Children of the '90s about the crime in Štrpci

Name. Name. Name. It echoes through the theater scene and remains as an echo in the memory. He reminds us to never forget that February 27. The day when one's name meant a one-way ticket. We are definitely not the same after this show...

With these words, the artistic director of the Montenegrin National Theater (CNP) Vesna Vujošević Labović announced the last theatrical premiere of that theater in 2023. Play "671 LOV" by the author Hana Rastoder will be performed tonight, on the Studio stage at 20 p.m.

"The play is inspired by the crime in Štrpci committed on February 27, 1993, i.e. the kidnapping of twenty civilian passengers from train 671, better known as 'Lovćen'. We follow the drama of a family traumatized by the loss of a family member, i.e. the repercussions of the social crisis on one of its constituent units - the family. Overnight, the family found themselves without social support, in the dark without answers to questions about the fate of their abductees, in the middle of the tearing apart of their homeland, Yugoslavia," it was announced earlier in the description of the play.

This play is also the final exam of the master's degree in theater directing, which Rastoder attends at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in the class of a full-time professor. Radmile Vojvodic. She signs the adaptation and direction, and the play stars: Dejan Ivanić, Tihana Ćulafić, Milica Šćepanović, Jovana Brnović, Ognjen Sekulić, Kristijan Blečić.

"The author of the text and director directly introduces us to the space of events. Seemingly everyday situations melt into the completely impossible to understand. And a seemingly ordinary train journey leads to questions of meaning, dealing with pain and looking for a way out. Symbolically, the new generation is looking for a way to talk about that horror. The play brings confrontation with pain, condemnation, prayer, acceptance and reminds us, because we must not forget. It reminds us and accepts the theater to be a space of transformation and change. A space that is not only scenic, but spreads over our entire country. To every city and every family that has its own passengers. Because they were just passengers on the train - our fellow citizens, neighbors, friends", said Vujošević Labović at yesterday's press conference.

She congratulated the team that worked on the play "671 Hunting" for their courage, patience, and strength to face all the emotional challenges in this process. Scena Studio, she said, received a precious story that makes CNP's repertoire richer for another authentic and poignant domestic text.

Rastoder expressed her gratitude to the former director of the National Theater Marko Baćović, who first supported the project and the play.

"Thank you for being understanding and patient with me, for accepting that here, at the CNP, on a small stage, a text like this, written by a student... Thank you to the team for their patience with me and my (in)experience", said the director.

Actress Milica Šćepanović was also uncomfortable at the press conference "because of the whole process and everything", she explained.

"I think that I am doing this work because of projects like this. I think our goal is to speak and that some answers should come from this scene and some important questions should be asked. It should be noted that this is very brave and we should praise the courage of Hanina and the whole team, as well as the courage of the theater to give young people the opportunity to express their opinion on such a topic. My generation is a by-product of these crimes and we are children of the nineties, we were born and raised at that time and we are only now feeling the consequences," stated Šćepanović.

The actress gave words of praise to the young director and encouraged her to continue on the path she has taken in art. Actress Jovana Brnović pointed out that the most significant thing is that Hana Rastoder wrote this dramatic text.

"I think she has already done enough with that, and the fact that we are staging that story on the stage of the Montenegrin National Theater is an even bigger deal." Milica mentioned the nineties, I'm not a child of the nineties, but I got to the point that now in 2023 I'm playing in a play that concerns those crimes, so all of that directly affects my development and what I do," she said. is Brnović.

Brnović emphasized that, in addition to all the socio-political topics that the text raises, she was trying to raise awareness of what she and her colleagues can do "for those victims and for the victims of our country in one sense of the commemoration that will take place on this stage."

Ivanka Vana Prelevic did scenography and sculptural works, she is a costume designer Mia Đurović, composer Enes Tahirović, is the director's assistant Nataša Milicevic, executive producer Danilo Milatović, inspector Slobodan Vujadinović, and prompters are Mirjana Pejović i Gorica Suškavčević.