"The good that should happen to culture will happen when another generation is destroyed by nationalism and other nonsense"

The theatrical segment of the 55th "Bar Chronicle" festival began last night on the Summer Stage of the House of Culture with the play "Peerful Bosnia", Chamber Theater 37 Sarajevo, based on the text by Boris Lalić and directed by Saša Peševski.

"One of the most watched performances of Chamber Theater 55 constantly fills theater halls throughout the region, which was witnessed last night by many fans of theater art in Bar. The text updates today's situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina - attempts to make money and survive in a society in which it's hard to find employment," said the Cultural Center in Bar.

The play has a comedy genre, and it talks about the problems of the Bosnian man in an ironic way. It tells about the lives of two families brought together by past wartime adversities and their eternal struggle to move from a life on the edge of poverty to prosperity. The opportunity for this is presented when, at the persuasion of Riz, who is also the only able-bodied among them, they start dealing in marijuana. They are so successful at it, that in the end it could have cost them their heads.

The roles were played by Feđa Štukan, Gordana Boban, Vanesa Glođo and Davor Golubović, whose gift was received by the audience with a standing ovation.

Štukan points out that the play has been playing for a long time, but that they have not yet encountered a negative reaction from the audience.

"People wait for years to see it. As soon as the repertoire comes out, all the tickets are sold out very quickly, which was the only thing that was not the case during the coronavirus pandemic. This is a show that we play with the most passion, we are well-coordinated and it is very visible how much fun we are having. Although it is serious , it's a hilarious comedy, but we play it as a tragedy," stresses Štukan, adding that they also won prizes at some festivals with it.

"Boris Lalić wrote a great text, with such catchy, acting lines, easy to pronounce. Usually, actors 'twist' everything during the performance, but here there was no need for any interventions on the text because it was written brilliantly," reveals Feđa Štukan.

This fifty-year-old actor, pilot and writer from Bosnia and Herzegovina is neither in Bar nor on the "Bar Chronicle".

In addition to the promotion of the book "Blank" two years ago, he also presented his work to the students of the Vocational High School in Bar.

"Considering that similar promotions were later organized in several schools and universities in Sarajevo, it can be said that everything started from Bar. Marija Šušter was the first to initiate it, and she is still working on getting 'Blank' included as reading material into the education system, but there are some problems there, it doesn't go 'smoothly', but she still fights for it."

As for the hyperproduction of TV series in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Štukan states that, after receiving funds, several series were filmed in Bosnia, but they were interrupted and he does not believe that they will be continued.

Although he is the protagonist in three series that will be shown at the "Sarajevo Film Festival", he will not watch them.

"It's about 'Sablja', which was made in Serbia, and I finished it the day before I was exiled, there's also the first sci-fi Bosnian series 'Komar', a crazy project, an experiment that can be genius, with world-famous names who are working on it and, finally, the second season of the series 'Kotlina'", explains Štukan.

When it comes to writing, he said that he started to write and stopped.

"Given that 'Blank' was written for nine years, maybe something else will come out in the next nine. I'm not in a hurry, if something doesn't grab me and I don't have an idea that I would devote myself to religiously in reality, then it's better not to start, not to spoil the five", Štukan is funny and reveals that he is not an optimist when it comes to the future of culture and art in the region.

"The good that should happen to culture will happen when another generation is destroyed by nationalism and other nonsense," he concluded.

Given that he finished his duties in May, Feđa set off from Bar to Istria on a motorcycle, and because of the play "Mirna Bosna" which, he said, he "loves to play", he stayed in the town under Rumija.