Slovenia’s stage queen wins theatre’s highest honor
Nataša Barbara Gračner, a leading Slovenian actress and director, is the winner of this year's Borštnik Ring for lifetime achievement in theatre acting. She will receive the coveted accolade at the closing ceremony of the Maribor Theatre Festival on 15 June.
Announcing the winner, the judging panel praised Gračner as an "acting great" and a personification of the highest values of theatre art by virtue of her "artistic consistency, emotional persuasiveness and mental acuity" for three decades, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.
They noted her ability to create emotional tension with a small gesture, a glance or a pause.
"Her acting method is based on deep dramaturgical analysis, organic emotional responsiveness and a remarkable sense of the tempo and rhythm of the role."
A key member of Slovenia's leading theatre, the SNG Drama Ljubljana, Gračner has appeared in more than 200 roles in the theatre, film, radio and television. All of them are in-depth character studies.
She started acting as a student at the Ljubljana Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television, where she now teaches. She first made a mark as a member of the Mladinsko Theatre ensemble, before joining SNG Drama Ljubljana in 1998, creating a number of memorable roles.
The productions featuring her made guest appearances at theatre stages across Europe, America and Asia and she has received a number of awards, including nine at the Maribor Theatre Festival, the Prešeren Fund Prize and several other film and international awards.
The 56-year-old actress said she was grateful to have joined the winners of what is the greatest Slovenian thespian award.
"I hope to be able to continue in this way, for my work to make a mark," she said.
She became actress by coincidence. A decisive moment was when her mother made her see the play Ela at the Glej experimental theatre.
"I had no interest in the theatre until then ... but when I came home, I thought how was it possible that someone I didn't know, a stranger, could touch me so deeply, how was it possible that they could enter me so intensely. That's when I somehow realised that this is what I would like to do to other people," she said.
Gračner believes art and the theatre are more important than ever today. "In this world, you can't really exist without art anymore. It's not a privilege, it's basic human nourishment." She advised her younger colleagues "not to act to be seen or to please, but to act because you have something to say".
The Borštnik Ring, named after Slovenia's first professional actor Ignacij Borštnik (1858-1919), is given out alternately to an actor and an actress. Last year it went to Branko Šturbej, a member of the same theatre ensemble as Gračner, and one of the judges this year.
The 60th Maribor Theatre Festival, Slovenia's foremost, will open on 2 June, featuring 12 Slovenian productions in the running for awards and local and foreign productions in the accompanying programme.
