9th Corpus

The Front Theatre of the 9th Corpus


An excerpt from the TV programme The Front Theatre of the 9th Corpus (The Corpus acting group), directed by Janez Drozg, produced by RTV Slovenija, 1977.

Danilo Turk – Joco speaking on the Corpus's acting group.

After a week of rehersals at the beginning of January 1944 the six-member acting group began to organize meetings across the Cerkljansko region. By March, when they settled in Cerkno, they had strengthened in numbers and already in April they went to Semič to attend the drama course there. Upon return they divided themselves into two acting groups that organized meetings across the Notranjska and Primorska regions, across Gorenjska and subsequently also in Benečija and Rezija. It was only in November 1944 that a unified acting group was established in Cerkno, which staged a number of one-act plays on the premises above the cinema hall. The former cinema hall of the Cerklje army barracks was refurbished and reopened in February 1945 with the gala production Meeting the Red Army, followed by a week of premieres. The choir conducting course of the 9th corpus was also organized in this building. When the Cultural Hall was torched by the Germans, the group continued organizing events across the Gorenjska and Primorska regions.


Danilo Turk Joco, Irma and Pavla Kacin, Janko Volčič Zajček, Jože Šebenik
the Acting group of the 9th Corpus
The happy trio: saxophone player Dušan Likar Ganjo, accordion player Jože Erjavec and guitarist Lev Ponikvar Levček
The making of stage scenery for the hall in Cerkno
Rehersals schedule for the acting group of the 9th corpus
Characteristics of the 9th corpus acting group members
The timetable for the choir conducting course of the 9th corpus in Cerkno