STA, February 21, 2018 – The Spanish theatrical group La Fura dels Baus, known for their spectacular urban theatre, has created a musical-theatrical play specifically for the opening of this year's Ljubljana Festival in June.
An artistic director of the group, which opened last year's festival with its take on Carmina Burana, was so taken aback by the venue of their performance in Congress Square that it decided to make a spectacle specifically for Ljubljana.
Carlus Padrissa, one of the group's six directors, was impressed by the square's slope and the view of Ljubljana Caste, so he proposed to the festival's head Darko Brlek that he create a special show for Ljubljana Festival.
"We're extremely honoured," Brlek told the press on Tuesday as he revealed that La Fura dels Baus will stage the spectacle at the opening of the festival in June.
Entitled First Circuit - Journey Around the World, the show will take the audience 500 years back, when a fleet of five ships set out on a journey around the world to prove that the Earth is round as part of a bold pan-European project.
"The expedition featured people from different parts of Europe. Many were Italians, Portuguese and Spanish, then Greeks, Germans, English and others. Of the five ships that set out, only one returned," Padrissa said, noting that the journey had been troublesome.
"It's a very interesting story. This was the first great European scientific adventure," he said, comparing its importance to Neil Armstrong’s Moon landing.
After the world premiere in Ljubljana, the piece will be performed for a few more years, Padrissa noted.
Apart from the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Slovenian ballet dancers will be among the 200 artists on stage, of whom 25 will be members of La Fura dels Baus.
