ENTHUSIASTS TOURED THE VOLKSTEATER

The two days long touring of the Yugoslav Drama Theatre within the program the Best from the East! (Die Besten aus dem Osten!),organized by the Viennese Volkstheater, was last night successfully terminated. The play Enthusiasts (Sanjari), by the Austrian playwright Robert Musille and directed by Milos Lolich, held the central place in both of the evening programmes, 26th and 27th February, taking the audience by heart. Tickets for both evenings were sold out. A filled hall of the Volkstheater Hundsturm followed the play's story in complete silence, greeting the cast with a long and intense applause on the end.
The mini-festival was opened by the director of Volkstheater Michael Schotenberg, who greeted his guests and called the Serbian Ambassador Milovan Božinović to speak to the audience. The program Best from the East! is regularly organized every half a year by the Volkstheater, dedicating it each time to another country. So, this 6th
edition of the festival was entirely dedicated to a presentation of Serbia. Besides the playing of Etnhusiasts, the mini-festival also presented authors who connect the two cultural environments through their work. Barbi Markovic and Sandra Gugic read parts of their works – Barbi Markovic from her novel Izlaženje (Ausgehen), which gained its popularity in Austira immediately after translation into German (published in Serbia by Redne). Sandra Gugic read from her prose Eine kurze Geschichte über eine lange Fahrt (Kratka istorija jednog dugog putovanja), which have been awarded by the Austrian Award for Literature. The actors of the Volkstheater presented parts of the novel Veliki fajront (the Big Ending) by Emilija Andrejević, and a part of the drama Pomorandžina kora (the Orange Peel) by Maja Pelević.

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The Play About Mirjana and the Ones Around Her

The first performance of the play by a young Croatian playwright Ivor Martinic, The Play About Mirjana and the Ones Around Her, directed by Iva Milosevic, will take place on Bojan Stupica Stage on February 18th. The cast comprises Mirjana Karanovic, Jelena Petrovic, Branka Petric, Marko Bacovic, Andjelika Simic, Fedja Stojanovic, Cvijeta Mesic and Bojan Lazarov.

The main character (Mirjana) lives in a time of her own, and the other characters gravitate around her, appearing when she thinks of them. As the life has grown faster, people do more living or they believe they do more living and somehow it all turns into a chaotic state in which it is not always clear what has happened and if it has happened at all. Even our relations with people are different between themselves, we are open to some, we cheat others and love yet others. The question is who we are or whether we are only what we are in relations with other people, when we are only what the people around us are themselves.

Ivor Martinic

I like the title of The Play About Mirjana and the Ones Around Her. The play creates a world that is completely unreal, composed of Beckettesque feelings of a lack of meaning of living. It allows us to project our repressed feelings of anxiety about absence of something very important in our lives onto the characters and thus draw the hidden up to the surface. What the actors and I work with is observing the extreme in seemingly non-dramatic lives. We call our characters ‘the little people’. They agree to moderation of lives that leads to complete mechanisation and objectification of being, whose effect is forgetting how to communicate with other beings, sinking into repetition, into a life as an imitation of a series of everyday rituals that follow an imposed script. You copy without even realising why you do it. The art of enjoying the diversity can bring about the fullness of living. One mustn’t fear being different, one must learn from it. The backbone that carries us will not be lost through that. On the contrary!

Iva Milosevic

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Enthusiasts in Vienna

Following the great success at Bitef Festival (Grand Prix Mira Trailovic) the play Enthusiasts by Robert Musil, directed by Milos Lolic, has been invited to the international festival The Best of the East organised by Volkstheater from Vienna (Austria). The goal of the festival is to promote the new vision of theatre and new playwriting from South, East and Central Europe. The first Festival took place two years ago. The rhythm of this festival is somewhat uncommon in our region, but is increasingly present at European festivals. The plays are not shown in blocks, but instead during two different weekends within a theatre season. Theatres from Romania, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia have been presented so far. This is the first presentation of a Serbian theatre at this Festival. We would like to remind you that the festivals of similar orientation, e.g. Biennale of Bonn and Wiesbaden Festival entitled New European Plays, or for example the competition of MBH from Vienna, have significantly contributed to promoting Serbian theatre and Serbian playwriting.

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On Tuesday, January 26th, at eight PM, Biljana Srbljanovic at Burgtheater

Burgtheater (Vienna, Austria) organises a series of talks Kakania – a New Poets’ Republic with relevant writers who make a significant contribution to freedom of speech and understanding between peoples of Europe. The third talk in this series will be with our playwright Biljana Srbljanovic, at 8 PM on Tuesday, January 26. Moderator of the talk is Michael Fleischhacker, editor of the influential ‘Die Presse’. Two previous talks were held with the Hungarian writer Peter Nadas and Polish writer and journalist Andrzej Stasiuk.

The term ‘Kakania’ is borrowed from Musil’s novel Man Without Qualities as a metaphor for spiritual and geographical space of Austro-Hungarian monarchy, which could also be viewed as a spiritual space of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe in the context of spreading European ideas and spiritual and cultural meeting of European peoples.

Under the management of a new and ambitious manager, director Mathias Hartman, Burgtheater has once more become one of the most visited, most artistically provocative and media covered among all Viennese theatres, with projects (Kakania – a New Poets’ Republic among them) that try to view a broader social and cultural context of its community.

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FESTIVALS AND AWARDS

The Yugoslav Drama Theatre began the Season of 2009/2010 with success by its participation on the 43rd BITEF Festival, when it received the Grad Prix „Mira Trailović” for the play Sanjari (The Enthusiasts).
Beside three successful premieres in this season – the La Dispute (Rasprava) by Pierre de Marivaux, directed by our guest from Romania Alexandru Darie, Nowhere for Now, written by the contemporary playwright Ana Lasić and directed by Dina Radoman, and Shakespeare’s pastoral comedy As You Like It, directed by Slobodan Unkovski, – the YDT has participated on the many international festivals. YDT has performed on the MESS Festival in Sarajevo, showing the play Kandid ili Optimizam (Candide or Optimism) as well ason the Autumn Festival, Festival de Otono, playing the Phaedra’s Love. There were also many local festivals touring. The YDT participatedin the festival, „Borini pozorišni dani – Ženska stvar?“ in Vranje with the play It Had To Be So (Tako je moralo biti), where it received the Audience’s Prize for the Best play and the actress Anita Mančić got the Award for best performance. After this, the YDT participated on the theatre marathon held in Leskovac for the first time.
This year, the actress Anita Mančić also receive the prestigious biennial award for performance in the field of comic „Ljubinka Bobić“, for her role of Dorine in YDT’s play Tartuffe. The director Egon Savin received for the third time the Award “Bojan Stupica” for the best directorship, this time for the play So It had to Be (Tako je moralo biti). Last time he got it was also for the YDT production, The Merchant of Venice.
The YDT actor Vojislav Brajović was given the award Dobričin prsten (Dobrica Ring), which is the highest actor’s prize given for life achievements.

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PROMOTION OF THE BOOK JUGOSLOVENSKO DRAMSKO POZORIŠTE – SAMIM SOBOM (THE YUGOSLAV DRAMA THEATRE – BY ITSELF)
The book written by Dragan S.V. Babić The Yugoslav Drama Theatre – By Itself (Jugoslovensko dramsko pozorište – samim sobom) will be presented to the public on Tuesday, 22nd December at 1 o’clock at the stage Studio YDT.
Direct testimonies of around forty significant artists, from a range of generations, who have contributed to the building of the theatre’s identity by their creations, were recorded and compiled by Dragan S.V. Babić on the beginning of 2008, during his work on the making of the documentary film trilogy about the Yugoslav Drama Theatre on the occasion of its 60th anniversary. Now the integral video-recordings of these dialogues have been transformed into this book.
Dragan S.V. Babić will talk about the book and the circumstances around it together with Mirjana Karanović, Goran Šušljik, Jovan Ćirilov, and the editors Gojko Tešić and Jelena Kovačević.
The book is a joint publishing venture made by Službeni glasnik and the Yugoslav Drama Theatre.

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VOJISLAV BRAJOVIĆ RECEIVES THE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD ‘DOBRIČIN PRSTEN’

Vojislav Brajović received the Dobričin Prsten (Dobrica’s Ring) Award, awarded to actors for their overall work – lifetime achievement.
Jury members: prof. Predrag Bajčetić, Mira Banjac, Predrag Ejdus, Dušan Kovačević, prof. dr. Ljiljana Mrkić-Popović, prof. Vladimir Stamenković (president of the Jury), mr Ksenija Šukuljević Marković and honorary member dr. Ivana Simeonović Ćelić as a representative of the Philip and Madlena Zepter Fund, general sponsor of all events related to Dobricin Prsten Award – reached the decision on December 9th 2009 with majority of votes.

Vojislav Brajovic will receive the award on Saturday, December 26th, at noon, at Yugoslav Drama Theatre.

The award consists of: replica of the golden ring owned by Dobrica Milutinović that this actor received in 1937 from the Association of Actors of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the original of which is kept at the Museum of Theatre Art of Serbia, a unique parchment diploma, the work of painter and set designer Geroslav Zarić, and a monograph about the laureate.

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EGON SAVIN RECEIVED THE AWARD „BOJAN STUPICA“ FOR HIS DIRECTORSHIP OF THE PLAY TAKO JE MORALO BITI (IT HAD TO BE SO)

The award „Bojan Stupica“ for best directorship, given by the Serbian Union of Drama Artists was this year given to Egon Savin for the play Tako je moralo biti by Branislav Nušić. It has been on the repertoire of the Main Stage „Ljuba Tadić“ since the 6th June 2007.

The jury, which consisted of: Predrag Bajčetić (the President of the jury), professor Vesna Jezerkić, professor Boško Milin, professor Slavenko Saletović and the actress Ružica Sokić, came to a joint decision to honour Egon Savin for his directorship of this play. The winner was chosen among nine plays which had their premiere in the professional Serbian theatres in the interval 1.4.2007-31.3.2009.
The award „Bojan Stupica“ has been given 29 times and this is the 3rd time that our renown director has received it. The first time it was given for the play Laža i paralaža by Jovan Sterija Popović in the SNP Novi Sad, then in 2004 for the play Mletački trgovac/The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare in the YDT.
The award „Bojan Stupica“ was established in 1970. It consists of a bronze plaque with the portrait of Bojan Stupica, made by the hand of the sculptor Stevan Bodnarov, then a unique diploma (work of the painter Geroslav Zarić) and a sum of money. The award ceremony will find place on the beginning of the new theatrical season, by the beginning of October 2009. 

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‘LJUBINKA BOBIC’ AWARD TO ANITA MANČIĆ

On Tuesday, December 15, Anita Mančić will receive the Ljubinka Bobićc Award for the part of Dorine in the play Tartuffe by Moliere, directed by Egon Savin. The ceremony will take place on Ljuba Tadić Stage.

This award, established in memory of Ljubinka Bobićc, an actress memorable for her ethics and ability to perfect the parts she played with exciting details, to enrich her acting with novel elements in the fields of movement, speech and facial expression, of the comic and comedy in general, is awarded biannually for the best acting achievement in comedy. Ljubinka Bobić Award consists of a plaque with the portrait of Ljubinka Bobićc, a unique parchment diploma and a monetary grant.

President of the jury, Jelisaveta Seka Sablićc, will award the prize after the performance of Tartuffe at Yugoslav Drama Theatre.

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‘KONSTANTIN OBRADOVIĆ AWARD’

Actress Mirjana Karanović has been awarded this prize, established in the year 2000 by Belgrade Human Rights Centre, for her contribution to furthering the culture of human rights. The jury consisting of Filip David, dr Vojin Dimitrijević and dr Vesna Pešić made a unanimous decision with the explanation that Mirjana Karanović has persistently and consistently contributed to raising the culture of human rights in Serbia and the entire region. ‘She has done it by emotionally and convincingly portraying women who suffered severe damage inflicted by people’s hatred and indifference, and also as a citizen who has not shied away from stepping out of her profession and speaking publicly in an effort to improve the society she lives in.’

‘Konstantin Obradović’ Award was established by Belgrade Centre for Human Rights in order to honour the memory of its founder and a longstanding deputy director, professor dr Konstantin Obradović, one of the leading Yugoslav and international experts on international humanitarian law and an active fighter for human rights, who died on March 10th 2000.

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ALL AWARDS WENT TO THE PLAY SO IT HAD TO BE BY THE YDT ON THE 29TH BORA’S THEATRE DAYS IN VRANJE

The play Tako je moralo biti by Branislav Nušić, directed by Egon Savin, has received the award for the Best play according the audience. The actress Anita Mančić won the Acting Prize for her role of Jela on the recently terminated festival 29th “Borini pozorišni dani” (16-26th October 2009).

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AS YOU LIKE IT – PREMIERE ON THE MAIN STAGE „LJUBA TADIĆ“

The play Kako vam drago brings onto the stage of the YDT strong and contrasted emotions of love and hate: brothers hating and then loving each other, or sisters that are not real sisters but love each other as if they were. There are love sorrows of the girl Sheppard, a fight for the  inheritances and fear of the loss of the regal throne... As You Like It is a lovely, pastoral, romantic comedy presenting both the urban and the rural factor, with a nice small company from the woods. The identities are being interchanged in these woods, and also the Big dream of happiness, justice and love which is lost and then found again... As You Like It by William Shakespeare is a play with a lot of love, plenty of unexpected turns, and a dozen of reasons for both tears and laughs in the audience.  

This pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare is directed by Slobodan Unkovski, the Set designer is Miodrag Tabački, the Costume designer is Maja Mirković and the composer is Irena Popović. The play is being played by: Vojislav Brajović, Nebojša Glogovac, Nikola Đuričko, Nada Šargin, Sonja Kolačarić, Radovan Vujović, Boris Isaković, Marinko Madžgalj, Marko Baćović, Miodrag Radovanović, Dubravka Kovjanić, Milena Predić, Nikola Vujović…

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FOR NOW NOWHERE  – PREMIERE ON THE STAGE OF THE STUDIO YDT

Fantasies, nightmares, reality and fear... Fear... of letting go, of love, happiness, fear of the confrontation with oneself and one’s own dark sides... Escape. These are the subjects which we investigate in this play and through which we construct the play. We open up our own inner worlds to it, lending it parts of ourselves, our fantasies and our fears. The play is like a Puzzle game that can not be fully completed. In each part of the puzzle we are searching for ourselves, recognizing... there is no right nor wrong way to put these parts together, and I would like everybody to constructs their own pictures in which they find fragments of themselves, fragments of their inner own world.
Dina Radoman

The author of the drama Za sada nigde (Nowhere for Now) is Ana Lasić, the director and set designer is Dina Radoman, the Costume designer is Snežana Krejić, the composer is Ivica Stjepanović, while the Light designer is Sonja Žugić. The play is being played by Milena Đorđević, Damjan Kecojević and Anđelika Simić.

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PHAEDRA’S LOVE TOURS MADRID

The large international autumn theatre festival, Festival de otono, is being held for the 26th time in the heat of Madrid’s theatre season. It will last for four weeks, from the 4-29th November 2009. The festival will be opened by the Tanztheater Wuppertal by Pina Bausch with their play Kontakthof Mit Damen und Herren ab ’65. The Yugoslav Drama Theatre will perform the play by Sarah Kane, directed by Iva Milošević, on the end of the festival (27th and 29th November). The Spanish media have particularly underlined the performance of the actress Mirjana Karanović in the role of Fedra, knowing the actress by her roles in the films Podzemlje (Underground) and Grbavica.
More than thirty troupes with all new stagings will be presented on the festival, among them Ana Tereza De Kersmaker with two choreographies (Rosas danst Rosas and The Song), the Belgian troop Les ballets C de la B with their work Ashes. Alvis Hermanis (whose play Sonja has been seen by the Belgrade’s Bitef audience), Sidi Larbi Shekrauii in cooperation with Maria Paches (the play Today), the play The Blue Dragon by Robert Lepage and the Chamber Theatre 55 (Kamerni teatar ’55) from Sarajevo, with the play Helverova noć, while the Piccolo teatro has entrusted the directorship of Goldini’s Trilogy to Tony Servile. There will be troops from the US, Argentina, Switzerland, Vietnam, Japan, France, Norway, Austria, Portugal and Spain itself. The rich and variable repertoire will present achievements in a widespread genre variety, ranging from drama theatre, with reconstruction of classical works, to circus and acrobatics.

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GUESTS, TOURING AND GUESTS 

The Yugoslav Drama Theatre will in November continue with its intensive cooperation with other theatres at home and abroad. The November touring cycles in the YDT begins on 3rd  November with the guest performance of the opera The Barber from Seville, by the Teatro Immagine di Venezia (Italy) on the stage of the Teatar „Bojan Stupica”. The director Benoa Rolan has set his comic opera as a Comedies dell Arte. On the 26thNovember The Kazalište iz Virovitice will perform their classical work by George Binher, Vojcek on the stage Bojan Stupica as well. The play is directed by the Slovenian director Sam M. Strelec. The day after, on the 27th
November, the National theatre from Niš will perform Nušić’s play directed by Dušan Jovanović Gospođa ministarka (Mrs. Ministry) on the main stage „Ljuba Tadić”. The director from Slovenia has directed on the stages of the YDT before, among which the plays Balkanski špijun (the Balkan Spy) by Dušan Kovačević, Molijer – još jedan život (Moliere – One more Life by Moliere, Bulgakov and Jovanović, and the Hamlet by William Shakespeare.

During this month, the Yugoslav Drama Theatre itself will perform six touring in Serbia. The play Švabica by Laza Lazarević, directed by Ana Đorđević, will tour the festival Pozorišni marathon in Leskovac, as well as the festivals Vršačka pozorišna jesen and the festival in Valjevo. Voltaire’s Candid or Optimism directed by Aleksandar Popovski will be played on the XIV Jugoslovenski pozorišni festival in Užice and Pančevo, while the play Huddersfieldwritten by Uglješa Šajtinac and directed by Alex Chisholm will be seen by the audience in Lazarevac.

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CANDIDE, OR OPTIMISM WON THE AUDIENCE IN SARAJEVO

In a hard concurrence of excellent theatre plays presented on the 49th MESS Festival, the play Candide, or Optimism by the YDT found itself on the fourth position according to the judgement of the audience in Sarajevo, with 8,71 of 10 points.
Director Aleksandar Popovski explained on the press conference that the idea to make this play by Voltaire came from a need for a persistent illusion. This state can be aligned with the reaction to the state in which the Serbian theatre had come during the nineties, those years which brought a kind of “new surrealism” to the theatre and became the real back side of the society. We could no long stay there. Despite the fact that Voltaire was ironic about the “best of all possible worlds”, he still made the illusion of the search for the Better world come true, concluded Popovski.       
The critic Osman Zukić gave a review of the esthetical quality of the Yugoslav Drama Theatre’s production, together with an analysis of the play socio-political stand-point seen within the Bosnian and a wider, post-Yugoslav context. “In the time when the post-Yugoslav region echoes with ethno-nationalistic voices and the kitsch culture have overtaken the main strategic positions, from which it dictates the public cultural scene, there is courage required to set a theatre play which will actualize Voltaire’s educational voice and ironic charm.”  

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THE ENTHUSIASTS (SANJARI) WON THE GRAND PRIX „MIRA TRAILOVIĆ“

The play of the Yugoslav Drama Theatre The Enthusiasts by Robert Musil, directed by Miloš Lolić won the Grand Prix „Mira Trailović“ on the 43 Bitef 09 according to the decision of the International jury. The Jury consisted of: Patrice Pavis (president), Roland Shimmelphennig, Maja Pelević, Vladimir Aleksić and Oliver Frljić.
The Main Concurrence Program of this year’s Bitef Festival also showed the plays Sutra, (choreographed bySidi Larbi Cherkaoui), The Blue Dragon (directed by Robert Lepage), Brod za lutke – The Doll Ship (Ana Tomović), Airport Kids (Lola Arias and Stefan Kaegi), Odmor od povijesti – Vacation from History (Bacači sjenki, who won the Special Price), The Writer (Urlike Quade, Jo Stromgren), Kamp (Hotel Modern) and Karl Marx: Das Kapital, Volume 1 (Helgard Haug, Daniel Wetzel).

The Yugoslav Drama Theatre was awarded by Bitef’s Gran Prix for the first time in 1974 for the play Veseli dani ili Tarelkinova smrt (directed by Branko Pleša) and then again in 1991 for the play Pozorišne iluzije – L’Illusion comique (directed by Slobodan Unkovski). The last play was also awarded with the Award of Bitef’s Audience and the Politika’s Award.
The Politika’s Award has also been given to another of the YDT production in 1980, when the play Sumrak (directed by Jerzy Jarocki) received this prestigious price. Other Bitef’s Special Awards have been given to the plays Spring Awakening (directed by Haris Pašović in 1987) and Lažni car Šćepan Mali (directed by Dejan Mijač in 1993). 

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PREMIERE OF THE PLAY RASPRAVA (LA DISPUTE) – THE BEGINNING OF A NEW SEASON

The premiere of the play La Dispute by Pierre de Marivaux, directed by our guest from Romania Alexandru Darie will be 14th October on the Main stage „Ljuba Tadić”.

The play has come to being in a coproduction of the Yugoslav Drama Theatre, the theatre Bulandra (Romania) and the Festival City Theatre Budva (Montenegro). The premiere was on the Festival City Theatre Budva on the 28th July this year and the critics wrote following for the occasion:

„The production La Dispute by Darie is(…) a dense anatomy of the back side of human nature, a penetrating discovery of temptations, weaknesses, passions, stumbling and human fracture, that do not betray Marivaux but, on the contrary, make him even more contemporary, present, more hopeless and as such more inspirational for contemplation.“
Ana Tasić, „Bol kao smisao života“ (Pain as the Sense of Life), Politika, 4th August 2009

„Temptations, jealousy and revenge in hard a confrontation happens on the stage while the battle for the Triumph of love is going on(...) La Dispute may also be considered as a story about Adam and Eve in „Eden’s garden of desire“ and of indecency as well. This is a story of the dangers that come up in youth. “
S. Pavlović, „Strasne scene digle temperaturu“ (Passionate Scenes Raised the Temperature), Dan, 30th July 2009

The Set and costume designer of the play is Oktavian Nekulai, the composer is Irina Dečermić, while the role list is populated by: Goran Šušljik, Hristina Popović, Anita Mančić, Sonja Vukićević, Suzana Lukić, Maša Dakić, Radovan Vujović, Marko Janjić, Milan Prljeta, Iskra Brajović and others.

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KAKO VAM DRAGO (AS YOU LIKE IT)

Orlando leaves his elder brother Oliver, who has seized all of theirs father’s wealth. He challenges and wins a combat with the fighter of Friedrich, in whose service the greedy brother Oliver works, who also has snapped all of his brother the Duke Ferdinand’s land. On this occasion Rosalinda, the daughter of the dethroned duke, falls in love with the brave winner Orlando. He has to escape into the woods before the meanness of his brother and the usurpator Friedrich, while Rosalinda and her friends Celia, the daughter of Ferdinand, and run after him. They meet up with the duke in the woods, altogether with his suite, his shepards and women... And so this comic-family-love-political-pastoral, in one word, Shakespearian story begins. 

The play As You Like It is directed by Slobodan Unkovski, the set designer is Miodrag Tabački, the costume designer is Maja Mirković and the composer is Irena Popović. The play is being performed by: Vojislav Brajović, Nebojša Glogovac, Nikola Đuričko, Nada Šargin, Sonja Kolačarić, Radovan Vujović, Boris Isaković, Marinko Madžgalj, Marko Baćović, Miodrag Radovanović, Dubravka Kovjanić, Milena Predić, Nikola Vujović and others.

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ALSO THIS YEAR THE YDT PARTICIPATES ON THE MESS

The play by the Yugoslav Drama Theatre Kandid ili Optimizam (Candid Or Optimism) according to Voltaire and directed by Aleksandar Popovski, participate on the 49th International Festival MESS in Sarajevo. This year the festival will take place 16 – 26th October when 25 plays from 14 countries will be performed within the four festival programs.

The Yugoslav Drama Theatre has been touring the MESS Festival several times. Plays like Phaedra’s Love (Fedrina ljubav) by Sarah Kane, directed by Iva Milošević as well as Hunting Cockroaches (U lovu na bubašvabe) by Janusz Glowacki, directed by Veljko Mićunović in 2008, then the Circus History (Cirkus Istorija) an independent project by Sonja Vukićević and the play The Locusts (Skakavci) by Biljana Srbljanović, directed by Dejan Mijač in 2007, The Doll Ship (Brod za lutke) by Milena Marković, directed by Slobodan Unkovski in 2006, Hamlet by William Shakespeare under directorship of Dušan Jovanović in 2005, Moliere – Another Life (Molijer – još jedan život) by Bulgakov, Moliere and Jovanović, directed by Dušan Jovanović in 2004 and The Powder Keg (Bure baruta) of Dejan Dukovski, directed by Slobodan Unkovski in 2001.

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YDT FROM JULY UNTIL OCTOBER – EVENTS REVIEW

The Yugoslav Drama Theatre participated on two summer festivals with altogether 4 plays during the summer month of July. The summer touring begun with on the 4th Festival of Mediterranean Theatre Purgatorije in Tivat, Monetenegro, with the guest staging of the Merchant from Venice (Mletački trgovac) by William Shakespeare and directed by Egon Savin. The Merchant from Venice won the Award for the best play, equally shared with the play by the Gradskog kazališta „Gavella“ from Zagreb, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (San ivanjske noći) in the set of Aleksandar Popovski. The Award for the Best Acting Performance was given to Dragan Mićanović for his role of Porcia.

Later on, followed the touring on the Festival City Theatre Budva in Montenegro. Here, the YDT performed the play by Vida Ognjenović Don Krsto (which came into being as a coproduction of the YDT and the Festival City Theatre Budva in 2007), as well as the play Huddersfield by Uglješa Šajtinac, directed by Alex Chisholm together with a book-promotion of the work Biti u pozorištu (Being in Theatre) – Directors’ Styles in the Yugoslav Drama Theatre: Dejan Mijač, Slobodan Unkovski and Dušan Jovanović by Marina Milivojević-Mađarev.
The crown of this year’s thriving cooperation between the YDT and this international theatre festival in Montenegro was the play La Despute (Rasprava) by Pierre de Marivaux, directed by
Alexandru Darie. 

International touring of the YDT continued in September. On the Festival „Demoludy“ in Poland, dedicated to contemporary drama of the former Yugoslavia region, organized by the Polish theatre Teatr im. Stefana Jaracza in Olstin, our theatre exhibited itself with great success performing the plays Huddersfield by Uglješa Šajtinac (directed by Alex Chisholm)and the play Barbelo, On Dogs and Children (Barbelo, o psima i deci) by Biljana Srbljanović (directed by Dejan Mijač).

The summer activities were terminated by the performance of the play The Enthusiasts (Sanjari) according to the drama of Robert Musil and directed by Miloš Lolić within the main competition programme of the 43 BITEF 09 (Belgrade International Theatre Festival).

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SERBIAN PARTICIPATION ON THE »DEMOLUDY« FESTIVAL

The international festival “Demoludy” closed ceremonially by the performance of Barbelo, On Dogs and Children by the Yugoslav Drama Theatre last night. The festival was organized by the Teatr im. Stefana Jaracza in Olstyn close to Warshaw and was dedicated particularly to the contemporary drama from the vicinity of the former Yugoslavia.

It is not typical for the Polish audience to cheer a play standing by ovations, which happened to the ensemble of the Yugoslav Drama Theatre and the playwright Biljana Srbljanović after the end of the play. Respectable Polish newspapers, like the Gazeta Wyborcza, compared the touring of the Yugoslav Drama Theatre with the Warsaw National Theatre and the director Dejan Mijač to the most respectable Polish directors of today Kristian Lupa and Jerzy Jarocky. The artistic director of the Festival Marcin Zawada reminded the attending the press conference that the actress Mirjana Karanović is renown and beloved in Poland by her role in the film Grbavica and that the play's set and costume designer Angelina Atlagić has been working in a multitude of European projects.

The night before the YDT performed the play Huddersfield by Uglješa Šajtinac, directed by Alex Chisholm and provoked an equal interest and success with the Polish audience. The critic Ada Romanovska (Nowa Siła Krytyczna) pointed out the precise and throughout directorship, singling particularly out the acting creation of Nebojša Glogovac, who was playing the character of the mentally ill Ivan, who, in the last instance and metaphorically, was the only one healthy person in the presented circumstances.    

During the five Festival days public readings of the plays Pad (The Fall) and Supermarket by Biljana Srbljanović found place, provoking a particular interest of the audience.  

Beside the Yugoslav Drama Theatre, the “Demoludy” Festival housed a touring from the Atelje 212 from Serbia with the plays Odumiranje and Pomoradžina kora, as well as theatres from Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The plays themselves and a rich additional program gave not only a chance to present the creativity of the southern Slavic regions to the Polish audience, but also an open space for a dialog between their guests.

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POLAN ORGANIZES A LARGE THEATRE FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY DRAMA ORIGINATING FROM THE FORMER YUGOSLAV COUNTRIES

The Yugoslav Drama Theatre will perform with the plays Huddersfieldand Barbelo, on Dogs and Children on the international festival Demoludy which will be held 14-19th  September in the Polish town Olstyn, organized by the Teatr im. Stefani Jarcza.

The festival Demoludy will present theatres from the previous Yugoslav countries: Serbia (YDT and the Atelje 212), Croatia (KUFER – Kazališna udruga frustriranih reditelja), Slovenia (Slovensko mladinsko gledališče, Ljubljana), Bosnia & Herzegovina (Kamerni teatar 55), which will all perform plays based on the works of contemporary playwrights. The festival will promote the contemporary drama theatre as well as public readings of Biljana Srbljanović, Dušan Kovačević, Matjaž Župančič and others, set by Polish directors. During the festival, there will be a number of workshops, meetings with the authors and conversations on the subjects of political independence in contemporary theatres and media.  

The idea of the festival is to prepare a space for a multicultural dialogue in the Eastern-European countries. Past and heritage are only a symbolic point from which we have to start anew with our contemplations about our identities(...) The Festival Demoludy is an good opportunity to show what we are doing now and what do we have to offer to each other. It is also a chance to remember that we are not closed societies, but communities of people that live among the ruins of the Western civilization. Forgetting the political plays, we can learn how to speak, how to communicate through the paths of art, which is beyond stereotypes and historical resentment. The name of the festival is a self ironic gesture freed from resentment. We are open for all generations.
The word “demoludy“, which once was a pejorative word for the citizens of the former socialistic countries, we use as a gesture of rebellion towards mass culture.    

The play Huddersfield by Uglješa Šajtinac, under the directorship of Alex Cheesholm is on the Festival’s program on Friday 18th September, while the play Barbelo, on Dogs and Children by Biljana Srbljanović, directed by Dejan Mijač, will be performed on the ceremonial closure of the festival, on Saturday 19th September.

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ENTHUSIASTS ON BITEF

The play by the Yugoslav Drama Theatre Enthusiasts, made according to the drama by Robert Musil and directed by Miloš Lolić is participating in the main competition program of the 43 Bitef 09. It will be played on its home stage, in Teatar „Bojan Stupica“ on the 20th September at 8 pm. The play is performed by Nikola Vujović, Dubravka Kovjanić, Sena Đorović, Goran Jevtić, Feđa Stojanović, Cvijeta Mesić, Radovan Vujović and the pianist Srđan Marković.

The selectors of this year’s Bitef Jovan Ćirilov and Anja Suša have chosen to organize this year’s program under the slogan: Crisis of Capital – the Art of Crisis.
Beside the plays of the YDT and the play by SNP Boat for Dolls (Brod za lutke), there are plays from the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland, Croatia, Norway, the Netherlands and Germany in the main program of this year’s Bitef.
The play The Blue Dragon (Plavi zmaj) by Robert Lepage, Quebec, Canada, will be staged on the Main stage „Ljuba Tadić“ on the 16th, 17th and 18th September, while Karl Marx: The Capital, directed by the members of the group Rimini Protokoll, Helgard Haug and Daniel Wetzel (Düsseldorf, Germany), will be played on the 24th and 25th September on the same stage.  

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AWARD TO ANITA MANČIĆ IN BANJALUKA

The jury of the festival Teatar Fest in Banjaluka, consisting of Dijana Grbić, Ljubo Božović and Mladen Šukalo (the president of the jury) gave the award for acting to Anita Mančić for her role of Jela in the play by Branislav Nušić Tako je moralo biti, directed by Egon Savin and produced by the Yugoslav Drama Theatre. Anita Mančić equally shared the statuette »David Štrbac« with the actors Nikola Ristanovski (Derviš i smrt, National Theatre Belgrade), Sandra Ljubojević (Balon od kamena, National Theatre of Republika Srpska), Tihomir Stanić (Falsifikator, Belgrade Drama Theatre) and Branimir Brstina (Generalna proba samoubistva, Zvezdara teatar, Belgrade).
The award »Kočićeva knjiga« was given to Dušan Kovačević, while the statuette »Petar Kočić« for the best play in total went to Teatar Exit from Zagreb, for the play Kauboji/The Cowboys.
The jury was united in all its decisions. The award ceremony was held on the 7th June 2009, when the president of Republika Srpska, Rajko Kuzmanović handed over the prises.   

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AWARDS FOR THE YUGOSLAV DRAMA THEATRE ON THE 54th STERIJINO POZORJE

On the 4th June 2009 the jury of the 54th Sterijino pozorje, consisting of: MirjanaKaranović, actress and President of the jury), Belgrade, Ivo Brešan, writer, Šibenik (Croatia), Meto Jovanovski, actor, Skoplje (Makedonia), Boris Kovač, composer, Novi Sad and Laslo Vegel, writer from Novi Sad, decided to present the 2009 Sterija Award for directorship to the director Aleksandar Popovski, for his play Candide or Optimism by Voltaire.
The jury gave the Sterija Award for acting to Gordana Đurđević-Dimić, for her role of the Old Lady in the play Candide or Optimism.
The Sterija Award for stage design was given to Sven Jonke for his design in the play Candide or Optimism.
The Sterija Award for costume design was given to Lana Cvijanović for her work in the plays: The Kaut Girl by Laza Lazarević, playwright and directorship by Ana Đorđević, as well as for the play Candide or Optimism.
The Sterija Award for scenic movement was given to Sonja Vukićević for the play Candide or Optimism.
The Award from the Fond „Dara Čalenić“ for the best young actor went to Radovan Vujović for his role of Miša in the play The Kraut Girl.

The magazine "Dnevnik" from Novi Sad awarded Srđan Timarov for his roles of Lola in the play Šuma blista by Milena Marković, the role of the Soucider in Nevinosti by Dea Loher and the role of the Doctor, Kakambo and Sesil in the play Candide or Optimism by Voltaire, produced by the Yugoslav Drama Theatre.

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THE YDT’S SUCCESS IN BANJALUKA

The play It Had To Be So (Tako je moralo biti) by Branislav Nušić, directed by Egon Savin and produced by the Yugoslav Drama Theatre was soundly hailed last night by an overwhelmed audience of the Theatre Fest „Petar Kočić“ in Banjaluka. The extraordinary artistry that was shown on the stage by the entire ensemble of the YDT, led safely by Anita Mančić, Vojin Ćetković and Nebojša Dugalić, the exiting actuality of this play written by Nušić hundred years ago. It clearly brought up emotions in the audience, which on the end led to ovation.  
The play by the Yugoslav Drama Theatre took part in the concurrence programme. The festival opened on 1st June, showing the play Derviš i smrt/Dervisi and Death performed by the National Theatre Belgrade. There was totally 6 plays in the official concurrence selection: Kauboji by the Teatar „Exit“ from Zagreb, Balon od kamena – moja sjećanja, by the National Theatre of Republika Srpska, Falsifikator by Beogradsko dramsko pozorište (Belgrade Drama Theatre) and the Generalna proba samoubistvaby Zvezdara teatar, Belgrade.
The Teatar Fest, held for the 12th time, supports regional cooperation. This year the festival was held under the slogan „Suočavanja/praizvedbe“(Facing/Premieres). The intention of the authors of the festival was to support and underline staging of self-made, inland dramas. The announcement of the winners of this year’s 12th Teatar Fest is the 7th June. The main award last year went to the play by the Yugoslav Drama Theatre Huddersfield.

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PREMIERE OF THE PLAY NEBESKI ODRED/HIMMELCOMMANDO ON THE MAIN STAGE „LJUBA TADIĆ”

The drama Nebeski odred/Himmelcommando by Đorđe Lebović and Aleksandar Obrenović has received the First prize for contemporary Serbian play in 1957, on the 2nd Sterijino pozorje. This is why the Sterjino pozorje and the YDT went into a coproduction, with the aim to reread this excellent, always actual text by a young, ambitious director. The premiere of the play Himmelcommando directed by Marko Manojlović was on this year’s Sterijino pozorje and the premiere „at home“, in the YDT was on the 7th June. This was the first time that the audience of the YDT could sit on the Main Stage during the play.  

In the play Himmelcommando death is not a part of life cycles... it is rather a question of breaking someone’s life temporarily. This is the type of death we mostly fear. Are you afraid of death? What do you do because of that fear? The whole human body is made to function and fight till the end of life. What is the man capable to do just to survive? That is the big dilemma of the play Himmelcommando.(...) Survivors from Sonderkommando hid after the war, but then the question had been arisen - do guilt exist if your life is in danger? Does the choice to survive at all costs make you more a human or less? I am fascinated by the choice the characters are set a forth, as well as the fact that reason and the complexity of emotions do make humans beings who have to make choices in such a situations, and who are in a way condemned to choose.
Marko Manojlović

The play is performed by: Predrag Ejdus, Zoran Cvijanović, Goran Šušljik, Srđan Timarov, Nebojša Milovanović, Nikola Vujović, Aleksandar Đurica, Miodrag Radovanović, Toni Laurenčić, Petar Benčina and Miloš Pjevač.

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PREMIERE OF THE PLAY U MOČVARI (IN THE BOG OF CATS) BY MARINA CARR AND DIRECTED BY EGON SAVIN

I don’t think the world should assume that we are all natural mothers. And it does. I don’t think it’s such a big thing anymore, but the idea that you sacrifice everything for your children—it’s a load of rubbish. It leads to very destructive living and thinking, and it has a much worse effect on children than if you go out and live your own life... Having said that, I really do believe that children have to be protected. They have to be loved. Somewhere between the two, I think, something needs to be sorted out. The relationship between parent and child is so difficult and so complex. There’s every emotion there. We mostly only acknowledge the good ones. If we were allowed to talk about the other ones, maybe it would alleviate them in some way.
Marina Carr

The play by Marina Kahr U močvari (In the Bog of Cats), translated by Marija Stojanović and adapted and directed by Egon Savin will have its premiere on the 10th May on the Main Stage „Ljuba Tadić“. The Irish playwright Marina Carr, renown in Serbia for her play Portia Coclan (Malo pozorište „Duško Radović“), gained her world reputation on family dramas. The play In the Bog of Cats is also one of them. Marina Carr portraits her family tragedies with elements of black humour, physical brutality and a Becketian sense to human existence. The work of Marina Carr is specific in the fact that her dramas have allusions on Greek tragedies or are, loosely, adapted Greek myths. Play In the Bog of Cats (1998) is a free interpretation of Euripides’ Medea. The tragedy is often a consequence of a fatal lack of self-esteem, but Hester Swein dies of her self acknowledgement brought to the outmost. She is murdered by the truth, and she has always known that it will go that way.     

The play is performed by: Tamara Vučković, Vojin Ćetković, Jasmina Avramović, Jelisaveta Sablić, Mihailo Janketić, Dubravka Kovjanić, Vesna Stanković, Miodrag Radovanović, Ljuma Penov, Nikola Jovanović and Đorđe Marković.


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