IF YOU ARE HAPPY, anticelebration

The repetitive children’s song that was being diligently taught in kindergartens and primary schools, around the time when the idea of liberalism was being born in the collapsing Yugoslavia. I still remember how I tried to “shout my hurray” and create a feeling of that happiness, one of the first indoctrinations of the new, post-socialist ideology.

The performance If You’re Happy is a cultural and artistic anti-celebration. If celebration seeks to celebrate the illusion of a country, worth of dignity, anti-celebration examines what this dignity represents and what are its foundations. If the celebrations in our country are censored, it is precisely the opposite with anti-celebrations: they speak about the issues that the censors are trying to remove from celebrations. If celebration consists of a well-defined protocol, anti-celebration is charged with the experimental and ritual character.

I am glad that I had the honour to be directing this year’s anti-celebration. The political leaders, who will carry out social improvements based on its constructive criticism, will be grateful, and so will be the people who may recognize themselves in the mirror of their own miseries and the miseries of the others.

If you’re happy, shout hurray!

Andrej Jus, director

“Scenographic depiction of the so-called technical barriers or state fence was eliminated from this year’s Prešeren Day celebration, but the performance If You’re Happy dared to mention this invention, also addressing some other stereotypical ‘political issues’ (the role of ‘Brussels’ and the EU), or – again using a song – the cheap marketing trick ‘I am Slovenian – I am looking for solutions’. By these means, as well as by involving and deriding the statements by politicians, the creators translate their fascination with authority to a series of scenes reflecting a mix of anger, frustration, depression and understanding of the situation in a humorous way, thus creating one of the few theatrical interventions into the real that takes on criticism with gloves off.” Nenad Jelesijević, RTVSLO.si, February 29, 2016.

ČE SI SREČEN / IF YOU’RE HAPPY – trailer from Bunker Ljubljana on Vimeo.

Artists: Andrej Jus, Ana Duša, Špela Frlic, Nataša Živković, Polona Janežič, Brane Zorman
Director: Andrej Jus
On the stage: Ana Duša, Špela Frlic, Nataša Živković, Polona Janežič
Set and costume design: Urša Vidic
Music, musical arrangements, recording: Polona Janežič
Sound design: Brane Zorman
Vocals: Ana Duša, Nataša Živković, Polona Janežič
Voices of children: Borut Bončina, Jakob Žefran, Lara Bončina, Naja Novak Čehajič, Naomi Uma Zorman, Vid Žefran, Djuna Greta Vidrih, pupils of  Savo Kladnik primary school, Sevnica
Technical director and lighting design: Andrej Petrovčič
Design: Tanja Radež
Producer: Alma R. Selimović
Public relations: Tamara Bračič Vidmar
Produced by: Bunker, Ljubljana
Translation: Tadej Turnšek
Cover photo: Tina Kosec, Nada Žgank

The performance was created in the framework of the Connect Tapes project within the international network Create to Connect, funded by the EU programme Creative Europe, sub-programme Culture.

The performance is supported by: EU – Program Culture, Ministry for Culture of Slovenia, Ljubljana City Municipality

Tickets: 10 €, 7 € (pupils, students, elderly people)
Information and reservation: info@bunker.si