The Tenth DaughterPuppetry performance, length 45 min

A performance about a girl who must leave her home and embark on a journey where she learns about the world and herself, based on the archetypal motif of the tenth same-sex child who is bound to leave the family home. The performance addresses the young spectators by using universal themes of loneliness and fear, but also hope, courage, and magic experienced by the girl who is out in the world on her own. As a self-reliant wanderer she faces the challenges of growing up and forming her identity.

The motif of The Tenth Daughter (Desetnica) and the stories about her originate from the pagan belief that a tenth of everything harvested, caught, or born belongs to a higher force. The tradition of the tenth child has mostly been preserved in Slavic, Baltic and the Irish culture, although legends differ one from another. The Tenth Daughter (Desetnica) is a story about the tenth child who must leave the family home but may return after seven years—an archetypal story that has been told and retold and (re)interpreted over and again. From the moment of their birth, the tenth child is destined for higher purposes and possesses preternatural powers of healing, fortune-telling, helping people in distress, and communicating with animals. A restless spirit who does not find peace in one place but is bound to journey.

The Tenth Daughter is a performance of peculiar genesis, as it was conceived from original “written and drawn instructions for the implementation of the performance” prepared by the author of the performance and visual image Katarina Planinc as part of her master’s thesis at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television in Ljubljana entitled The Tenth Daughter — Artistic Design as a Starting Point of Puppet Interpretation. The author of the artistic design entrusted the performance concept to the youngest generation of creators who explored ways to use the instructions and at the same time remain true to their own interpretation of the story.

The performance was created as part of the BiTeater programme scheme enabling young authors to engage professionally for the first time in original design and exploration of contemporary puppet art.

Premiere 26 October 2023, Kulturnica LGL

Katarina Planinc is a visual artist, set designer, visual image designer of puppet performances, and puppet expert. Her art and design education journey commenced at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana, from where she graduated in 2018. She completed her studies at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television, specialising in Scene Design with the thesis entitled The Tenth Daughter — Artistic Design as a Starting Point of Puppet Interpretation. For three years, mentored by various puppet experts, she acquired technical know-how on how to design and manufacture puppets in the workshop at the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre. As an artist, she has an intense interest in how puppets are designed and the expressive possibilities they bear. She is also very interested in puppetry tradition in connection with contemporary puppetry practices.

In 2019, Lucija Trobec graduated from the Department of Comparative Literature and Literary Theory of the Faculty of Arts under the supervision of Assistant Professor, doctor Gašper Troha with the thesis entitled The Youth and Theatre: The role of theatre when growing up and the importance of active involvement of young people in professional plays; a study based on Brainstorm and The Right to Be Human. She then continued her studies at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television, where she is currently studying theatre directing under the supervision of Professor Jernej Lorenci and Assistant Professor Branko Jordan. In her hometown, she is the head of the Theatro Sentjošt theatre group which regularly stages children's and youth performances and other performative and literary events. During her studies, she assisted with the staging of the performance The Fairy Tales of Our Childhood (directed by Jernej Lorenci) and became co-editor of theAcademic blog.

After completing grammar school, Luna Pentek (1999) enrolled in comparative literature and literary theory studies and after three years transferred to the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television to study dramaturgy and performing arts, where she is currently finishing her second year of studies. She is the co-editor of the Academicblog. She paticipated in four academic productions and received the Goldilocks Award for My Fellow Creatures. During her studies, she assisted with the performances Fairy Tales of Our Childhood (directed by Jernej Lorenci; Prešeren Theatre Kranj) and Fear and Misery of the Third Reich (directed by Sebastijan Horvat, Mladinsko Theatre).

Nika Manevski (1995) is finishing her undergraduate studies in stage acting at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television. Her studies at the Academy have enabled her to gain a deeper understanding of acting, and to explore different techniques and approaches in portraying characters and developing her creativity. Her love for art and dedication to perfecting her acting skills motivate her to constantly learn and explore new ways to improve her artistic expression. She has participated in numerous productions in and outside the student arena, where she has proved her versatility and talent in various roles. In addition to theatre, she also works in film and television, including the film Going Our Way, where she sang the opening song entitled To Each Their Own. She also appeared in the series Therapy, for her performance in which she received the Viktor Award for promising media personality.  

Lucija Lorenzutti is concluding undergraduate studies in piano at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana under the supervision of Professor Tomaž Petrač. Her interest in the expressive possibilities of voice led her to attend solo singing lessons at the Ljubljana Conservatory of Music and Ballet with Professor Nataša Zupan. Lucija is a regular member of the Conservatory of Music and Ballet choir led by Ambrož Čopi, and the Vikra Vocal Group led by Petra Grassi. She performs in various chamber groups and is involved in domestic and international projects in the field of classical and contemporary music. As a music designer, she participated in student productions of the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television: Quadraturin (directed by Matjaž Pograjc) and Crime on Goat Island (production of the 4th semester of Stage Acting, Theatre and Radio Directing, and Dramaturgy and Performing Arts study programmes).

BiTeater has long been a programme set of the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre. The programme has to some extent changed its focus over the years, but has always maintained the nature of a platform intended for young theatre creators, providing them with opportunities for their artistic development and creation. This will continue to be the case in the future, although BiTeater performances will now put a greater emphasis on the puppetry medium, which the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre perceives as including very broad forms and ideas. The performances created within the BiTeater programme will continue to be conceived as solo projects or performances involving a small number of performers, centred around a young theatre artist, who is the architect of the idea and (often but not necessarily) also one of the performers. BiTeater is a programme set that encourages the upcoming generation of theatre artists to enter the world of puppets and puppetry and find their own original puppet expression as directors, actors, visual artists, costume designers, set designers, dramaturges... BiTeater will continue to dwell in two locations: at its “original” stage in Kulturnica at Židovska steza 1, which the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre has for years been using as a creative space for theatre experimentation, and (again) at the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre Tunnel, which due to its specific space (the tunnel under Ljubljana Castle) offers an array of possibilities to explore new performing approaches in the field of (puppet) theatre.