STA, 18 March 2022 - The Belgian director Frank Van Laecke has revealed that the leadership of the Ljubljana opera house forbade him to display little Ukrainian flags in his Faust production, which premiered on Thursday.
After the premiere, Van Laecke took to stage to thank the team involved in the production and everyone he had worked with for the past six years in his five opera productions at the Ljubljana opera house. But he said Faust could well be his last production here.
"In the fourth act I wanted little yellow and blue flags behind the window in the set instead of the blue, white and red flags from my previous Faust production [...] However, the opera director, Mr Staš Ravter forbade me to use those colours," he said.
What is more, he said Ravter told him he would "never set foot in his opera house" again if he was to talk to reporters about the ban.
Van Laecke said an artist had a duty to speak up and the theatre or opera should hear the pulse of present time. "For me, that pulse is in blue and yellow colours."
In a statement, the director wrote that he would never agree to censorship or extortion when it came to freedom of speech.
In a written response, the leadership of the Ljubljana opera house said the director had used the applause after Thursday's premiere "in light of topical political situation [to express] his view of arts".
"The management is unanimous in its position that the political situation should not affect the original appearance of the production - the director used blue-white-red flags in the original form of the performance - and that the SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana will continue to remain an apolitical institution, as political themes should not exploit art today or in the future," reads the statement.
It added that the opera company supported Ukrainian artists and Ukrainian people.
Meanwhile, the trade union Glosa expressed its support for the Belgian director. Even though they are "used to all things bad", this time they are "appalled in particular" that the internationally acclaimed director should come to face "such a low moral level and spiritual narrow-mindedness".
