL AGRFT) he continued his studies in London. Upon his return, he was the head of the Experimental Theatre Glej in the 1980s. He has been active as a director at home and abroad since 1981. The basis of Zupančič’s artistic opus are his theatre directions, which he constantly intertwines with playwriting. He is one of the most frequently staged Slovenian authors abroad. His directions of his own and other playwrights’ texts provided him the presence at prestigious European festivals and stages (Yugoslavia With the World, Bonner Biennale, Avignon, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Ex Ponto, Sterija Theatre Festival, etc.). He has received numerous awards and acknowledgements for his works both in the international and domestic context. Among other awards, he is a five-time recipient of the Grum Award for the best play. He is professor of theatre directing at the UL AGRFT.
Ksenija Repina
Studied dramaturgy at the UL AGRFT. During her studies, she received two Student Prešeren Awards, the first, a group award for the collection of texts The Dramatic and Theatrical Nineties? (2006) and the second, an award for her graduate thesis (2008). Since 2004, she has been collaborating with the Maribor Theatre Festival as editor of publications and moderator of discussions and book presentations, and since 2015, as the author of the Festival’s e-xhibitions. From 2012 to 2014, she was regional selector for cultural activities for the Public Fund for Cultural Activities of the Republic of Slovenia. She was a jury member of the 2013 competition for the original puppet theatre play in the Maribor Puppet Theatre. From 2010 to 2014, she took part in the international comparative research of European theatre systems with the STEP research group, the results of which were published in Amfiteater.