Slovenia gained its independence in 1991 and joined the European Union in 2004. This book
with its substantial introduction and four Slovene plays in translation makes a unique
contribution to an understanding of both the dramatic and theatrical history of this period of
enormous political change in Slovenia. The Great Brilliant Waltz (1985) by Drago Jancar was
written and produced when Slovenia was still part of the former Yugoslavia. This black comedy
is set in the mental hospital 'Freedom Sets Free' a metaphor for the totalitarian society of
the communist era. Draga Potocnjak is foremost among the few female playwrights in Slovenia.
Based on real events The Noise Animals Make is Unbearable (2003) shows a mentally retarded and
severely autistic Bosnian boy after soldiers kill his whole family in front of his eyes
leaving only his grandmother. Critics have seen the play as the best tribute that Slovene drama
has offered to the victims of the Bosnian war. The fabric of Dusan Jovanovic's comedy The
Boozski Clinic (1999) is the transition into capitalism. Losers on the edge of society
examples of the collateral damage of a newly capitalist society whose rules of operating they
do not wish to obey congregate in a small bar in a small town which used to be the pride of
the communist government. Matjaz Zupancic's play The Corridor (2004) is set in the corridor
outside a television studio where the 'reality' programme 'Big Brother' is being filmed. The
ever-present television camera in the studio represents current invisible but nonetheless
totalitarian power with its technical interference and controlling of individuals' lives.
