On the stage between the churches, the drama program of the 36th Grad Teatar Festival continued with the performance of Andraš Urban's play "Ibi the Great" in the production of the National Theater in Sombor.
The play was created based on the motives of the famous theater play "King Ibi" by the French writer Alfred Jarry and plays with several genres and styles in the well-known manner of Urban, who also with this play shocks the audience with scenes that at least cause discomfort and repulsion, but at the same time managed to animate and made the Budva audience laugh, which followed all the events on stage with great attention.
This is also due to the topic that is linked to many current topics such as the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
Actress Danica Grubački, after the play in Budva, said that the play had been ready for less than two months.
"We went on stage about a week before the premiere, and we spent most of the time in the rehearsal room in polemics. We had homework, there was also improvisation, but we did our best. We were actually surprised by the text because towards the end, one monologue came after another. All in all, it was hard, but also very beautiful," said Grubački about working on the play.
Nikola Knežević, the actor who introduced the audience to the play and everything that will happen on stage between the churches, said that the whole play was a joint work.
"At rehearsals, we were given tasks that had to be done from rehearsal to rehearsal, in relation to what we brought. "Urban and Božinović put together that author's part that follows Žari's basic line, so that all those moments that are recorded really go with the text," said Knežević.
The character of Ibi was brought by the actor Nemanja Bakić, and as he said, the audience reacts differently to this play every time.
"Sometimes we feel resistance from the audience, and sometimes the audience reacts well to the first ball, so it depends from city to city. We've played in several cities and it's different everywhere, but it seems to me that when the first third of the show is over, the audience everywhere settles down and gets into the show. Many times they say that they did not expect this, so it also depends on expectations. In preparation for this character, I watched a lot of things, I watched what was current on TV, reality programs, leaders, but the work was very difficult, which can be seen in the play itself, because it is very physically demanding", said Bakić.
Srđan Aleksić and Biljana Keskenović also play in the play, and Strahinja Rašić is in charge of the music.
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