A Spanish nobleman, Don Juan Tenorio, if he had ever existed, could not have, even in his wildest dreams, imagined that in the centuries to come he would become the hero of numerous literary and musical works and a synonym for the eternal lover.
His countryman Tirso de Molina introduced him into the world of art at the beginning of the 17th century with the drama The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest.
One of the greatest dramatists of French and world literature, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Molière, took up the story of the ruthless seducer of women and the defiler of the dead—a theme widespread at the time—and in 1665 his five-act comedy Don Juan or the Feast of the Stone had its world premiere.
Placing the plot in Sicily, Molière drew on his Spanish predecessor and numerous legends circulating throughout the Iberian Peninsula about the eternal seducer, deceiver, and charmer, thus creating a masterpiece that has continued to intrigue theatre artists around the world with equal intensity to this day.
Molière’s drama balances between comedy and tragedy, and his Don Juan—beyond all his well-known characteristics—is acutely aware of his actions: a man who analyses and ironizes the moves of others as well as his own, unafraid to cross into the darker realms of human existence, thereby becoming a kind of tragic figure.
Curiously, Molière’s Don Juan has never before been staged at our theatre. Its first production there premiered at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb as a large-scale drama, directed by a guest from North Macedonia, Dejan Projkovski.
The production won the Croatian Theatre Award for Best Production in 2023. Dušan Bućan received the Croatian Theatre Award for his role as Sganarelle. Lovro Juraga received the “Zlatni Studio” Award in the “Best New Face” category for his role as the Young Man.
