The 19th International Festival of the Mediterranean Theater "Purgatory" began in Tivat on Friday evening with a spectacular performance of the great musical "Zona Zamfirova" produced by "Theatre on Terazije" from Belgrade.
A large acting and dance ensemble led by Ivan Bosiljčić and Ivan Popović-Ilijin in the main roles, accompanied by an orchestra conducted by Milan Nedeljković, created several hours of theatrical magic that seduced and enchanted the audience on the crowded Tivat summer stage.
Not even a partial language barrier, because most of the ensemble speaks the old Niš dialect during the performance, did not affect the impressive stage-musical piece directed by Kokan Mladenović to establish a great interaction with the audience who enjoyed the acting and dancing bravado because "Zona Zamfirova" has extremely rich and complex choreography.
The classic work by Stevan Sremac, which tells about the romantic love of two young people, in Mladenović's play is given new, different dimensions that, along with the caste conflict present in Sremč's text, also illuminate the most mundane human passions, crime, blackmail and theft, condescension and artificiality, but and undisguised satires and criticisms towards some of the artificial tendencies that come from the "developed world" under the pretext of "human rights and freedoms".
In almost three hours of events on stage, Mladenović's "Zona Zamfirova", which was premiered in Montenegro the night before yesterday, holds the constant attention of the audience thanks to the impressive final product of the efforts of the acting ensemble and the author's team of this musical, which, in addition to the director Kokan Mladenović, also includes Marko Grubić (composer), Milan Nedeljković (conductor), Mojca Horvat (choreographer), Marija Kalabić (set designer), Tatjana Radišić (costume designer), Radovan Knežević and Desimir Stanojević (readers).
Before the performance of this performance, the director of the Tivat Cultural Center and the festival director, Goran Božović, addressed the audience in front of the organizers of "Purgatory", pointing out that "Purgatory" is one of the most important cultural manifestations in the region.
"And with this, the 19th edition of the festival in a row, we will push the boundaries, as we have done before. Our intention is to underline the name of the festival 'Purgatory' with a golden line in anticipation of the next jubilee year. This edition of the festival will be woven with a special sensibility and a special sentiment, due to the dedication to our friend Jagoš Marković. This year, for the first time, we have an award for the best director named after Jagop Marković, in the competitive selection we have two plays with his potois, in the accompanying program we have three plays directed by him, and at the closing of the festival, Jagoš's play 'Travelling Theater Šopalović' will be performed. . After many years, our friend and theater genius Jagoš Marković is not physically present with us, but his soul is certainly in 'Purgatory,'" said Božović, reminding that one of the greatest theater directors of the region, the prematurely deceased Jagoš Marković, is his last director - the piece "Bald Singer" by the Tivat Culture Center, created last year at "Purgatorie".
This year's edition of the festival was officially opened by director Tanja Mandić-Rigonat, who emphasized that the theater "is a mirror of the world, the measure of society, man and the time in which it is created."
"In a world shaken by wars, ravaged by capitalism, greed and anti-humanism, the theater emerges as a possible place for the survival of man and humanity. Artists can go beyond the chaos of today's brutal world and with their artistic act create a new order of things in which man wonders, in which there is love, truth, goodness, beauty, as aesthetic and ethical categories - those that save the world by awakening the human soul." pointed out Mandić-Rigonat, adding that "theater is a place of resistance to hopelessness."
The 19th International Festival of Mediterranean Tatars "Purgatory" in Tivat until the end of August will treat the audience to 35 high-quality theater and dance performances, music and poetry programs, including the premiere of a new theater production produced by the Tivat Culture Center - the piece "Mirandolina" in directed by Tatjana Mandić-Rigonat.
In the competitive competition for this year's "Purgatory" awards, as many as ten plays produced by theater companies from the region of the former Yugoslavia will be performed, which were chosen by the selector of this year's festival, Boris Liješević. These are the plays: "Sto na podu spavas" (SNP Novi Sad, Gavella Zagreb, National Theater Sarajevo and MESS), "Mirandolina" (CZK Tivat), "Oliver Twist" (Boško Buha Theater Belgrade), "Macbet" (NP Belgrade), "Hilarious Tragedy" (NP Belgrade and NPRS Banja Luka), "Address to the Nation" (Atelje 212 Belgrade), "Lie" (BDP Belgrade), "My Husband" (Drama Theater Skopje), "House" (Zvezdara Theater Belgrade), and "Edip" (JDP Belgrade).
This year's "Purgatory" jury consists of Ljiljana Blagojević, an actress from Serbia, Željka Turčinović, a playwright from Croatia, and Zoran Rakočević, a director from Montenegro.
In addition to the award for the best play, for the best male and female acting, for acting bravura and the best visual and technical innovation, this year the award for the best director "Jagoš Marković" was introduced, in honor of the theater genius who left a deep mark on this festival.
The performance "What are you saving on the floor" co-produced by the Serbian National Theater Novi Sad, Tatra "Gavella" Zagreb, National Theater Sarajevo and MESS Sarajevo will be performed on Sunday, June 23, starting at 21.30:XNUMX p.m. on the summer stage in Tivat. In the piece directed by Kokan Mladenović based on the text by Darko Cijetič, Darko Cvijetić plays. Aleksandra Pleskonjić, Merima Lepić-Redžepović, Tena Nemet-Brankov, Saša Krmpotić, Sven Šetak, Igor Pavlović, Maja Izetbegović, Aldin Omerović, Ivan Grčić, Darko Radojevć, Nikola Baće and Stevan Uzelac.
Bonus video:
