Maja Haderlap

The Angel of Oblivion

Photo: Peter Uhan

Slovene National Theatre Drama Ljubljana

Première: 14 March 2014, Slovene National Theatre Drama Ljubljana
Running time 1 hour and 40 minutes. No interval.

Original title Engel des Vergessens

Translator Štefan Vevar
Director Igor Pison
Dramaturg Eva Kraševec
Stage designer Petra Veber
Costume designer Belinda Radulović
Composer Laren Polič Zdravič
Language consultant Tatjana Stanič
Lighting designers Petra Veber, Igor Pison

Cast
She Barbara Cerar
Grandmother, Mother Saša Pavček
Father Janez Škof

The début novel of poetess and dramaturg Maja Haderlap The Angel of Oblivion (2011) reflects the life of several generations of the author’s family. Through intimate poetry, the novel speaks of the significance of the Partisan movement in the Austrian province of Carinthia. The story encompasses the period from WWII to the present. The author’s memories give birth to the child-like imagery of the idyllic life in the village of Železna Kapla intertwined with the grandmother’s bitter stories of the war horrors, the life in concentration camps and the powerful Partisan movement in Carinthia. Through a close and delicately described relation between the grandmother and granddaughter, we gain insight into the life of the generations before and after the war.
The Angel of Oblivion speaks with poignant frankness on the fates of the locals. Many met their end in concentration camps, leaving behind mainly stories. The others, narrators, have come back with the burden of memories that cannot be put aside.