Alisa, Alice

‘Alisa, Alice’ is a humanely cruel and deeply moving drama, full of passion and desire. The clash of two cultures – two worlds – is described with psychological accuracy and depth. Alisa, a young Muslim refugee scarred by the Balkan war finds shelter with Magda, a representative of the common so-called civilised but self-destructive and self-loving western world. Magda, through the sadism arising from her despair and loss of purpose, her psychological confusion, causes the suicide of Alisa. Their relationship permeated as much with love as with hatred, is decanted through the dictatorship of language into a miraculous, irrational and mysterious atmosphere. In places, the style of the play is reminiscent of Pinter’s comedy of menace. The realistically based dramatic events are firmly grounded in a recognisable and actual contemporaneity. Poetic ambiguity facilitates universal interpretation, and here and there extends to the magical and surreal.

Dragica Potocnjak, began working in the theatre as an actor. She performed the leading roles in about ten films for cinema and TV. In 1992 she started to write for theatre and radio. Her plays have been performed at Slovenia’s major theatres, including Slovenia’s National theatre. she has recently won an award in Austria in a competition for the best Slovene play (her most recent one, Empty Shoes), and that her plays are performed abroad, at the moment in Germany and Austria. This translation into English is the first of the work of a female Slovene playwright.
Lesley Wade is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter and Co-editor of Studies in Theatre and Performance. Previously she has translated and published three plays by Slovenia’s leading contemporary playwright, who is also a director at the National theatre. She brings to this project a 34-year acquaintance with this small country and its concerns, and an acquired knowledge of its language.

Author’s Preface
Alisa, AliceTranslator’s Afterword