Betontanc: WRESTLING DOSTOIEVSKY
Based on motifs from Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky’s novel Crime and Punishment
LIFE IS THE SWEETEST REVENGE
For 250 years, psychological realism has established certain nearly untouchable standards:
•Every protagonist must be described in detail—appearance, manner of speaking, and behavior.
•Knowing the protagonist’s past is essential since it holds all the reasons for their present actions.
•The protagonist must be entirely independent, meaning the author must withdraw completely, ensuring the reader or viewer can fully immerse themselves in the illusion and accept fiction as reality.
However, some authors have broken this sacred contract between the novel and the reader. What do we know about K.’s or Švejk’s childhood? Writers like Musil, Broch, and Gombrowicz unapologetically insert their own opinions into their novels because a protagonist is not just an imitation of a living being but a fictional entity—an experimental self.
Don’t get me wrong—I have no intention of belittling the viewer and their perfectly valid, albeit naive, desire to lose themselves in the imaginary world of a performance, sometimes even mistaking it for reality.
Yet, I am not convinced that the technique of psychological realism is the only or necessary tool for achieving this. A protagonist does not become less lifelike simply because certain biographical details are omitted. After all, creating a lifelike protagonist means reaching the core of their existential dilemma. That means digging into the fundamental situations, motives, and key words that shape them. This is why the performance does not explore reality—it explores existence.
And existence is not what has already happened. Existence is the vast field of human possibility—everything a person might become, everything they are capable of being, even if they themselves do not yet know it. Therefore, the protagonist and their world should be understood as a possibility—a world unlike any known reality, a radical and never-fulfilled potential of human life.
Credits
Director: Matjaž Pograjc
Creation and Performance: Betontanc
(Wrestling Raskolnikov: Primož Bezjak, Wrestling Sonja: Daša Doberšek, Wrestling Porfiry: Branko Jordan, Wrestling Polja: Andreja Kopač, Wrestling Dunja: Irena Kovačević, Wrestling Svidrigailov: Branko Potočan)
Music: Silence (Boris Benko, Primož Hladnik)
Lyrics: Boris Benko
Set Design: Sandi Mikluž, Matjaž Pograjc
Dramaturgy: Željko Hrs
Theory: Urša Zabukovec
Costume Design: Mateja Benedetti
Lighting Design: Tomaž Štrucl
Sound Design: Marijan Sajovic
Executive Producer: Ira Cecić
Tour Coordinator: Maja Vižin
Visual Identity: Phant&Puntza
Photography: Primož Bizjak
Hairstyling: Robert Štamcar
Costume Production: Dragica Janoševič
Translation of Texts: Sandra Žerjav, Mateja Gaber, Jure Novak
Language Editors:
•Slovenian: Mateja Dermelj
•English: Sandra Žerjav
Production: Bunker, Ljubljana, in collaboration with Schauspielhaus, Vienna
With the support of: KUD Opoka – Goriška Brda, L’animal a l’esquena (Centre de Creacio, Celrà)
Funded by: Ministry of Culture of Slovenia, City of Ljubljana
Performances
Premieres:
•World Premiere: January 4, 2004 – Studio Schauspielhaus, Vienna
•Slovenian Premiere: January 25, 2004 – Artistic Atelier, Ljubljana
Upcoming Performances: /
Past Performances:
•January 5 & 6, 2004 – Studio Schauspielhaus, Vienna
•January 26, 2004 – Artistic Atelier, Ljubljana
•August 2004 – Days of Poetry and Wine Festival, Medana
•November 10–13, 2004 – The Netherlands Tour
•June 1–3, 2005 – Stara mestna elektrarna – Elektro Ljubljana