"Everyone who deals with theater in their life - searches for its definition and then we always return to Shakespeare - that theater is a game. Every return to Shakespeare is a return to the source of theater, because everything we know about theater comes from him, which is why he represents perhaps the greatest theatrical testament, but also a challenge," said a well-known theater director from North Macedonia. Dejan Projkovski announcing the premiere of a new play he is staging at the City Theater Podgorica, based on one of William Shakespeare's texts.
After twenty years, the Podgorica City Theater is staging Shakespeare's text on its stage, and it is an adaptation of the play "The Taming of the Shrew", which will premiere on Saturday, at the Budo Tomović Cultural and Information Center, at 20 p.m., in Podgorica, while replay announced for a day later.
"The Taming of the Shrew" is a playwriting text that tells how to tame another, and our play opens up that universality in the sense that it is a struggle between the male and female sexes. What is crucial in this play is that a theater troupe comes to play 'The Taming of the Shrew'. It's basically a story about theatrical vision and where reality is, whether it's on stage or in the audience, reflecting Shakespeare's great theme of dream and reality. The most accurate definition of our work can be seen in a Babylonian epic that says: 'in order to get the right answers in life, a person must travel, to learn to travel in his heart'. Our Taming of the Shrew is exactly that - a journey through the heart, in search of all the answers and questions concerning theater and love", further explained Dejan Projkovski, who also adapted the play.
Art director of Gradski, Dusan Kovačević, He said added that with this project, that theater raises the bar of repertory and production formation into a serious theater of regional and European scale.
"After 20 years, Shakespeare on the stage of the City Theater means not only a great title, but primarily the artistic maturation of the rejuvenated ensemble and the institution itself, all thanks to the great author team led by the master baton of an experienced director. The performance will certainly promote new, promising acting names, not only on our stage, but also on the regional stage. The piece talks about a woman's struggle for her postulates, it coincides with the times we live in and it will be shown in the form of a theatrical spectacle with all the elements that are needed to make it really happen", Kovačević announced.
At the press conference, the director of this theater company, Stevan Koprivica, he pointed out that with the play "The Taming of the Shrew", that theater really puts the youngest actors in the foreground again. Thus, the roles were entrusted to a young ensemble consisting of: Lazar Dragojević, Milica Majkić, Pavle Bogojević, Vanja Jovićević, Omar Bajramspahić, Pavle Popović, Stefan Vuković, Božidar Zuber, Goran Slavić, Nemanja Todorović, Vukan Pejović, Lara Dragović i Tatjana Torbica. Koprivica further expressed satisfaction with the selection of a new piece.
"In contemporary sociolinguistics we have two words that are used - one is recognition and the other is challenge. Until recently, we were recognized for something or used to recognize something, and the word 'challenge' is now used for both good and bad situations. I will abuse these terms and say that we recognized Shakespeare as a contemporary writer, the repertoire determinant of the artistic director Dusan Kovačević and his collaboration with Dejan Projkovski, and as far as the challenge is concerned, this was a real challenge for our company because according to all the elements of the theater language, it belongs to the 'A' production. Because of this, it can be said that this is too big a deal for the City Theatre, but we do not agree with that," said Koprivica.
The dramaturgy of the play "The Taming of the Shrew" is signed by him Dragana Tripković, scenography valentine Svetozarev, music Goran Trajkoski, costume design Katarina Vukcevic, stage movement and choreography Tamara Vujosevic Mandic, and proofreading Radovan Knezevic.
Tripković pointed out that "metatheatricality in Shakespeare is one of the basic principles and you can never be totally in the theater even when you deal with the dramaturgy and direction of this writer".
"Guided by that principle, in this piece we dealt with the things that concern other concepts and how the actor communicates with the audience in the very concept of drama and the very genre of comedy. We need to have the courage to set such a complex story, which was a binding situation for us, but also the dilemmas that Shakespeare presents as a playwright, which we managed to solve during the process," said Tripković.
Svetozarev adds that the core of the play is still the young cast, which carries with it a unique collective energy...
"Because it contains all human values, but it also has the harmony of a sports team. I was very delighted to see that in times like this there are people with an excellent energy, which I think will be reflected in the performance as well", said Svetozarev.
Vujošević Mandić pointed out that the passion for the game and life, which has been evident from the very beginning among the team, is something particularly important, because every stage performance must have energy that is transmitted to the audience. The award-winning costume designer Vukčević is building a successful career in Italy and France, and she expressed her satisfaction about her premiere in her hometown. She is satisfied, she says, with the work on the process and with the fact that she opened her engagement in Montenegro with this piece.
Tickets are available through the mobile application of the Podgorica City Theater, as well as at the ticket office of KIC "Budo Tomović" on weekdays from 20 am to 10 pm and on weekends from 13 am to 17 pm and from 20 pm to 020664237 pm. The contact phone number for information is XNUMX, and entry is possible with possession of one of the four pieces of evidence from the National digital covid certificate.
The young ensemble is grateful for the opportunity and trust
The young cast that attended the press conference expressed their gratitude to the City Theater for the trust shown and the opportunity to work on such a play, but also expressed their satisfaction with the collaboration with Projkovski.
The main role was assigned to Lazar Dragojević, who points out that everyone worked with dedication and announces that the audience will enjoy this play. The actress from Serbia, Milica Majkić, got the chance to play in a theater in Montenegro, which she says honored her. She adds that the feeling she gained, which is that she is part of the City Theater ensemble that graduated from the same class, is something that will contribute to the quality of the play, and she will remember it.
Having learned from her earlier work with Dejan Projkovski, Vanja Jovićević's desire to be part of a project that he will work on again, and the same with Vukan Pejović, came true. Nemanja Todorović, a student of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Cetinje from Branimir Popović's class, is grateful for the opportunity to debut in a serious production. Stefan Vuković, also a FDU student, but more experienced, said that the excitement of working on this project was great, so much so that he often asked himself if it was true, because, he reminded, actors do not get the chance to act even after many years of career. in one of Shakespeare's plays.
In the theater, we should destroy stereotypes about men and women
Director Dejan Projkovski pointed out that this play is especially relevant today because it questions gender, and Shakespeare always brings us back to the source of the basic principles of human beings.
"But we won't say anything on our topic if we don't ask the question: is there a specific female sense, which is different from the male one? And if so, can a woman's meaning be expected to be found in a man's world? As a director, I had experience with the psychological shadowing of female characters. It seems to me that female characters are always more psychologically shaded than male characters; the female sense looks like a harp to me, and the male sense like a guitar, the number of strings is different. I don't want to give women an advantage over men in terms of sensibility, because I know that since learning about animus and anime, it's common to talk like that. Our task in the theater is to destroy stereotypes about men and women," he concluded.
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