Over the past two years, Tina Vrbnjak has distinguished herself as a nuanced and insightful interpreter of complex female characters, navigating diverse directorial styles, performance techniques, and dramatic frameworks. With remarkable sensitivity and originality, she explores the historical portrayal of women and their societal roles, challenging conventions and shedding new light on these narratives. Her performances are meticulously crafted, bringing to life rich, multidimensional and complex characters. She effortlessly conveys a spectrum of emotions—from tenderness and vulnerability to strength, confidence, courage, wit, and even cruelty—imbuing each role with depth and authenticity.
As Hannah in the stage adaptation of The Great Dictator, she balances tenderness, effervescence, and melancholy, staying true to the burlesque style of the production while elevating it through her strikingly minimalist yet expressive performance. In How a Tree Fell, a deeply ensemble-driven piece of documentary naturalism, she infuses her character, Anita, with an unpretentious yet sharp sense of humour and impeccable comic timing, skillfully navigating the tensions between empathy with her life partner and maintaining ties with her primary family.
Her keen and refined understanding of contemporary performance practices is evident in The Mrakiad and The Day I Was No Longer Me, where she seamlessly transitions between observer, narrator, and character, embodying both collective and individual storytelling with equal finesse. As Viola in Twelfth Night, or What You Will, and Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac, she redefines classical roles, moving beyond conventional interpretations. Instead of portraying Viola merely as a love-struck girl or Roxane as an almost passive figure in a male-dominated world, she presents them as intelligent, multifaceted, inimitable women who challenge both themselves and the audience to reconsider the role of the modern woman.
Her creative and deeply engaged artistry has reached its peak in Alice: Alice: Some Solilogues on the Unbearableness of Time. In this original project, she embodies Alice with a distinctively dark comedic touch, offering a poignant exploration of an actress’s inner world. Through an array of existential questions on life, art, and the essence of autonomy, both personal and societal, she crafts a performance that is as thought-provoking as it is captivating.
