From "Slobodarka" to "Kumova"

140 years ago, on February 16, the first theater play was performed in Nikšić - "Slobodarka", a tragedy in five acts by Manojlo Đorđević from Prizren. The jubilee of theatrical magic in the town under Trebjes will be marked, among other things, by the premiere of Dušan Kovačević's everyday tragedy comedy "The Godfathers" directed by Božidar Đurović

"The dramatic oeuvre of Dusan Kovačević is unusually interesting, among other things, because of the, I would say, genre indeterminacy. His pieces live for a very long time, precisely because they spring from life and talk about life and have a very good communication with the audience. I expect that our show 'The Godfathers', which is very layered, theatrically challenging, humorous, thanks above all to the cast, will quickly establish that narrow path between the audience and the actors, because without an audience we are never one hundred percent sure of what we are doing scene. Judging by the rehearsals so far, I am deeply convinced that with this performance we will be worthy to mark the truly great jubilee not of the Nikšić theater, but of the Montenegrin theater in general", director Đurović said at the press conference.

According to him, the piece is grounded in social reality and is therefore very significant, but also tragic, and the way it is handled is comical. That tragicomedy, which is in fact Dušan Kovačević's signature, is also Đurović's lifelong theatrical challenge - to do everything to make the audience laugh with one eye and cry with the other.

"I hope that we have become accustomed to tears, to laughter from time to time, when it comes to mental or spiritual joy. I am deeply convinced that the audience will enjoy this play and that only when they leave this wonderful theater will they have something to talk about thinks, regardless of whether they will like the play and to what extent", said the director and pointed out that the professionalism of the employees of the Nikšić Theater could be the envy of theaters in the region.

According to the artistic director of the Nikšić Theatre, Janko Jelic, premieres are always significant and carry a dose of positive trepidation, but "The Godfathers" have more significance because of the jubilee they mark.

"We made an effort to have a text by probably the greatest living playwright in Serbian literature, Dušan Kovačević, and we are particularly happy from that point of view, even before a special challenge," said Jelić.

Hadži Nenad Maričić, Žana Gardašević Bulatović, Ivona Čović Jaćimović, Nikola Vasiljević and Pavle Bogojević play in the play. The scenography is by Vesna Popović, the costumes are by Marina Medenica and Margareta Marinković, and the stage movement is by Jelena Simić. Bojan Bojanić is responsible for the choice of music, while Veljko Vučurović sang the tracks.

Maričić pointed out that when we look at the history in the region and in the Balkans, at what we have experienced, then 140 years of theater life is a success, almost worthy of an ancient hero. Kovačević's text, as he said, required full dedication and commitment from them.

"From the heel veins we have to convey what, a text that is full of very unusual lines, which speak almost cruelly about our reality that we have fallen into in the last couple of decades, loss of job, loss of friends, alienation from people, alienation from loved ones, violence , and it shows all this in an unusual way that is not cruel, but very funny. It was a task for all of us to somehow fit it all in, to show some contradictions, which the writer himself had already outlined, talking about the comedy of everyday tragedy, which almost has something Chekhovian in that contradiction," Maričić said.

According to Ivona Čović Jaćimović, without the element of surprise, there is no drama, no acting challenge, and no story.

"The factor of surprise, the conflict in the drama itself, is the basis for which the director, the actor always grabs first of all, and for us it is the initial capsule on which the story is built," said Čović Jaćimović.

Žana Gardašević Bulatović pointed out that it is an unusual, interesting and intriguing text, and that the character of Ana that she portrays is perhaps one of the most difficult characters that she has played so far.

"It is a character who endures the action, and when the action is endured, there is a strong thought process behind it that needs to be translated into actions and actions on stage, so in that sense it is a particularly demanding role for me, but I think that with colleague Nenad Marićić and all other colleagues and with Bob Đurović as the director, I managed to contribute to making this play good and the best," said Gardašević Bulatović.

The youngest member of the cast is Pavle Bogojević, who expressed his satisfaction that he is playing for the second time in a play produced by the Nikšić Theater, as well as the text by Dušan Kovačević, one of the region's greatest playwrights.

"In this piece, I portray the character of Vuček, who is quite strange, and this will probably be my strongest characterization so far. "The character is pretty much described through movement, through external characterization, but it still went from the inside to the outside," said Bogojević.

The entire cast of the play thanked the Nikšić Theater for their hospitality and professionalism, stressing that it was the biggest gain and joy for them.

Janko Jelić reminded that the celebration of the jubilee begins on February 14 with an exhibition of written materials and photographs from the history of theater life in Nikšić called "The Way of Freedom", followed by a festive academy with rich stage content.