Play: Kette
Zavod Novo mesto and the Janez Trdina Cultural Centre invite you to the opera musical Kette, taking place on Thursday, 1 October 2026, at 7.30 pm at the Janez Trdina Cultural Centre.
About the play
An opera musical in which the echo of Kette’s heart resounds and his lyrical soul is reflected.
The opera musical Kette is an extensive musical theatre work focusing on the poet Dragotin Kette (1876–1899), with particular emphasis on his connection to Novo Mesto. In addition to exploring the poet’s short and intense life, the work features an emotional love story that runs like a thread throughout the entire play and provides its dramatic tension. Although the poet Kette is at the centre of a tragic story, he also radiates a profound love of life and a strong desire to create. This is also the most powerful message conveyed by the libretto and music.
The play takes the audience from Kette’s grammar-school years in Ljubljana, marked by youthful playfulness, spiritedness and an extraordinarily mature struggle for Slovenian identity, through his relationship with his uncle, his conflicts with Bishop Missia and the teaching staff, to his arrival in Novo Mesto. In the music, the city comes to life as an optimistic and bright place, closely associated with Kette’s great love for Angela. This section highlights his poetry inspired by the Krka River, Novo Mesto’s Glavni trg and Kapitelj, while also tracing the events that influenced the poet’s departure for military service. In the second act, we witness the beginning of Kette’s illness during his military service, and his world gradually becomes less bright. Memories resurface and, at the height of renewed hope, Kette bids farewell. In the closing part of the musical, the protagonist conveys, through the libretto and music, profoundly positive thoughts that leave a lasting impression on the audience.
The play is in Slovenian, lasts two hours and includes an interval.
