Jelena Savoy - pop icon

That Montenegrin society is (even a little) more developed, more emancipated and (a) more aware, Jelena of Savoy would certainly be presented as a true pop icon, if only to the extent that she is a queen Elizabeth in UK punk culture.

This is what the director of the play "Jelena of Savoy" told the News. Zoran Rakocevic, and after the premiere performance on Monday evening in the Dodest hall of the "Budo Tomović" Cultural and Information Center in Podgorica. By staging the work according to the text Maria Sarap the ninth edition of the Manifestation of Makado chamber dramatic works was opened, and after the performance, the small author's ensemble was greeted with strong and long applause that echoed as if the large hall was full. The performance is a co-production of KIC, the Nikola Đurković Cultural Center and the Korifej Theater from Kolašin.

Who (everything) is Jelena of Savoy, what makes up her image and work, her identity, but also her memory, what roles and in what way she played, and what Jelena of Savoy is to us today and what she has bequeathed to us, are just some of the questions which play does not set, but encourages us to set them ourselves...

At the entrance to the hall, the audience will be greeted by a sleeping Jelena, placed within the restraints and frameworks that constrain and limit freedom and perspectives... We get to know her through her name, which she pronounces with different diction, and through those roles that are the function of men who are in her life. was surrounded. Jelena's memories come flooding back showing that from childhood she was destined for the deeds for which she was remembered and for which Italy celebrates her by showing her eternal honor. Is Montenegro too?

It is physically, mentally and emotionally demanding, exhausting, successful and effective, masterful, the actress's game Jelena Djukic who woke up Princess Jelena Petrović, daughter of the king, from her sleep Nikola I Petrović, the sister of his brothers, the queen of Italy, queen Elena, wife of the king Vitoria Emmanuel of Savoy, and above all the Jelena who is in the focus of the story, and that is the ordinary Jelena herself - a girl, a girl, a woman with her own thoughts, fears, memories, traumas.

"The play begins with her being transferred to Italy in the greatest secrecy, that is, her body. And we understand that context and we understand the time because of which Italians treat the regional family in that way, but what we say all the time, and what is most important, is the need to understand what she is as she is, as a woman, as a being, as mother, like daughter, like Jelena. Not as Jelena Savoy, not Jelena Petrović, but only as Jelena", said Đukić.

The play abounds in numerous symbols and signs, it is charged with feelings, strength, rebellion, but also fragility and tenderness, and all of this leaves room for personal interpretation and experience depending on the viewer and his preferences.

In all this, there is only a few documentary data, a reference to family, tradition, Montenegro and Italy.

Interrupting the dramatic text for biographical data and historical context makes the play dance with the imagination, idea and vision of a strong woman, princess and queen as she was, making it more universal than determined by some climate, roles, acts.

The lack of explanation and the interrupted flow of the action complete the exuberant emotions that vibrate through the camera space and which are convincingly conveyed to the audience by the actress Đukić, either speaking or singing along. Bojan Peka Minic with whom he shares the stage. Đukić further explained that when Jelena Savoy wakes up, she somehow relives and evokes her life and the path she walked, the rules she knew and the strength she fought and defied. Minic's role can be compared to that of Virgil in the "Divine Comedy", so he follows Jelena Savoyska through her thoughts, realizations, dreams, anxieties like a guide, an interpreter, to some extent a narrator, and perhaps also a psychoanalyst.

"It's all a semi-hallucination in which that being, that voice that I represent, is in some time period that is neither earthly nor otherworldly. In a sense, I lead Jelena through that period of body transfer in which she accidentally woke up", explained Minic, who dictated the tempo of the performance with superb musical rhythm on the guitar or harmonica, synchronized with Đukić.

The songs that Đukić sings sometimes with a dreamy voice, sometimes with sobs, and sometimes with screams of pain, emptiness and hopelessness, or anger, strength and spite, concretize and shape the monodrama and emotions. Although at some moments it jumps from extreme to extreme, as a reflection of the mixture of everything that Jelena is and has been, the play has continuity, and Đukić holds the audience's attention like a magnet. Thanks to the exceptional abilities of the young actress, the audience was able to realize their vision of Jelena Savoy as a human being in full capacity, while she built her character with a pleasant narration, sang with a powerful voice accompanied by Minic with sounds that enhance the atmosphere and perhaps represent the drive of the plot itself.

Aware of a certain hermetic nature, the director Rakočević told Vijest that his/her intention was not to hold a school lesson in the theater in which they would retell the life of Jelena Savojska, but rather wanted to experience her and present her differently from the way she is usually presented - somewhat banal.

"We decided to make a play dedicated to Jelena as a pop icon, deliberately without explaining certain segments of her life, whether at the court in Montenegro or the events in Messina, because I believe that the play provides enough impetus for people to start discovering and taking an interest in her character, deeds and events,” he said.

However, in the construction of the play, it can be seen that the team did stick to the facts from the life of Jelena Savojska, presenting them through the potential of the flexibility of creation. Speaking from the depths of a temporal vacuum, a limbo in which her spirit could be trapped in a moment between transience and eternity, Jelena of Savoy is depicted as a symbol of beauty, refinement and education as well as struggle, rebellion, courage, humanity, independence and consistency.

"In general, the poetics of this play is female. I think that Jelena Đukić also plays it the way only she knows how. I believe that the entire socio-political discourse that we bring with this play is extremely feminist, and for me that is another important segment and element of this play, because without a feminist discourse, there is no healthy story," stated Rakočević.

The monodrama "Jelena Savojska", although a duet on stage, shows a completely new theatrical approach by the director Rakočević, proves the strength and potential of the actress Đukić, reveals the musical and theatrical abilities of Minic, promises the interest of the festival audience and undoubtedly acts as a play that can and should be played for a long time during which it will only build on itself and gain fullness.