The festival of the Regional Union of Theaters RUTA in Podgorica opened last night with the masterful performance of Radet Šerbedžija, Katarina Bistrović Derveš, Milan Marić and Nika Ivančić in the play "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf". In the Great Hall of the Cultural and Information Center "Budo Tomović", there was a need for more space, and not a place to sit, because all the auxiliary chairs were filled, but there was also a lack of places to stand, which the attendees did not mind, and after the two and a half hour theatrical spectacle, the audience sent off this indisputable ensemble with a long applause and a standing ovation and repeatedly returned them as a gift.
Both before and after the break, the audience breathed with the rhythm of the performance, with moments of long laughter, sincere, tragic, sarcastic, but also in a great silence in which you could feel the pain and anxiety that were born at the moment of burying a lie, which is one of the elements of life. and the relationship of an older married couple - George (Šerbedžija) and Marta (Bistrović Derveš).
The play talks about love, hate, (un)truth, (in)honesty, labels, ambitions, masks, fear and death, the death of ideas, illusions, freedom, all that and the difficulty and cruelty of life and relationships. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" which is a co-production project of the Ulysses Theater from Zagreb and the Belgrade Drama Theater based on the famous play by Edvard Albi and directed by Lenka Udovički.
"What is important in this play is how much we hide our true truth, and I stopped somewhere at that answer and I think that is what the title refers to, how much we hide what is actually the truth. Through all the plays of Marta and George, you can see how much we avoid meeting reality. She wraps herself in the lie of her own life in the lie of her own illusions, she deals with death, invokes it but also fears it," said Bistrović Derveš after the performance at the round table led by Montenegrin director Zoran Rakočević.
Rakočević noted that in the play, success is measured according to society's criteria, which is additionally contributed by the collision of the old and new generations, and rebellion is present in moments, however, as in life, every idea of rebellion is stifled with considerable effort and commitment of those who fear it. .
"I hope that there is still some percentage of rebellion left in today's youth, that not all of them have fallen into the balancing act. I think that in all of this, especially in our region, the only way the system works is that the idea of rebellion has been killed for decades in various ways and machinations, and the elites and the government see rebellion as the only danger, and everyone's goal is to get as many people as possible into some kind of frenzy in which young people do not have a clear position and push everything called politics away from them, and in this way the authorities gain space for manipulation and space the way they want. The idea of rebellion is strongly attacked today, and I can see from myself and the people around me that people reject everything related to politics and action, but rather choose not to know, that it doesn't concern them, to leave here," remarked the young actor Milan Marić from Serbia.
He added that in such circumstances, young people cannot be expected to build a value system or know what is right if they are left with everything they actually grow up in, the circumstances in which they grow up.
"When the whole system is being trampled upon, you cannot expect young people to build it and to know what is right. That is why there is a system, to guide us, even to the system of values. You cannot expect someone who is 15, 16, "For 20 years, he has been building a system that has been completely destroyed, trampled on, spat on, disrupted in the worst possible way. It cannot be built by high school students, without middle-aged people abusing it or ending up on the streets fighting for some changes," says Marić, and then relates it to the character he is playing:
"My character has some sick ambition to break through, he saw a chance for it, bypasses the system, like a shark sees where there is blood and attacks where it is weakest. Essentially his intention is fine - a man who wants to achieve and achieve a career , but the ways in which he does it are sick. His idea of ambition is essentially normal and healthy, but the ways are not," he points out.
Nika Ivančić says that she plays her role, the role of a woman who got married "by agreement" and lives in a marriage with a partner (Marić) whom she doesn't really love and doesn't feel anything for him, just as he doesn't feel anything for her, living in a relationship without sincerity , passions, under the veil and labels...
"I presented it as a role imposed on women, in fact. It is for a woman to be a man's right hand, she tries to be an ideal wife, housewife, but she doesn't manage to do it and lies to herself, to herself, to everyone around her. Everyone to themselves we lie in huge amounts, we all live under masks, and when those masks fall, only then do we face life," she said at the round table, emphasizing that the Hana she plays is not at all naive and foolish as she looks, but adapts to everything around her as such.
In threads of play, fear, hysteria, shame, lies, the play ends with love, Marta and George, with shattered illusions, after a lot of drinking, but also pain, hatred, insults, confrontation... they fall asleep hugging each other and waiting for a new day, a new morning, life again.
That RUTA be a new creative and spiritual bridge
The festival was opened, as announced by the Montenegrin actor Emir Ćatović, who led the opening ceremony - part of the legend of the Yugoslav theater, undisputed champion of the Macedonian theater scene, laureate of all prestigious film and theater awards", Meto Jovanovski.
"With the desire that the festival becomes a new creative bridge that unites us spiritually in love and friendship and nurtures spiritual values as a guide and landmark for a better and more humane world. Art is a universal, spiritual and divine force that makes us better and more elevated. Art is an ornament and the beauty of life. Being an actor, a theater collaborator, part of a theater crew, entering that mysterious magical world with the desire to turn life into a creative act is an honor and a privilege, but also a responsibility towards those for whom we exist, which are our viewers, the audience that knows how to appreciate and recognize our artistic work. This is a wonderful job, but also a great challenge to reach the highest, to enter the world of creativity and at least for a moment forget the black and white world we live in, and share the joy with the viewers. In the name creativity, beauty and everything that elevates the human soul, we celebrate art as a ray of light in the fight against dark stereotypes and backwardness. May this festival be a spiritual beacon and a worthy representative of the creativity of all of us," said Jovanovski.
Tonight's repertoire includes the play "Do you remember Dolly Bel" by Chamber Theater 55 from Sarajevo, directed and adapted by Kokan Mladenović. Playwright is Vedran Fajković, scenographer and costume designer Adisa Vatreš Selimović, composer of music Irena Popović, and the actors in the play are: Emir Hadžihafizbegović, Gordana Boban, Mirsad Tuka, Davor Golubović, Elma Juković, Admir Glamočak, Tatjana Šojić, Muhamed Hadžović, Sabit Sejdinović, Sin Kurt , Amar Selimović and Saša Krmpotić.
Bonus video:
