»History: the devil in us, in me, in you.«
(Peter Handke: Storm Still; MandićCircus, role no. 63)

Following the brilliant opening of MandićCircus performance on 6 May 2022 on the Main Stage of the Ljubljana Drama, we now present its reinterpretation, arranged for the Small Stage by the creators of the original production. MandićCircus project which includes dozens of roles from the beginning of Mandić’s professional acting career in 1996 until May 2021, set a mirror to itself immediately after its premiere. Realizing fully the power of the context and the circumstances of performing, the creative team with director Bojan Jablanovec has prepared a new staging – with an extra bit, suggested in the title to emphasise the most obvious difference, creating a field of intrigue and speculation about the difference itself and the reasons for the change of title. MandićCircus (dressed) is a reconsideration of the strategies of performance and the power of interpretation, as well as a test of Marko Mandić’s acting madness. As he set out of reinvent himself as a medium, an actor and the author of all the ninety-one roles he has played on the stage, he has (re)invented the role of the absolute actor testing the limits of his body and soul. If MandićCirkus is a nonchalant gesture of subjectivised history in which the actor “unreservedly confronts the actor and the performer, the artist and the impostor, the exhibitionist and the voyeur, the divine and the banal, the pathology of ambition and the misery of success”, MandićCircus (dressed) implies the same gesture, but with the power of a peculiarly comic, even farcical persiflage. With the surprising production of new meanings, it cuts into the very critique of the production of ideological fiction with new intensity.

Eva Kraševec

Roles in order of appearance
1_Joey, Horovitz: The Indian Wants the Bronx, d. M. Koležnik, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 1996
2_Herald / Chorus, Sofokles: Antigone, d. J. Lorenci, AGRFT, Mrtvo gledališče, LGL, 1996
3_Plunk, Williams: The Class Enemy, d. V. Zidar, AGRFT, 1997
4_God Dionysus, Bogdanovski: Bacchanalia, d. S. Horvat, PDG Nova Gorica, AGRFT, 1998
5_Orestes, Evripid: Iphigenia, d. M. Hočevar, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 1998
6_Marko, Borgeson, Long, Singer: The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged), d. B. Cavazza, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 1998
7_Aleš M., Zupančič: Vladimir, d. M. Zupančič, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 1999
8_Tommy, Welsh, Gibson: Trainspotting, d. E. M. Binder, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 1999
9_Ferdinad, Shakespeare: The Tempest, d. J. Kica, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2000
10_Andrija, Srbljanović: Family Stories, d. M. Latin, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2000
11_Actor, Three Products Noordung, d. D. Živadinov, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2000
12_Lucas, Barker: Ursula, d. J. Pipan, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2000
13_Cassio, Shakespeare: Othello, d. E. Miler, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2001
14_Apollo, Novak: Cassandra, d. D. Jovanović, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2001
15_Tinker, Kane: Cleansed, d. J. Lorenci, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2001
16_Christian, Vinterberg, Rukov, Hansen: The Celebration, d. M. Koležnik, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2001
17_Todd, Churchill: Far Away, d. M. Hočevar, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2002
18_Kostya, Głowacki: The Fourth Sister, d. S. Unkovski, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2002
19_Pig, Walsh: Disco Pigs, d. I. Djilas, Glej Theatre, 2002
20_Bob, Kureishi: Outskirts, d. M. Latin, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2002
21_Marko Mandić, Via Negativa: Starting Point Anger, d. B. Jablanovec, Via Negativa, 2002
22_Konstantin Gavrilovich Treplev, Chekhov: The Seagull, d. N. Milivojević, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2003
23_Orlando, Shakespeare: As You Like It, d. S. Horvat, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2003
24_Adam, LaBute: The Shape of Things, d. M. Koležnik, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2003
25_Jason, Müller: Medea Material, d. I. Buljan, Mini teater, Cankarjev dom, 2003
26_Jupien / Dechambre / Duc de Châtellereault, Proust: Remembrance of Things Past, d. D. Jovanović, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2004
27_Performer, Via Negativa: More, d. B. Jablanovec, Via Negativa, 2004
28_Hippolytus, Racine: Phaedra, d. F.-M. Pesenti, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2004
29_Prosecutor / Father Piasy, Dostojevski, Korun: The Brothers Karamazov, d. M. Korun, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2004
30_Tchrimekundan, Tibetan Ihamo Play: Tchrimekundan or The Unblinded, d. J. Lorenci, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2005
31_Fiance, Koltès: The March / Song og Songs, d. I. Buljan, Mini teater, HNK Reka, 2005
32_Ibn Tahir, Bartol: Alamut, d. S. Horvat, SNT Drama Ljubljana, Salzburger Festspiele, 2005
33_Marko Mandić, Via Negativa: Would Would Not, d. Bojan Jablanovec, Via Negativa, 2005
34_Serpuhovskoy, Tolstoj: Anna Karenina, d. D. Jovanović, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2006
35_Freder, Bruckner: Pains of Youth, d. M. Koležnik, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2006
36_Marko Mandić, Via Negativa: Viva Verdi, d. B. Jablanovec, Via Negativa, Kampnagel Hamburg, Eurokaz Zagreb, HNK Opera Zagreb, 2006
37_Polybus, Svetina: Oedipus in Corinth, d. I. Buljan, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2006
38_Osvald Alving, Ibsen: Ghosts, d. E. Miler, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2007
39_Strnen PhD, Cankar: Romantic Souls, d. S. Horvat, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2007
40_Friedrich Wetter, Count von Strahl, Kleist: Ordeal by Fire, d. F.-M. Pesenti, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2007
41_Baltasar, Hieng: The Conqueror, d. D. Jovanović, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2008
42_Louis, Lagarce: It’s Only the End of the World, d. P. Calvario, SNT Drama Ljubljana, Mini teater, Cie Philippe Calvario, 2008
43_Macbeth, Müller: Macbeth After Shakespeare, d. I. Buljan, Mini teater, Cankarjev dom, 2009
44_…, the one who ate his name, Mirčevska: The Gorge, d. A. Kovač, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2009
45_Peter, Horvat, Kopač, E. N. Lampič: A Passage to Jajce, d. S. Horvat, SNT Drama Ljubljana, SNT Nova Gorica , 2009
46_Al, Koltès: Sallinger, d. I. Buljan, Théatre National de Bretagne, Rennes, Mini teater, Kazalište Hotel Bulić, 2009
47_Marko Mandić, Via Negativa: Extract Mandić, Via Negativa, 2009
48_Marko Mandić, Via Negativa: Viva Mandić, d. B. Jablanovec, Via Negativa, 2009
49_De Flores, Middleton, Rowley: The Changeling, d. L. Davies, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2009
50_Roberto Zucco, Koltès: Roberto Zucco, d. P. Calvario, SNT Drama Ljubljana, Cie Philippe Calvario, 2009
51_Al, Salinger, Koltès: Ma & Al, d. I. Buljan, Mini teater, Kazalište Hotel Bulić, 2009
52_Mikhail Vasilievich Platonov, Chekhov: Platonov, d. V. Taufer, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2010
53_Volker, Sperr: Hunting Scenes from Bavaria, d. I. Buljan, PG Kranj, 2010
54_Maria Antoinetta, Maria Antoinetta, d. M. Filipčič, OSUM, 2010
55_The Beggar / The Confessor, Strindberg: To Damascus, d. A. Popovski, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2010
56_Bassanio, Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice, d. E. Miler, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2011
57_Urgentino, Barker: Scenes from an Execution, d. L. Davies, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2011
58_Marko Mandić, Via Negativa: MandićMachine, d. B. Jablanovec, Via Negativa, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2011
59_Karlinc, Šalamun: I, After Whom Ljubljana Can Be Named – Poker, d. I. Buljan, Mini teater, 2011
60_Leone Glembay, Krleža: The Noble Glembays, d. I. Buljan, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2012
61_Dealer, Koltès: In the Solitude of the Cotton, d. I. Buljan, Mini teater, MG Ptuj, EPK Maribor, 2012
62_Hamlet, Shakespeare: Hamlet, d. E. Miler, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2013
63_Gregor, “Jonatan”, Handke: Storm Still, d. I. Buljan, SNT Drama Ljubljana, SSG Trst, 2013
64_Marko, Rambert: Love’s End, d. I. Buljan, Mini teater, MG Ptuj, Zadar snova, 2013
65_Caligula, Camus: Caligula, d. V. Taufer, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2013
66_Performer Via Negativa: Last Rehearsal for the Generation, d. Bojan Jablanovec, SNT Drama Ljubljana, Via Negativa, 2014
67_Leo Naptha, Mann: The Magic Mountain, d. M. Koležnik, SNT Drama Ljubljana, SSG Trst, 2014
68_Maks, Cankar: The King of Betajnova, d. E. Miler, SNT Drama Ljubljana, Drama SNT Maribor, 2014
69_Hector, Homer: The Iliad, d. J. Lorenci, SNG Drama Ljubljana, MGL, Cankarjev dom, 2015
70_Tom Buchanan, Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby, d. I. Buljan, MGL, 2015
71_Vladan Vojnović: Yugoslavia, My Country, d. Ivica Buljan, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2015
72_He, the hunger, Hamsun: Hunger, d. J. Pipan, Mini teater, MG Ptuj, 2015
73_Bruno, Houellebecq: The Elementary Particles, d. I. Buljan, Dubrovačke ljetne igre, 2015
74_Pylade, Pasolini: Pylade, d. I. Buljan, La MaMa Theater New York, 2015
75_Tarzan, rokgre: Tarzan, d. E. N. Lampič, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2016
76_Atreus, Seneka: Thyestes, d. I. Buljan, Mini teater, Zadar snova, Silba Art radionice, 2016
77_Andrej Arnož, Jančar: Dissident Arnož and His Followers, d. D. de Brea, SNT Drama Ljubljana, Drama SNT Maribor, 2016
78_Andrei Nikolayevich Bolkonsky / Musician / Black Man / Soldier / Dead Man, Tolstoy: War and Peace, d. S. Purcărete, SNT Drama Ljubljana, MGL, Cankarjev dom, 2017
79_Actor, Bible, the First Attempt, d. J. Lorenci, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2017
80_Jerman, Cankar: The Serfs, d. J. Pipan, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2017
81_Marko Mandić, Jurišić, Mandić: Together, Via Negativa, Pekinpah, Kino Šiška, 2018
82_Roger / The old man, Genet: The Balcony, d. I. Buljan, Residenztheater München, 2018
83_Baron Naletel, Linhart: The Marry Day of Matiček’s Wedding, d. J. Kica, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2018
84_Poet / Hauptmann Sterngrüber / Interrogator, Svetina: In the Name of the Mother, d. I. Buljan, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2018
85_Licht, a clerk, Kleist: The Broken Jug, d. V. Taufer, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2019
86_Ryumin, Gorki: Summerfolk, d. E. Titov, Salzburger Festspiele, 2019
87_He, Romero Nunes, Haug: Neverland, d. A. Romero Nunes, SNT Drama Ljubljana, Thalia Theater Hamburg, 2019
88_Actor, 2020, d. I. Buljan, SNT Drama Ljubljana, MGL, Cankarjev dom, 2020
89_Nihad, Mouawad: Scorched, d. N. Rajić Kranjac, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2020
90_Gleb Chumalov, Müller: Cement, d. S. Horvat, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2021
91_The Night Writer, Fabre: The Night Writer, d. J. Fabre, SNT Drama Ljubljana, 2021