Nikšić Theater celebrates its day, February 16th, and the 141st year since the five-act tragedy "Slobodarka" was performed in the town under Trebjes. Manojlo Đorđević Prizrenac, will mark the occasion with a performance of the play "The People's Representative", which he adapted and directed Goran Bulajic.
This is the first drama. Branislav Nušić which the famous writer wrote at the age of 19, and which premiered at the Nikšić Theater in 2022. The play, which is a co-production project of the Nikšić Theater and the Pljevlja Cultural Center, stars: Stevan Vukovic, Marija Djuric, Masa Bozovic, Nikola Vasiljevic, Anja Drljevic, Matija Memedovic, Boban Cvorovic, Milica Kekic Martinovic, Pavle Bogojevic, Lazar Djurdjevic, Velizar Kasalica i Nebojsa Vulanović. She did the scenography Anka Gardašević, and costumes Olivera Eraković.
"It's a play that lives on, that is performed throughout the country and region, and that the audience loves. It's the play that has been performed the most in recent years, so there's no better way to mark Theatre Day than by performing such a play," the director of the Nikšić Theatre told "Vijesti". Radinko Krulanović.
Since its premiere, the play has been performed more than 25 times in the country and region.
Immediately after Theater Day, work on a new play will begin, because since 2021, the Nikšić Theater has accustomed the audience to performing two or three plays a year.
"It's about a show Nikolaj Kolyada 'Violin, Tambourine and Iron', which he will direct Goran Damjanac "And we expect the premiere of that play to be sometime at the end of April," said Krulanović.
Koljada is a world-renowned Russian playwright and theater director, the author of 120 plays that have been translated into several world languages and performed from the USA to Australia. They premiere at his theater, which he founded in Yekaterinburg.
What is characteristic of the Nikšić Theater is good post-production because, as Krulanović pointed out, if you don't have post-production, the question arises as to how "alive" and high-quality the play is.
"In the ten-year period from 2011 to 2021, the Nikšić Theater had ten premieres, and since the new management took over, from 2021 to 2024, we have had eight premieres. As for post-production and guest performances outside Montenegro, from 2011 to 2021, there were 33 performances - 27 in Montenegro and six in the region, and in these three years, our plays have been performed 51 times, 27 in Montenegro and 24 in the region. Last year, the Nikšić Theater had 18 performances, seven in Montenegro and 11 in the region. This speaks volumes about our recognition in the region and that we are welcome guests, both at festivals and in theaters," said the Theater Director.
Since its founding in 1999, the Nikšić Theater has had around 35 premieres, while in the town under Trebjes there have been around 1884 since 285.
Last year they had two premieres - "The Godfathers", which according to the text Dusan Kovačević directed Bozidar Djurovic, and "Hero of the Nation", based on the text Ivan Lalic, and directed Milan Nešković.
“We had significant guest appearances with both plays, and ‘The Godfathers’ is currently performing in Trebinje. It was selected as part of the program marking the 40th anniversary of the Zvezdara Theatre, which is certainly a great honor for the Nikšić Theatre. ‘Hero of the Nation’ played at the National Theatre in Belgrade a month or two ago, as well as in theatres in Pančevo and Zrenjanin, and we will continue to have significant guest appearances with it in Kovin, Valjevo and Smederevo in the coming months. There is also ‘Lungs’, a play that, according to the text, Duncan McMillan directed Andrei Nosov, and where is our acting couple, Stevan Vuković and Maja Stojanovic, "We won a special diploma for the acting duo at the 29th International Festival of Small Stages and Monodrama in Istočno Novo Sarajevo, and we will also perform with that play in Zaječar, at the Short Forms Festival," said Krulanović.
They will make an effort, as he pointed out, to have plays from their production performed in the Nikšić repertoire at least once a month, and they would also like to expand the ensemble, so that instead of the current six actors, they have ten.
"This is a new systematization that should be considered and would be very suitable because we would not have to rely on guest actors so often, since the cast division sometimes cannot satisfy what we have in our ensemble. I think that with ten actors it would be easier to create some kind of cast division and we would have a larger number of people available so that we could mainly rely on our own strengths. Although, we should not shy away from guest actors, because I think that is very good, because our actors, who are young, encounter new energy, new work, learn from the masters of drama and grow, both as actors and as a theater," Krulanović emphasized.
The Nikšić Theater celebrated last year with its 151st program - 34 plays on the evening stage and 15 plays for children, with 25 performances. There were also 17 concerts, 25 film screenings, book promotions, exhibitions...
"Last year, we sold around 20.000 tickets, which is a significant number, and we estimate that there were between 40.000 and 45.000 visitors to the theater - almost the entire city passed through the Nikšić Theater, which shows that the repertoire is stable, that people are interested in theater performances, and that the hall is mostly full," said the Theater Director.
Krulanović points out that it is not only the production activities of this company that are commendable, but also its publishing activities.
"We are the only theater in Montenegro that has its own magazine. Last year we published 'Contemporary Dramas' Veljko Mandic, "and in the coming days we expect a book about theater and film creators from Nikšić to be published."
Last year, the International Actor's Festival, which has taken its place in the region, marked two decades of existence.
The Nikšić Theater is, next to the Zeta House, the oldest theater in Montenegro. Despite war and peacetime destruction, closures and re-establishments, the boards that mean life in the city under Trebjes continue to tell the story of duration, ups and downs, of culture and the bond between three centuries.
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