In the best possible way, the Podgorica edition of the festival of the Regional Union of Theaters RUTA Grupa Triglav closed in the best possible way, with the play "The Mississippi Flows Silently", a story about the breakup of Yugoslavia in parallel with the saga of growing up and raising a child.
As the crown of the traveling festival, which was hosted by the Podgorica City Theater in the Cultural and Information Center "Budo Tomović" for the third time, there was an announcement about the co-production of a theater performance in which all theater companies, members of RUTA, will participate.
This unique Union was created in 2019 with the aim of establishing cooperation, communication and exchange of ideas, artists and projects, namely six theaters from the region, and through a series of revue festivals of the best productions of the participants in their home cities. The members of the RUTA Group of the Triglav Festival are: Belgrade Drama Theatre, Ullysses Theater from Zagreb, Mestno gledališče Ljubljana, Kamerni Treatar 55 from Sarajevo, Drama Theater Skopje and City Theater Podgorica.
After a masterful performance of the play by the Belgrade Drama Theater, whose direction he signs Ivica Buljan, and the text and dramaturgy by NIN laureate Vladimir Tabasevic, the audience continued to hum some of the melodies that were performed on stage, from "More, more" to "Everything is returned, everything is paid".
With dizzying jumps from one period to another, combining memories, the past, the very beginnings/beginnings of life, mistakes and trials, all the while deviating from the expected - the traditional interpretation of the original text, the play completes the story of a country, century and idea, a picture of lives and destinies, all the while offering a devastatingly intimate account of the end, or collapse, of it all. The legendary actresses caused special enthusiasm among the audience Vesna Čipčić i Branka Katić which perfectly complemented the energy of the brilliant young ensemble. This was confirmed by Čipčić, who said that the whole process was very interesting and pointed out that after only a few rehearsals, the symbiosis and complementation of Ivica Buljan and Vladimir Tabašević was felt, with understanding and a common desire to make exactly what was presented - a special kind theaters that Buljan normally cherishes.
"I followed Ivica's performances for a long time, traveling around Ljubljana and Zagreb, and every time I saw his performance, I wanted to jump over the chairs, go on stage and say: "Here I am at your place", how much I liked it. as a type of theater that Ivica cherishes, and which is special. It was really a great pleasure to work with them, but also with such a young, wonderful ensemble. As much as they learned from me, I also learned from them," said Vesna Čipčić.
Playwright of the City Theater Podgorica, Dragana Tripković, who moderated the round table, pointed out the presence of deviation that exists in this theater piece between the writer and the actor...
"The metatheatrical or metatextual deviation gives this story declarativeness and provides the audience with something that is said and is the writer's idea... It is drawn from the space we know, and all the characters are ours or the voices of the people around us," she said.
Branka Katić evoked memories of the process of working on the play, but also shared her impressions about everything...
"Regarding the work process and this role of mine, I was offered the role when the preparations were already underway, one or two or three weeks, without knowing what I was going to play... Then I read the play and was amazed by Tabašević's prose. And then during the work we constantly improvised something, Vladimir constantly brought some new scenes and during those magical rehearsals Ivica analyzed the book and each character individually and that was fantastic to work with. I kept waiting for him to direct something for me, not knowing that this was his way of working, and he just let us play. We received the sequence a few days before the premiere, and in that kind of panic we all gave our best and realized that thanks to our mutual play and energy, it all works. I am really glad to see that the audience always reacts fantastically, even sometimes when I feel that we are slow or that we are not in the best synergy, because this play has its own life that constantly surprises us", said Branka Katić, and then looked back and to the RUTA festival.
"I think that the RUTA festival is really important, so we came here with a play that talks about the breakup of Yugoslavia, and the author's team is made up of almost all nationalities of Yugoslavia, which is touching for me. I like the idea of this festival to get to know each other again, to socialize, to realize again how fundamentally things connect us and always will," she pointed out.
Director of the City Theatre Stevan Koprivica he pointed out that he is glad that RUTA is closing with a play like "The Mississippi Flows Silently" and said that he especially likes that Yugoslav character.
"It is one of the rare moments where we are together like we used to be and show unity and poetic strength, if we haven't already shown it on some political level. "The theater is more beautiful and stronger than life and RUTA is one of the ways that that former country lasts, but now it lasts in a different way, striving for the poetic truth, and not the truth of life, which can sometimes be worse," said Koprivica.
Director of the Belgrade Drama Theater Jug Radivojevic solemnly declared the festival closed and reminded of its importance.
"Even though it's not easy, I think it's fantastic how we all don't give up, because when it looks like one of us might not be able to push through a round, we all help each other and that's really the message of the spirit of togetherness that we create, which is the primary thing , and that is the main statement of this play we staged", said Radivojević.
He, on the other hand, reflected on the performance.
"This is a play about a boy growing up in some strange times. It was important for our ensemble that Ivica Buljan directs, so that the actors understand that they are also the authors of the piece and that the theater is real and full of that moment when there is mutual responsibility and creativity for the sake of the piece itself. In this context, improvisation is the crown of extremely grounded and serious work. This play is some of our rock and roll... It is very important for her that Vesna Čipčić and Branka Katić are there, because they are the pivots of the story, the link with Yugoslavia, in addition to their huge biography and results. Through the recognition of who they are, a special atmosphere is woven into the show, and that's why they are irreplaceable," he said.
The next edition of the festival is scheduled in Sarajevo, from May 19 to 25.
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