Lada Kaštelan

Lada Kaštelan was born in 1961 in Zagreb, where she completed the Classical Gymnasium in 1979 and earned a degree in Classical Philology from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in 1983. In 1984, she completed her studies in Dramaturgy at the Academy of Dramatic Arts. While still a student, she began collaborating as a dramaturge on productions at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, where she worked as a dramaturge for the Drama Department from 1987 to 2007. In 2001, she began teaching Dramatic Writing at the Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she has been employed since 2007. Her literary debut was the poetry collection ‘Hrana za ptice’ (Food for Birds) in 1978, after which she focused on dramatic writing as an author, dramaturge, and translator. Her first play ‘A tek se vjenčali’ (They Just Got Married), premiered in 1980. This was followed by highly acclaimed family dramas such as ‘Adagio’ (1987), ‘Posljednja karika’ (The Last Link), ‘Giga i njezini’ (Giga and Her People) (1997), based on Begović’s novel, and the exemplary feminist drama ‘Prije sna’ (Before Sleep) (2005). She has also authored numerous film and television scripts, and her translations and adaptations of Greek tragedies have been particularly notable, including ‘Helena Alkestida’ (Helen Alcestis), ‘Feničanke’ (The Phoenician Women), ‘Trilogija o Agamemnonu’ (The Agamemnon Trilogy), and others.