The Ljubljana Puppet Theatre was founded in 1948 under the name City Puppet Theatre. Its debut performance took place on 10 October as part of the Ljubljana Festival. In its early years, the newly established theatre drew creative inspiration from the diverse traditions that had shaped Slovenian puppetry from its beginnings in the early 20th century through the end of World War II.
Considered the father of Slovenian puppetry, painter Milan Klemenčič—educated in the romantic tradition of Italian and especially German puppet theatre—first introduced his local Small Marionette Theatre to the public in 1910. He later led the Slovenian Marionette Theatre (1920–1924), the first (semi-)professional puppet theatre in Slovenia, which operated in the City Hall building—today home to the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre. Klemenčič reached the height of his artistic expression with the Miniature Puppets Theatre and his acclaimed production of Doctor Faust (1938).
Between the two world wars, Sokol puppetry flourished in Slovenia, inspired by the Czech model. By 1939, as many as 43 puppet stages operated under the umbrella of Sokol gymnastics clubs. Their programming was educational and nationally awakening in character. This movement is significant primarily for its role in popularizing puppetry—thanks to their efforts, Ljubljana hosted the UNIMA International Puppetry Congress as early as 1933. It was also from the ranks of Sokol puppeteers that the first collaborators of the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre would later emerge.
In 1944, Sokol puppeteer and sculptor Lojze Lavrič was the driving force behind the creation of the Partisan Puppet Theatre—a remarkable cultural phenomenon that emerged in the midst of the chaos of World War II, offering timely and relevant content. You can learn more about the Partisan Puppet Theatre in the E-exhibition Partisan Theatre, curated by the Centre for Theatre and Film Studies at the Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television (AGRFT), University of Ljubljana.
The early history of Slovenian puppetry was marked by the dominance of marionettes. It wasn’t until 1934 that ethnologist Dr. Niko Kuret introduced a hand puppet stage. Five years later, with the Pavliha troupe, he brought Pavliha—the Slovenian counterpart to Pulcinella, Kasperle, Punch, and Petrushka—to Radio Ljubljana.This clever and cheerful character was embodied from the very beginning by actor Jože Pengov, who later, as the first (unofficial) artistic director of the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre, also brought Pavliha to the theatre’s new hand puppet stage.
As the inheritor of various puppetry traditions, the City Puppet Theatre found itself navigating a labyrinth of different aesthetics at the time of its founding. The early years were marked by a period of exploration—both artistically and organisationally. Thanks largely to Jože Pengov—director, artistic leader, playwright, actor, writer, translator, publicist, and widely regarded as the founder of modern Slovenian puppetry—the theatre soon discovered its own artistic voice and reached an impressive level of excellence. With his acclaimed productions of Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, The Blue Bird, The Little Witch, and others, the theatre also began making its mark on the broader European cultural scene.
To mark the theatre’s 60th anniversary, we took a glance at the numbers—and could hardly believe our eyes. By mid-2008, the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre had premiered 252 productions, performed over 23,000 times for an estimated 3.2 million spectators. On numerous tours across all continents, our work was presented in more than a hundred cities worldwide. And that’s not even counting the awards and festival prizes we've collected along the way.
All productions in the history of the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre up to 2008 are documented in the anniversary almanac In the Footsteps of the Wooden Talion, published on the occasion of the theatre’s 60th anniversary. The publication is also available in the Digital Library of Slovenia.
