The Magic is back (well, it never really leaves)

What do Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Meryl Streep, Twiggy, Tom Waits, and the Dubrovnik Summer Festival all have in common? 

They turn 65 this year; and they’re better than ever!  From 10 July through 25 August, the old city will once again be alive with Theatre, Music, and Art; and I mean “alive” literally. 

My first visit to Dubrovnik, all those years ago, was during the Festival.  At the time I was living in Croatia.  Prior to my arrival, the locals said the ancient Dalmatian seaport would enchant me with its beauty, excitement, and “magic.” That was kind of tough for a Robbery Detective (which I was a the time) to swallow.  I mean magic, really?   So, my first night there, I attended a play performed on the street behind St. Blaises Church – and the locals were right.

The stage was the city and it seemed everyone was an actor. Through windows, through shop doors, from down the street, and from the seat next to you players emerged and disappeared.  You weren’t simply watching a performance you were living it.  For an opening night, this was a tough act to follow.   But the next evening’s entertainment and all that followed proved just as worthy.  So, I’m please to announce, the beauty, the excitement, and, yes, the “magic" will all be present at the 65^th Dubrovnik Summer Festival.

The 2014 line-up will include:

• Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet directed by Jagoš Marković.  The play will be staged in the Renaissance summer residence of the Skočibuha family at Boninovo.

• Krešimir Dolenčić chose Držić Square to be the venue for his staging of Marin Držić's best-known and most frequently performed comedy, Uncle Maroje.

• Shakespeare's Timon of Athens, directed by Georgij Paro, will take place in two locations: the Dubrovnik Centre for Advanced Academic Studies Atrium and Gradac Park.

• At Bošković Square, the choreographer Valentina Turcu and theatre director Leo Mujić will stage the Neo-Baroque ballet Les Liasons Dangereuses (set to music by George F. Handel, J. S. Bach, Antonio Vivaldi and other Baroque masters).

 

Photo by Michael Mischley

• The Summer Festival's closing concert, in front of St Blaise's Church, will feature the Zagreb Philharmonic conducted by Ivo Lipanović, and the world famous baritone Željko Lučić.  

• In collaboration with Zagreb's Museum of Arts and Crafts, and supported by the Sponza State Archives and the Dubrovnik Museums, the exhibition entitled Creators of Memory – Photographers and Designers at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival will be opened in two venues: Sponza Palace and Rector's Palace.

• Award winning films (both national and international) will be featured during the Summer Festival's film programme. Screenings will take place at the open-air cinemas Jadran and Slavica.

• The folklore programme will include traditional performances by the Linđo and Lado folklore ensembles.

For more information, please contact:

Karla Labaš

PR & Marketing Department

M. 00385 (0)91 323 42 56

E. karla.labas@dubrovnik-festival.hr

T. 00385 (0)20 326 111

F. 020 326 113

www.dubrovnik-festival.hr