Kish writes "Anatomy Lesson" as a response to the harassment he was exposed to, a literary intellectual and human defense. With his direction in the performance of the play "Anatomy Lesson", Urban talks about the Defense presented by Kish - that the measure of freedom is the measure of how ready we are to deal with our own choices. It is a story about the measure of the relationship between courage, thoughtfulness, faith and hope, when a person moves or does not move his limit.
Urban's play calls everyone individually to personal responsibility. It is used with all elements of the theater, individual, group, space. The space is for Urban's alchemical retort, the space where magic happens, and the actor is the instrument of the creation process. And that's where we meet the director in full maturity, aware of every element of the alchemical process he handles.
Andraš Urban knows how to raise the energy potential of an actor very high, and the audience almost inevitably reacts to that. The ensemble of the Serbian National Theater accurately channels the strong energy potential it brings to the stage. Actors Radoje Čupić, Draginja Voganjac, Sanja Krajnov, Aleksandra Lacko, Jugoslav Krajnov, Višnja Obradović, Milica Grujičić, Marija Medenica, Nenad Pećinar and Igor Pavlović performed the game in the best possible way and they should be honored for that. The whole show is packaged like the finest porcelain.
Playwright Suzana Vuković builds the story in a grounded and thoughtful manner. She builds a complex and clear mosaic (besides Kiš, there is Petefi's poetry, quotes by Ljubiša Ristić and Oliver Frljić...), fluently, part by part, so that the genre context of the play speaks the language of this and Kiš's time. Irene Popović's music begins with music that is reminiscent of the first movement of the Moon Sonata, it takes you like a whirlwind and opens up space for many strong associations, awakening emotional responses that are beyond what we see. When he introduces us to the cabaret, it is a group mocking of the phenomenon of nationalism to the point of absurdity, after which everything quiets down. The sound of a march is frequent, reminding us that we are more or less almost always in battle and that, as Kish teaches us, only death is certain.
The costume of Marina Sremac cooperates - it is perfectly accurate - Kish's - in ivory lace and overcoats and takes you through the play and Kish's world, that lace leads you to the first class compartment, the leather strap on the father's hat and tincture of iodine... Scenography by Željko Piškorić, the multitude of cold spotlights pointed at the scene speak of the sensitivity of the presentation.
"Anatomy class" is an opportunity to see how Urban works with amalgam, with a new quality. The audience is no longer a monolithic mixture-group. The audience is an individual in a relationship with an individual who is constantly confronting. The viewer with himself and with the individual next to him. Here you are on the test of readiness to accept that challenge, or not, that is, deny it.
Andraš Urban connected four cultural and historical contexts with his direction and being: the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the SHS Kingdom, Tito's time and today. It reflected our faces imbued with a long root of common belonging. Regardless of the culture and language we speak or dream about. Urban and Kish did the same.
And how they live, the play "Anatomy Lesson" is built: courage, daring, faith and hope, willingness to sacrifice. It is a hymn to Freedom-awareness of Self and the Other.
Bonus video:
