May 14, 2020 - The comic drama Laponija by Cristina Clemente and Marco Angelet, produced by the Croatian National Theater in Split and directed by Nenni Delmestre, will be performed on Monday, May 18 at 8 pm at HNK Split as the first play after the theater closed its doors on March 11. 

"As a gift to the audience that supported us for more than two months when the theater was closed and who in large numbers watched our virtual production on social networks, tickets for this play, as well as for all other programs that we will perform until the beginning of preparations for the 66th Split Summer, will be free," said the intendant of HNK Split Srećko Šestan for Dalmatinski Portal. 

Due to the high interest in tickets after the first announcements of this performance, and because of the significantly reduced capacity of the auditorium adjusted to the recommended protective measures, the drama ensemble of the Croatian National Theater Split will perform Laponija on Wednesday, May 20.  

"A great comedy ... a smart and witty play that speaks about serious issues with ease" is how theater critics assessed Split's Laponija after the premiere on Stage 55 in December 2019. Director Nenni Delmestre said for the premiere: "Genre-wise this is a comedy, but with very serious blades that drive into our intimate and social fabric. It is a drama with funny, witty remarks and reactions, but in which the wit stems from cultural differences that actually speak to some factual conditions."

The play immediately became a real theatrical hit on the Split stage, as before on the Catalan and Spanish stages. Laponija premiered in January 2019 in Barcelona, and at the end of the same year, the Split production followed. It will be performed for the 20th and 21st time on Monday and Wednesday.

At the center of the plot are two married couples. Spouses Monika (Monika Vuco Carev) and Robi (Siniša Novković) from Dalmatia (in the original text from Catalonia) come to visit Monika's sister Nela (Zorana Kačić Čatipović) who is married to Finn Olavi (Nikša Arčanin) and has been living in Finland. But instead of an idyllic Christmas family reunion in Santa's homeland, the characters enter a series of fierce dramatic conflicts for which, at first glance, the trigger is opposed to Mediterranean and Scandinavian mentalities, attitudes about raising children, about desirable and undesirable behavior.

Tickets will be available until Friday, May 15 at 10 am at the box office of HNK Split and on its website, until the capacity of the auditorium is filled.

The play will be played on a large stage in front of an auditorium whose maximum capacity, due to the recommended spacing measures, has been reduced to 187 spectators.

Spectators are asked to come to the show with protective masks. At the entrance to the theater, a body temperature check and the necessary disinfection of the hands and shoes of each visitor will be performed.

The HNK Split box office will be open twice on Friday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 am to 2 pm and from 4 pm to 8 pm, on Saturday from 10 am to noon, while it will be closed on Sunday.

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