The theme of the festival turned out to be prophetic

In circumstances where there is an agreement from the Institute for Public Health to finally start holding outdoor artistic programs, "Grad Teatar" plans to show one of the two premieres that were planned for the 34th festival.

"The play that was supposed to open the "Grad Teatar" festival this year is the festival co-production "The Use of Man" based on the famous novel by Aleksandr Tišma and directed by Boris Liješević. This project was created as a result of cooperation between the Novi Tvrđava Theater, Novi Sad Theater/ Újvidéki Színház, East West Center in Sarajevo and JU "Grad Teatar".

It premiered in Sarajevo in December 2019, then in Novi Sad in January, and will be shown at the Novi Tvrđava theater festival in Čortanovci on September 4. The date we planned for Budva is September 12. Despite the still blocked account of the Municipality of Budva, we are working to provide financial resources for this event", Milena Lubarda-Marojević, Director of the Public Institution "Grad Teatar", told "Vijesti". Of all the programs they had originally planned for this summer, as she pointed out, they decided to perform this one for several reasons.

"First, we need to return to the great cultural events, exchange of artists and great works. Secondly, from the beginning, the 34th festival was conceived under the theme "Clash of man and history", with which this play corresponds the most. This topic turned out to be prophetic, because in the meantime, from the beginning of 2020 until today, major historical circumstances have occurred in this area, a pandemic, an economic crisis, political repression, and finally a historic change of government. Thoughts about an individual who is buffeted by historical misfortunes, about suffering without fault, about the revolution and the behavior of people after it, are eternal thoughts, but especially relevant today. This project also means another cooperation between the countries of the region of the former Yugoslavia, which is and will remain a practice that we managed to preserve during all the years of the festival's existence", emphasized Lubarda-Marojević.

As she added, the novel "The Use of Man" was adapted and dramatized by director Liješević and playwright Fedor Šili.

The play features: Emina Elor, Draginja Voganjac, Jugoslav Krajnov, Dušan Vukašinović, Ognjen Nikola Radulović, Aljoša Đidić and Ognjen Petković. The music for the play was composed by Stefan Ćirić, the costumes were designed by Marina Sremac, and the scenography by Željko Piškorić.

"The play is planned to be played on the stage Between the Churches on September 12, 13, 14 and 15, with the implementation of the measures and recommendations of the Institute for Public Health. After showing the new theatrical co-production, we will try to continue the practice of holding programs throughout the year in different indoor spaces in Budva. While in the long term, the search for an adequate public space where we could perform programs throughout the year remains our goal," Lubarda-Marojević concluded.