Despite its small size, Slovenia prides itself on world-class creative life; it has managed to stay on the forefront of global trends in many fields, including theater. Over the years, some of the most innovative performances have been staged by the Slovenian Youth Theater in Ljubljana, a stage company that skillfully avoided many political pressures to become of the most interesting theaters Slovenia has ever known.

It was founded in 1955 as a theater for young people and did not get a permanent home until several years later, when it took over a building designed by the famed architect Jože Plečnik as a seminary. The first head of the theater was Balbina Battelino Baranovič, under whose leadership the theater adopted a thoroughly modern orientation – a trend that continued into the 1960s.

But it was in the 1970s when the theater became a truly avant-garde institution. Under the leadership of Dominik Smole, it began to attract some of the best actors and directors from the larger Slovenian Drama Theater. Unlike the prestigious Drama, which was under the watchful eyes of the Communist authorities, the lesser known Youth Theater was allowed more freedom. Creative directors such as Dušan Jovanović were allowed to stage experimental and political plays that would have been frowned upon at the Drama.

In the 1980s, the Youth Theater turned conventional stage aesthetics completely upside down with daring performances by Tomaž Pandur, Vito Taufer, and others. The company performed in cities from New York and Mexico City to Stockholm and Barcelona. For a while, its international reputation exceeded its popularity at home, and the acclaim allowed both its directors and actors to get away with risky, iconoclastic work.

The Youth Theater’s avant-garde reputation has continued after Slovenia’s independence. In 1998, the entire company was recognized by the Council of Europe as a Slovenian Ambassador of Culture. The small youth there had come of age – becoming one of Slovenia’s leading cultural brands.