Her portrait and well-recognizable smile, along with a wreath of white roses, welcomed family, friends and colleagues at the dedication recently deceased actress and producer Ivan Mrvaljević, which was held yesterday in Podgorica at the Cultural and Information Center "Budo Tomović", organized by its City Theatre.
In addition to her smile, there are also her recordings from numerous plays, films, interviews, her recognizable voice, and then the words from the monodrama "The Unpublished Diary of Katerina Radonjić", which evokes tight emotions, deep regret and longing.
"Life and death are simultaneous and cycle like days and nights. Many are afraid to die, death fills them with fear. Eh, what do I know! I'm not afraid", says Mrvaljević convincingly.
There followed a long, long applause from the audience, mixed with tears and wistful smiles...
"The role in this division was not intended for her. Simply, this one was not for her. Ivana, if we could prevent and prohibit this division, we would do it. But we didn't feel like it, neither you nor us", the director of the City Theater began his address Stevan Koprivica.
"It's not death for that smile. The light of laughter, which was her life's signature and attitude, does not fit into that darkness. It is not death for her struggles, for the dignity of a woman, for the truth about the country she loved impeccably, for the profession in which she sought more and better, and it is not, first and foremost, for her little They're going, to whom she bequeathed the pride and privilege of being her mother", said Koprivica in a trembling voice while tears and sobs whispered in the great hall.
It's quite emotional too Neven Stanicic from the Tivat Cultural Center said goodbye to Mrvaljević, reminding them of their collaboration, but also of the rare authenticity, helpfulness and warmth that the actress radiated.
"You obliged us with your ability and will to jump in and replace everyone on stage and everyone around. Everything, except himself," said Staničić, among other things.
With the words of love and the power of friendship of the actress Ivona Čović Jaćimović i Dubravka Drakić shared some of their last moments and conversations with Mrvaljević in which, in her own way, she showed a bright and winning spirit.
"My Ive, you told me 15 days ago that you plan and direct your funeral with irony and brilliant Cetinje cynicism, knowing that all the deaths will not kill you. And even then you knew everything. You did everything not to burden anyone, to prove the strength and power of a woman's love, to speed up the flight", says Drakić, who recalls only some of the successes of Mrvaljević, who died early.
"Enrolled at FDU after the third year of high school, the first woman from Cetinje to graduate from FDU, the first to found the NGO 'Youth Theater', the first to establish the stage 'Art' in Zetski dom, the first of all actors to start producing, the first in Turin to enroll and complete a master's degree in production , the first to design 3D projections at King Nikola's Palace. With a smile that we called chirping, and with the voice of a dove, you are forever Ivona Mrvaljoni, grande atricce, rosa di Napoli", reads Drakić with a convulsion and continues addressing Ivana, proudly and with a smile.
"You managed everything. A true capital woman! I guess it was taken for granted that you play the piano and speak two foreign languages, and how else! With how much joy you traveled around the world, and with how much passion you tried to bring the world to Montenegro. And all this out of a huge love for the game. Love for beauty and art. According to acting, through which you connected the insurmountable and believed in the reality in which you sought the impossible. Now you know all the secrets. You rushed"...
Čović Jaćimović reminded of plans for a joint trip to Ljubljana, where they were supposed to play a play, of ideas and agreements, and she also of famous verses Vita Nikolić: "I can still put on a few smiles, feign some happiness, I can still say something nice, to everyone - except myself... I can still put on a few smiles, but quieter, quieter, quieter"...
"Ivana gave the theater youth, acting and passion, her friends a smile that can grab and save a person. The smile that grips our souls today... And when we leave this hall, when we find comfort, we will be happy that we knew you. We'll want you to laugh with us. There are so many smiles in her life that you no longer know whether she lived for a smile or a smile lived for her... If Andrić, under the doorstep lie the souls of dead ancestors, so the soul of our Ivana Mrvaljević will forever smell under the doors of the City Theatre", the words of Čović Jaćimović...
Director, professor of directing Alisa Stojanovic, Ivana's colleague and friend sent a letter on this sad occasion, which was read by the actress Branka Femic. She wrote that Mrvaljević was a "progressive Montenegrin and proud Cetinje", in terms of beliefs, ambitions, action, responsibility, understanding, desire for progress...
"She was not satisfied with just noticing injustices, but looked for ways to spread awareness about them, as well as to fight against them. She believed that it was possible in the theater, and through art in general, and through theater management. On film as well, but also in social activism. She fought against taboos and prejudices in public, but equally in her life choices. She wanted a modern, civic and global Montenegro. First of all, she was interested in the position of women in society, but also of all minorities and disenfranchised groups, as well as the invisible ones," added Stojanović in her letter.
Stojanović points out that she would not be able to remember Ivana only as an actress, only as a manager or producer, despite working together and flawlessly independently.
"Nor just as a brave woman in the public space, not even just as a friend... Because all those loves, needs, qualities and talents in her made one unique personality: fragile and strong, calm on the outside and turbulent on the inside, smart, noble and dignified. That progressive, self-aware, modern Montenegrin was an authentic phenomenon. For me: a phenomenon", writes Stojanović and adds:
"And in the moment, as I look at her for the last time, so beautiful and calm, as she speaks publicly about her illness, about breast cancer, I know that she is doing it for all women, for prevention, for the fight, for the right to choose. And to once again defy prejudices! She worked for all of us, you and for her Ida, to leave her a more beautiful and just world. And a better Montenegro", concludes Stojanović, and Koprivica said at the beginning:
"We agreed, you will never play death in this play. Sleep and dream with your eyes free from all evil, and we will protect you with sleep. Sleep, Ivana"...
A long and strong clap of hands overpowered the sobs and tears, earning the pride and respect of all present.
Bonus video:
