192

Amfiteater, letn. 12, št. 1, 2024
UDK 792.02(497.4Ljubljana) „193“:82.09-293.2
82.09-293.2:792.02(497.4Ljubljana) „193“
DOI 10.51937/Amfiteater-2024-1/174-194
Abstract
The essay outlines two Ljubljana productions of Edmond Audran’s operetta La Mascotte,
both directed by Bratko Kreft (1905–1996) with set design by Vasilj Uljaniščev (1887–1934).
The story of a peasant girl who, as a mascot, is supposed to bring happiness to everyone
around her if she does not marry was first staged in Paris in 1880, with music by Audran
and libretto by Alfred Duru and Henri Chivot. It premièred on 9 November 1930 on the
stage of the Ljubljana Opera House, and under the same direction, two years later, in the
open air at Ljubljana’s Tivoli Park (première 8 September 1932). La Mascotte was one of
the first performances on Slovenian professional stages designed according to avantgarde concepts. Kreft adapted it to the then-current political as well as artistic, theatrical
and film conditions. He replaced some of the original characters with those caricaturing
the politician Benito Mussolini, the comedian Charlie Chaplin and others. He even added
a fictional character of a delegate to the League of Nations. He created the modern
commedia dell’arte, which immediately became a theatrical hit.

Keywords: scenography, operetta, open-air theatre, historical avant-garde, Slovenian
modern art, caricature, Bratko Kreft, Benito Mussolini
Ana Kocjančič (1977), MA, is an art historian, curator, gallerist and researcher of the history
of scenography in Slovenia. In 2006, she completed her master’s degree with the thesis
Scenography in Slovenian Drama Theaters between the World Wars (1918–1941) at the
Department of Art History at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. Since then, she
has been researching the history of Slovenian scenography and its connection with the
development of Slovenian fine arts and the effects of European theatre movements
and European fine art on its development. She is a professional assistant in the field of
scenography and theatrical techniques in the emergence of a new theatre terminological
dictionary and the co-author of a published edition (2008) at the Slovenian Academy of
Sciences and Arts (SASA/SAZU) in Ljubljana. She is the author of the 2018 monography
Prostor v prostoru. Scenografija na Slovenskem od 17. stoletja do leta 1991 (Space Within
Space. Scenography in Slovenia from the 17th century to 1991) and many articles, exhibitions,
television and radio shows on the development of Slovenian scenography.
ana.kocjancic77@gmail.com

Operetta La Mascotte (The Girl of Happiness),
directed by Bratko Kreft
Ana Kocjančič
Academy of Fine Arts and Design, University of Ljubljana

Summary
This article outlines two performances of Edmond Audran’s operetta La Mascotte,
both directed by Bratko Kreft (1905–1996) and with set design by Vasilj Uljaniščev
(1887–1934). Kreft first premièred La Mascotte on the opera stage in Ljubljana (9
November 1930). Two years later (8 September 1932), he transferred its adaptation
to the meadows of Ljubljana’s Tivoli Park. The story of a peasant girl – the mascot,
who is supposed to bring happiness to everyone around her if she does not marry –
was first staged in Paris in 1880, with music by Audran and libretto by Alfred Duru
and Henri Chivot.
La Mascotte was Kreft’s directorial debut in Slovenian professional theatres and one
of the first performances in Slovenia designed by avant-garde concepts. Kreft adapted
the play to the then-current political satire and artistic, theatrical and film conditions.
He turned the 19th-century romantic operetta into a musical and, with some theatrical
gags, into a comic operetta.
The stage setting of La Mascotte was simplified with a few raised platforms, stage traps
and a special scenic element of the “wheel of fortune” with intertitles “happiness”,
“sadness” and “bad luck”. The wheel rotated according to the situation and helped
increase the dynamics of the play. Another new scenic element was a ladder hanging
from above, on which the acrobats climbed. The entire stage design pointed to the
Russian avant-garde performances of Alexander Tairov and Vsevolod Meyerhold.

The performance was even more interesting in terms of costumes. Kreft changed
the theatrical costumes and masks into caricatures of politicians and film actors,
such as Italian leader Benito Mussolini and the comedians Charlie Chaplin and Pat
and Patachon. With such caricatured costumes, Kreft protested against the growing
fascism in the Julian March, which until 1920 was partially within the Slovenian
territory. He was actually the first theatre director to put a caricature of Mussolini

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on the Slovenian theatre stage. At the same time, the caricature of the Italian Duce
appeared in Slovenian art in the caricatures by Hinko Smrekar and in the church wall
paintings in the Julian March by Tone Kralj.

In La Mascotte, Kreft also increased the number of actors with the new role of the
delegate of the League of Nations and the role of a boxer. The role of the delegate of the
League of Nations was also Kreft’s reaction to other political situations as well, such
as the fascist liquidation of Slovenian people near Bazovica in 1930. He further spread
anti-fascist propaganda in the open-air production La Mascotte at Tivoli Park, where
he cast over 150 extras costumed as soldiers, cyclists and gunmen and staged a battle
involving machine guns and mountain cannons. Gun bangs and grenade explosions
increased the feeling of the war front.

In the article, the author notes that director Bratko Kreft successfully disguised his
critique of fascism and politics in the 19th-century operetta La Mascotte and created
a stage caricature perfectly understood by the audience and critics. However,
nevertheless, the critics did not dare to write about it as an anti-fascist performance,
as they would risk their own prosecution. Through costumes and added effects, the
operetta La Mascotte showed more than words were allowed to express.