The director's work Milan Nešković he is known to the Montenegrin public through his long-term cooperation with the Budva festival "Grad Teatar", which began in 2016 with the impressive hosting of the play "Bela Kafa" by the National Theater from Belgrade, and in the meantime, numerous guest appearances have taken place. This year, Nešković is preparing the play "Protection", a comedy, for the festival Branislav Nušić, whose premiere is scheduled for Sunday, August 3 on the stage in front of the Monastery of the Holy Trinity in Stanjevići at 21 p.m.
"Humor is one of the highest forms of communication between people, that's why it's not so often in life, and it's not easy to be funny. It's even more difficult on stage. Admittedly, there are different types of humor, which produce different types of laughter. This one by Nušić is universal, because it deals with the character of a nation that, apparently, has not changed for almost two centuries. And what if he changes when he's doing well. He wrote 'Protection' in prison, where the authoritarian eye of the guard followed his every word, and he was forced to tone down his criticism, which otherwise cost him his freedom. That's exactly how we got one, atypical for him, truly warm story full of naive plots about imperfect human characters. All the characters in this comedy are irresistible, despite all their flaws. They are by no means negligible, but they are so close and recognizable to us," wrote Nešković on the occasion of the play.
Co-producers are JU Grad Theater and the National Theater from Sombor. After 2016, Nešković was a guest in Budva in 2017 with the play "Prometheus's Path", and the collaboration continued with the joint production of this festival with the Yugoslav Drama Theater "Selestina" in 2019. The festival also hosts the multi-award winning play "Kus petlić", which won the hearts of the audience with its witty and original stage script. The audience had the opportunity to see and Chekhov's "The Seagull", which the director made for the National Theater in Sombor. Replays of "Protekcija" have been announced for August 4, 5 and 6 in the same venue. Director Milan Nešković pointed out at yesterday's media conference that he has great love for the Sombor National Theater and the Grad Teatar festival.
"It's my favorite theater, and this is my favorite festival, so this collaboration is quite natural. This is one of Nušić's first pieces that he wrote in prison, where he was forbidden to write. Then he secretly wrote a letter addressing him as 'dear uncle' to the then Minister of Police of the Kingdom of Serbia. The manager who read that letter told him that there was no need to write to his uncle, so they allowed him to write his own works," said Nešković and added that this play is based on two families, although the title leads us to a current and contemporary story about corrupt to the authorities.
"One is a family of newcomers to Belgrade, and the other is a minister's family. The key is the relationship between them and how the fate and characters of all people when these two families are intertwined, leads to different comic situations. Nušić is one of the greatest writers because he is the greatest connoisseur and analyst of Serbian character and mentality. The fact that he was born 160 years ago is the blink of an eye. Nobody has changed much in those 160 years in terms of character and mentality, that's why good writers can survive, but they have to be interpreted in a different way. Especially when it comes to comedy, because humor lives in the moment. What was funny in Shakespeare, what was funny 160 years ago is not funny today on that level. Even what was funny ten years ago is not allowed to be talked about today, it is politically incorrect. Humor has to change and be careful nowadays, so we decided to make this piece into a cabaret-type vaudeville, but completely modernized. We remained faithful to Nušić, but also to some topics and problems that we wanted to deal with. I am convinced that this play will have a very good response from the audience because we managed to create a warm story about wonderful people with all their mental and character flaws", concluded Nešković, who is directing and adapting the play.
The author's team includes: a costume designer Biljana Grgur, scenographer Daniela Dimitrovska, he signs the music Duda Buržujka, stage movement Staša Blečić, stage speech dr Dijana Marojević, while he is an assistant set designer Ivan Nikolovski, and they play: Ninoslav Đorđević, Marija Maša Labudović, Ivana V. Jovanović, Saša Torlaković, Biljana Keskenović, Ana Rudakijević and Lazar Nikolić, Srđan Aleksić, Julija Petković, Miloš Lazić, Stevan Vuković, Staša Blečić.
"'Is it a character or a mental illness?'" says a song from our play. Whatever the answer to this question is, only humor can at least apparently save the world. Both ours and Nušić's characters. And if we already share their character, let's share their destiny too, so that we can wish them/us a happy ending. The end implies finality, so next to happiness it can only stand as an oxymoron. That's what we want in the theater, that's what we want from humor. Glory be to oxymorons in the theater, glory to human warmth and humor, and to you, Mr. Nušić, thank you! Happy 160th birthday!", said Nešković.
You are at the Grad Theater again, this time with the premiere of the play "Protection". How do you feel about coming back and working at this festival?
I am always happy to return to Budva Grad Teatr, where I have been participating for eight years. This is a special occasion, because this is a co-production between my favorite National Theater Sombor and a festival where I feel more than welcome. It's an ideal combination, so that's how I feel.
What inspired you to choose Nušić's "Protection" for this year's festival?
The very selection of Nušić came from the Budva Grad Theater due to the commemoration of 160 years since his birth. "Protection" was chosen by me, because it is perhaps his least performed comedy, which does not deal with heated criticism of the government (as we are used to with Nušić), but with human nature, characters and mentality.
Is working at the Grad Teatar festival different from working in other theaters and festivals? If so, in what way?
It is, first of all to the extent that it is always a co-production. Then, it is done over the summer, which is unusual for a theater. However, the greatest specificity lies in the fact that the play we are doing for this festival continues to live during the winter season in one of the institutional theaters. Awareness of this is very important, in order to create a play that suits both the ambient conditions in which it is performed in Budva, but also the stage-box in which it has been moving since autumn. The scenography, costumes, all elements must match both the ambience and the other.
How did you approach the direction of this classic work and did you introduce any contemporary elements?
I focused on directing vaudeville with elements of cabaret, transposing it into the modern era both linguistically and by treating the relationships within the two families in question.
What are the biggest challenges in adapting classic texts like Nušić's, given that you already have extensive experience with Aleksandar Popović's works?
Aleksandar Popović is the best dialogue writer in the Serbian language ever. Nušić is the best in some other things, which I have already mentioned so many times in the interview. The only thing they have in common is that they are very difficult to apply. Nušić seemingly repeats some information several times in the piece, but with each repetition they gain a new meaning, depending on the character and the way of looking at the problem. That is the biggest challenge.
How do you see the relevance of Nušić's themes in today's society and how did you connect them to the contemporary context?
Nušić is a writer who dealt with the mentality of a nation. From his birth to today, 160 years have passed, but for the question of the mentality of a nation, it is as much as the blink of an eye, and it is not difficult to transpose it. In his last piece "Vlast", he dealt with the privatization of riverbeds in Serbia. That much.
What were the biggest challenges you faced while working on this play?
The biggest challenges we faced during this process were not related to the art, but to the climatic conditions. During the whole month of July, the rehearsals took place in the National Theater of Sombor, and at that very time Serbia was hit by a heat wave and the air temperature reached 40 degrees for days. We all could hardly breathe in such temperatures, but the positive spirit of the piece and the performance itself motivated us to work continuously. So we put together the whole show relatively quickly and efficiently despite the heat.
What is your favorite moment in "Protection" and why?
This is definitely an answer that requires some time, for the play to come to life first of all, achieve some success, and then we sit down and discuss between the two of us, or more of us, which is our favorite part and why. That conversation still needs to be earned.
How do you think the audience will react to this adaptation of Nušić's work?
I'm sure the audience will enjoy it because we've created an unpretentious show that's witty and fun. Although it deals with the flaws of human characters, we argue that they, such characters, deserve a happy ending, or in this case, a beginning. At the end of the play, the new life of these Nušić characters is just beginning.
Do you have plans for further work on Nušić's works?
Given that this is the fifth time I am directing a play based on Nušić's works, I will certainly not return to his work for a while. We directors are always expected to be inventive, especially when we are working with such a significant writer for our entire culture. That's why it's important to give ourselves time to revisit some of the content we've already dealt with.
Bonus video:
