Theatrical, cultural-artistic, but also sociological phenomenon that unites the city theaters of the region, but also connects and unites regional theater companies and brings "traveling" editions of the revue festival in each of the republics of the former Yugoslavia, better known as RUTA, starts today in Podgorica and takes place until April 13.
For the fourth time, the Podgorica City Theater is the host of the Regional Union of Theaters of the RUTA Festival, during which the audience will have the opportunity to watch the best productions of five leading regional theaters from Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Slovenia and Montenegro.
"The Podgorica edition of the RUTA festival confirms that this festival has acquired the characteristics of a phenomenon born from creative energy, professional initiative and complete dedication to theatrical creativity of the leading city theaters of the region, regardless of conventions or festival rules. RUTA, freed from competitive tensions and undercurrents that are imposed by awards, so that someone is always deprived and dissatisfied, has the privilege of presenting the audience with a pure theatrical product, for viewing, reflection and self-conclusion. Enjoying the artistic act in itself is an obligatory bonus in this kind of theater festival", said the director of the City Theatre. Stevan Koprivica.
Playwright of the City Theater Podgorica Dragana Tripković, she previously pointed out that festivals are a space for meetings that are as necessary for the theater as they are for the actors. She emphasized that festivals enable reunions, renewal of friendships and a space of freedom that is rarely found in the circumstances in which we live.
All this makes Ruta a phenomenon, it is a statement, but also the feeling of mostly everyone who feels the atmosphere of the festival, whether they are managers of the theater, members of acting ensembles or individuals in the audience. A sense of community, knowledge and familiarity, exchange and giving, selfless investment and sharing is inevitable, along with the evident quality of top theater productions that encourage the mutual development of each of the theater companies.
"When I talk about the phenomenon, I remember the answer of the famous director of photography Peđo Popović, who, when asked by a journalist, how is it in the movie "Byzantine Blue" Dragan Marinković achieved the miraculous feat of blue, replied: 'You can or you can't'. 'Skills' belongs to the category of phenomena, the concept of art is derived from skill, and here it refers to the skills of people who articulate theatrical processes in city theaters and all those who participate in them. From decorators and dressers to actors in episodic roles and leading roles. In the fierce competition of strong and longer-lived festivals, RUTA has won the attention of the audience, critics and the cultural public with its art and concept and, there is every opportunity, it shows its full strength in this Podgorica round. Of course, we should not forget the support of the founders of the theater, the participants of the RUTA festival, the city administrations, who, within the framework of the possibilities, will and understanding of the theater as an ontological need of a civilized citizen, enable RUTA to continue," said Koprivica and repeated: "Either you can or you can't".
Tonight, the festival will be opened by the play "Small Town Wedding" by Chamber Theater 55 from Sarajevo, which according to the text Bertold Brecht directed Paolo Maghelli.
Tomorrow, the local theater in Ljubljana will perform the play "Nora" by the director Nela Vitošević.
On the third day of the festival, the host, the City Theater Podgorica, will perform with the play "Decameron" directed by the director Dejan Projkovski. Projkovski's play "The Fall of the Masada", produced by the Drama Theater from Skopje, will be performed in front of the Podgorica audience on Thursday. The play "Svejk" by the Belgrade Drama Theater, directed by Veljko Mićunović, will be performed on April 12, and the festival will close the Ulysses Theater with a performance on April 13 Oksana Dmitrieva "Othello".
All performances begin at 20:XNUMX p.m., in the large hall of the Cultural and Information Center "Budo Tomović", and after the performances, as usual, there will be round tables where discussions with the artists will be held by the playwright of the City Theater, Dragana Tripković.
The RUTA festival was founded in 2019 and is unique in its model, which implies that during one calendar year, theaters with performances of their choice periodically move to other cities that are members of the Union.
"The goals of the festival are, above all, cooperation between theaters, healthy competition and the presence of all theaters during the year in front of audiences in the entire region. In this way, better communication with other theaters is achieved through the festival, as well as work on large co-productions", the announcement of the RUTA festival emphasizes.
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