Instead of the celebratory glow of the 30th anniversary of the City Theater, the once prestigious festival is coming to an end with great difficulty: the noise of the city has reached such a level that the performance of the program in the Old Town has become almost impossible. In such conditions, even the actors ask the question - should there be such a festival.
"The city theater does not ask for any privileges, but only respect for the law from the Municipality of Budva, which passed them," says Boris Mišković, one of the editors of the Festival.
However, the authorities have not been able to enforce the Noise Act for years, so the problem culminated to the extent that the actors started to stop the performances as a sign of protest.
First, Mirjana Karanović interrupted the performance of "Aveti" on the new stage in Vještica, and under similar conditions the plays "Perikle" by Nikita Milovijević and "Prah" by Veljko Mićunović were performed on the stage between the churches in the Old Town.
"It is very difficult to achieve a theatrical atmosphere in this atmosphere as it is around. I am convinced that this is a problem that can be solved, it just needs someone to solve it," says actor Vladimir Milojević.
"I cannot understand that a festival with such a tradition can be so undermined by what is heard around it," adds actress Aneta Tomašević.
Actress Nataša Ninković was the most open when talking about what it's like to play at Gradu Teatr.
"This is impossible. This kind of festival should not exist, because it must not be based on the enthusiasm and Sisyphean effort of an individual or individuals. It should be the decision of a municipality, city, state, whether they want a festival or not. I have no words. Why would someone act under these conditions, why would I do it to myself, why would the audience do it to themselves? Maybe someone should make a scandal, stop the show and not continue it, because they are abusing our enthusiasm, our love for theater and cultural events in general," said Ninković after the performance.
Kitsch, quick money and private interests
The former primacy of festival scenes in the Old Town has long since been replaced in importance by cafes and cacophony of loud music. The change in the schedule of the festival programs did not help either, nor the fact that Grad Theater had to give up its stages year after year and find new spaces outside the city, such as the one in Vještica, near the waste water plant.
When the performance there was also interrupted due to noise, the Festival management tried to publicly warn that under the current conditions it was impossible to bring the festival to an end.
"The permitted noise in the Old Town is 65 decibels. I'm probably breaking that law with the volume of my voice. If that was respected, we wouldn't have a problem," Boris Mišković vividly explains.
The director of the City Theater, Blažo Radoman, has a solution, but for next year.
"We suggest that for next year, when renting terraces, a clause is added to the contracts according to which, during the performance of the festival programs, music will not be allowed in the bars of the Old Town. This is one of the ways to solve this problem," Radoman points out.
However, the essential problem of Budva is what few people want to talk about publicly: the Grad Teatar festival, conceived as a renewal of the Mediterranean spirit on open stages, where even passers-by become participants in the artistic act, cannot exist in Budva, which is subordinate to kitsch, quick money and private interests.
Because of this, the 30th Festival will be remembered as a theater without stages, which the actors also leave.
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