by Marin Držić

translated into English by Filip Krenus

Thursday April 27, 5:00 pm (introduction), 6:00 pm (reading)

join us for tea or coffee from 4:30 pm

Berrick Saul Building, University of York

European Reading in Performance

The third of a series of three staged play readings of European texts that are inspired or influenced by Shakespeare or are by writers roughly contemporary to him.

Old Stan or A Fool Fooled by Marin Držić – the greatest Slavic Renaissance playwright and a Dubrovnik native – is a 1551 comedy about an old peasant Stan fooled by tales of false fairies whose magic supposedly restores youth. This delicious, sparkly play is written entirely in verse and was commissioned for a wedding feast of a Ragusan nobleman. Držić joked that nobody could marry without him in Dubrovnik. Translated for the first time in 471 years by Filip Krenus – again, entirely in verse – the play follows Stan’s misadventures we might associate with Bottom or even Falstaff. This comedy is a riotous proof of Držić’s uncanny kinship with Shakespeare.

The translation is published by The House of Marin Držić.

This staged reading of A Fool Fooled is directed by Jacob Ward and will be followed by a Q&A with the translator Filip Krenus, scholar Professor Wendy Bracewell, and members of the cast.

The reading at 6:00 pm is preceded at 5:00 pm by an introduction to the work of Marin Drzic and to his life in Dubrovnik – known then as Ragusa – in the 16th century. With Professor Wendy Bracewell (University College London), ) Nikša Matić, Director of The House of Marin Držić in Dubrovnik, and translator Filip Krenus.

Detailed Timetable

4.30 Tea and coffee served in the HRC foyer

5.00 Short welcome to the university/HRC from Erica Sheen/Richard Ogden 

5.10 Introduction

5.45 Interval

6.00 Reading

7.00 Wine reception in the HRC foyer

Tickets to the reading and the introduction are free but places must be booked using the link below, as space is limited

Book for this event

We are grateful to the Humanities Research Centre at the University of York for hosting this event.