ON THE DIRECTORS OF THE POSTGAVELLIAN GENERATION AFTER 30 YEARS

At the 11th Hvar Theatre Conference, in May 1983, the author gave the paper on four Gavella’s disciples and his followers, the members of so called ‘Zagreb Theatre Cartel’ (Dino Radojević, Kosta Spaić, Božidar Violić, Georgij Paro), and on two directors who worked in theatre in the same period, but did not belong to the informal Cartel (Vladimir Habunek, Mladen Škiljan). Giving this paper after almost three decades, in the Part I he re-examines his previous evaluation and interpretation of their personal aesthetics and their contribution to the Croatian theatre in 1960-es and 1970-es. In the Parts II and III he analyzes changes on the Croatian political and cultural scene and the influence of these changes on institutional position and artistic authority of these six directors in Croatian theatre, especially in the late 1980-es and the early 1990-es. Part IV is dedicated to the three deceased directors (Radojević, Habunek, Spaić) and one who has retired from theatre (Škiljan). The work of two still active directors (Violić, Paro), decreasing in quantity since 1980-es to the present, is considered in the Part V. The focus is on Paro’s constant interest in plays and novels by Miroslav Krleža, and on Violić’s work with younger playwright and composer Mate Matišić. The conclusion is given in the Part VI