Sunday 4th May, 3:00pm-6:00pm
York St John University Creative Centre Auditorium
£15 Standard
£15 Pass It On! (purchase a ticket for a member of our refugee and asylum seeker community who would otherwise be unable to attend this event)
£5 Student (available for students with a valid ID card)
Marin Držić—poet, playwright, political thinker, and actor—is the father of Croatian theatre. He died in Venice in May 1567, just a week after young William Shakespeare celebrated his third birthday. Like Shakespeare, Držić wrote largely in verse, drawing inspiration from classical sources such as Plautus while infusing his work with sharp wit, playful satire, and a deep love for his birthplace—Ragusa, now Dubrovnik.
His plays capture the spirit of the city, from sparkling short comedies for weddings and festivities to full-length works for Dubrovnik’s acting troupes. A master of intrigue, mistaken identity, and social critique, Držić’s work bridges the Renaissance world and the sharp humour of modern theatre.
Now, thanks to actor and series translator Filip Krenus—working in collaboration with the House of Marin Držić in Dubrovnik—we have the first-ever English translations of Držić’s plays. We are thrilled to present the premiere readings of these vibrant new texts.
As part of this festival, we bring you fresh translations of Skup (Pinch Hoard) and Venus and Adonis. Joining us for discussions and staged readings will be Nikša Matić from the House of Marin Držić, translators Filip Krenus and Wendy Bracewell, as well as actors and directors from York. Together, we will delve into the wit, energy, and sheer theatricality of Držić’s world—on the page and on the stage.
15:00 – An introduction to Marin Držić
by Filip Krenus and Nikša Matić
15:30 – PINCH HOARD: Marin Držić’s Comic Gold in English, directed by Claire Morley
The York Shakespeare Festival is proud to present Pinch Hoard, a lively and razor-sharp Renaissance comedy by Marin Držić, brought to dazzling life in English by Filip Krenus. This marks the latest in Krenus’s acclaimed translations of Držić, following Uncle Maroye and Old Stan or a Fool Fooled. In Pinch Hoard, we step into the bustling streets of old Dubrovnik, where misers count their coins, lovers plot their escape, and crafty servants turn the world upside down.
Written in 1555, Držić’s comedy brims with an energy that feels startlingly modern, full of the same themes and even phrasings that Shakespeare would later weave into his own works. Here, too, we find the battle between youth and age, the folly of unchecked greed, the delicious wit of servants outsmarting their masters, and fortune’s habit of rewarding the bold. With a plot that gleefully tangles deception, romance, and comic reversals, Pinch Hoard stands as both a Renaissance treasure and a timeless delight.
Krenus’s translation ensures that Držić’s spirit leaps off the page and onto the stage, making his Dubrovnik as vivid and immediate as any Shakespearean London. By rendering all names into English, he invites audiences to experience the play with the same clarity and immediacy as its first spectators—allowing its humour, charm, and biting social satire to shine through unfiltered.
A miser, a pot of gold, and a host of mischievous hands eager to tip the scales of fate—what could possibly go wrong? Enjoy the ride, and welcome to Pinch Hoard!
16:30 – Break
17:00 – An introduction to Venus and Adonis with Wendy Bracewell and Filip Krenus
17:15 – VENUS AND ADONIS AND WILL AND ALICE, directed by Philip Parr
Step into the world of playful gods and wild mortals in Marin Držić’s sparkling comedy set against the pastoral backdrop of Dubrovnik countryside, where Venus, the goddess of love, pursues the painfully beautiful and even more painfully indifferent Adonis, but not without the meddling of wildings who interpret the divine spectacle in their own bawdy way.
Never before translated into English, Venus and Adonis is an extraordinarily unique work in the history of Renaissance drama.
It sounds familiar because it is: predating Shakespeare’s poem of the same name and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it displays Držić’s mastery of both comedy and myth. Brace yourself for a divine romance laced with earthy mirth and a touch of mischief!
