The worst thing that can happen to any theater is to be present in the media not thanks to exciting performances, brave experiments or new stagings of classic works, but thanks to one thing - a pub.
Make no mistake - the theater buffet is an untouchable institution of Western civilization, the place where you will find the soul of the theater, although one may say that it is not at all commendable that the soul of the theater is found among drunken actors, props or writers, but the theater buffet is the place where it was born the largest number of acting anecdotes, sometimes a magical space where artists can show off their own immaturity in the most honest way. Which artists, in principle, do even when they are not drunk. But the tavern in question is not a theater buffet. A classic "fancy" tavern conceived much more as a parade ground of an elite and its half-world. Pretentious, as, after all, befits the spirit of the national theater.
But if the (good) old Greeks hadn't invented the muses, hundreds and thousands of cafes, companies, shops, pubs, publishing houses, galleries, companies all over the world - they would have some other names. I have a feeling that list of muses is a favorite handbook when choosing a name for something important to people.
If we don't go further than the region in this musophilia - an excellent publishing house from Belgrade (Klio) and a great Macedonian singer (Kaliopi), if they weren't a muse, they would certainly be called something else. Montenegro would be represented there, of course - with a catering offer. The tavern in the National Theater is called - Thalija.
But first, let's see - who are the muses?
According to the classical authority of the great Hesiod, the Muses are the offspring of Zeus from his adventure (of prolonged duration, one would say, given their number) with Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory. Some other Hellenic authors claimed that the Muses were the daughters of Uranus and Gaia. Pausanias, on the other hand, claimed that there were as many as two generations of muses, and that the older set came from Uranus and Gaia, and the younger set from Zeus and Mnemosyne.
Muses are associated with Apollo, and his temple at Delphi, where he is also called "Leader of the Muses" (Apollon Mousagetes).
The Greek word mousa has the basic meaning – song. It is stated that in Pindar "wearing a muse" means - to sing a song. The word music comes from the same root, from mousika, the art of the muses.
Usually, as we said, the muse is considered to be nine, namely: Euterpe (patron of music and lyric), Calliope (epic poetry and rhetoric), Clio (history and poetry about heroes), Erato (love and hymn poetry), Melpomene (tragedy), Polyhymnia (sacred songs), Terpsichore (dance), Thalia (comedy and bucolic) and Urania (astronomy). Plato called the genius poetess Sappho from the island of Lesbos - the tenth muse, which is certainly the greatest compliment that a Helen could give to a poetess.
This whole affair, which the Council of the CNP is trying to block with a quick decision to terminate cooperation with a reputable restaurateur, is actually eloquent in a completely different way, which escapes newspaper articles about financial violations and economic malfeasance. Or, for that matter.
The Montenegrin National Theater is in a huge crisis. That's the bottom line. For several years now, we've had almost no classical theater seasons - everything looks more like a kind of snowball, for the sake of order, the first premiere of the season is played around New Year's, there is no plan, no repertoire policy. Even an interesting festival was stifled by the lack of inventiveness of the people who run the national theater.
However, the decade before that was a decade in which every season you had at least four or five interesting, or at least intriguing plays, a whole new generation of authors was promoted, but, unfortunately, and entirely Montenegrin, it quickly stopped. Judging by cultural projects, Montenegrins tire quickly.
Or on the other hand, you can look at it this way: what is the power of your person in Montenegro! While Mićunović was the first man of the CNP, the Ministry of Culture functioned as an auxiliary service of the national theater, and today, when Mićunović is a minister, the CNP functions as an auxiliary service of the Ministry.
Talia was opened exactly at the moment when the national theater began to be - a smaller and smaller theater. And an increasingly sad dinosaur, for which, due to its insane dimensions, any movement is almost impossible.
In other words - either they will find a way to revive the spirit of the play in the theater, or let them immediately rent the entire space for a pub. Or, even better, and more in the spirit of the moment - for what kind of business center, shopping mall... Maybe now Delta would be interested in taking over CNP? That would be a perfectly logical next step.
The Patron Saint of Comedy was actually a perfect choice for a name. Even though she played with other genres as well...
Bonus video:
