Absurdity is the collision of real and imaginary worlds

Open scenes always bring their own challenges and characteristics. This was also the case with the Starobar open-air theater stage, where on Monday evening the theater play "Executioner" directed by Milije Šćepanović, and after the text Vojislav Savić.

At the very beginning, as part of the audience, the wind stood out, which might have bothered some, while for others it added to the tension of the performance itself. Like the audience, he would catch his breath, be silent, and then suddenly speak, depending on what could be seen or heard. He was part of the play itself.

"The Executioner" is a black-humored psychological drama with elements of "suspense", full of absurdity, he writes in the description of the plot, whose center is a man who has been running away from his killer, persecutor, for six months. He will find a hiding place in a collapsed hotel, which, however, does not offer him any rest because he is attacked by a maid.

On the Small Stage in Stari Bar, thanks to the simple but effective scenography, it was easy to imagine that the roar of the wind was coming through the very window of that old, collapsed hotel and lonely room.

The nameless characters are interpreted by: Branko Ilić (guest), Mirjana Đurđević (maid) i Mirko Vlahovic (stranger).

A guest comes to a hotel that "God forgot" and where only a maid works. He is running away from someone and that Someone is first only a thought, an invisible hint without mass, but which carries weight. The phone is ringing. Does this hint and anticipation take on the first signs of physical mass and psychological tension? At that moment, with the phone ringing, the wind spoke again, because it seemed to decide that the weight was not enough for gravity to be felt. Maybe he is right.

Uncertainty quietly, imperceptibly and with small steps, with its ever-increasing mass until it takes its final form, creates ever-increasing excitement in hearts: "Who's calling? Did he lock the door? It's not! Where could he escape if the executioner found him? Someone is at the reception. Is that an executor?"...

Then, as expected, uncertainty reached its peak and with the appearance of the "Executive" reminded that one cannot escape from reality.

In addition to all that, absurdity also makes you laugh, at least that's how it was in this play, given that it's a black-humored drama that manages to keep its seriousness along with humor and make you think. Perhaps life, imitating art, with its absurdities, still sometimes requires laughter in response.

"I think that absurdity is everything that you expect in one way, and you get something completely opposite, I think that is the main thread of absurdity - things that you think will happen, but actually happen in an opposite, totally different way. So the absurd can actually be seen as a collision of some worlds, real and imaginary," Šćepanović told "Vijesta" after the premiere.

And it really is, because if it wasn't, wouldn't the executor finish the job immediately? This is how the atmosphere that we feel, for example, was created Beckett. We are waiting for Godot. While we wait for him, we discover more and more absurdities. We discover the "reason" for the murder, which is on par with Meursault's killing of Arabs because the Sun bothered him.

"When you add some elements that concern, is it, comedy, that concern even a little "suspense", thriller, horror elements, I think that can improve the absurdity to a much higher level", added Šćepanović.

This gave this play of absurdity a new color and experience, as well as light.

"We transferred the cinematic light to the theater, and I hope we succeeded in that," explained the director.

"We all want company", radiates the executor's thought, which follows the course of gradual gradation until the final culmination. Little by little, despite all the absurdities, the nature and core of man's loneliness, meaninglessness, and existence are revealed. Maybe that's the feeling that describes it well Umberto Eco in his "Island of the Day Before": "Am I here, then, to be mistaken about the error of an error, I who am an error to myself? Did I have to lose everything and end up at this point, forgotten in the middle of the antipodes, in order to find out that there is nothing to lose? But won't I get everything with that realization, because I become the only thinking point in which the universe admits its own delusion? Living in the Antipodes, therefore, means building instinct anew, being able to make nature out of strangeness and nature out of strangeness, to discover how unstable this world is, which on one side follows one set of laws, while on the other side completely opposite ones"...

What and who are we all and how do we feel when we are alone, under the stars, in the middle of the ocean, or when we are alone in a room..., when there is nothing but existence - what and who are we then when we free ourselves from all absurdities? Can we then accept our own responsibilities, mistakes, can we reject all misconceptions? Do we really just have each other in the middle of the "antipodes"?

Our heroes don't even have a name, and Jozef K. has both a name and the first letter of his last name. Although, in the middle of the antipodes, none of us really have a first or last name, so maybe they are anyone... or everyone?

"All this is like a game," says one of the characters. Maybe that's where the fate of the play lies. We're not sure what all this is, but we can't escape either. The hero says at the end "he was my friend. Just that". Maybe you just need to be a friend in the middle of this game, process, in the middle of this "antipode". Because, "The Executioner" is full of absurdities and, says Savić, "there are elements of absurdity at every corner only if a person wants to see it, as it is in our lives"... Wouldn't it be the most absurd not to be a friend?

Maybe at the end of "The Executioner" it sounds more reasonable than reality.

She is the producer of "Executive". Milena Charan, and set designer Andreja Rondović. Rondović was also in charge of lighting design together with Danilo Malović, who is also the master of light. She was in charge of the costumes Lina Lekovic, dok je Enes Tahirović composer.

Mirko Bujišić is the main organizer of the play, and the stage designer's assistant Jelena Vojinović. You indulge Davud Bahović.

He is a master of sound Nemanja Dragović, and behind the scenes, the make-up artist and hair stylist also had their responsibilities Žana Ćetković, wardrobe Jelica Jovanovic, decoration Senad Bracic i Amel Isljamović, and stage worker Vido Papan.

Savić: The most surprising things we think we "Googled"

The author of the text, Vojislav Savić, conveyed his impressions to the "News" after the premiere and pointed out that the audience responded well and followed the play carefully, and then spoke more about his play.

"The most surprising things are things we think we've Googled, like a story about a professional killer chasing a man to kill him and finding him in an abandoned hotel. That's perfectly okay, normal, but what happens between them, how it ends, I wouldn't give away. This is what can turn every situation into something that is not expected, either by chance, fate, whatever a person believes in or doesn't believe, simply all of life, whatever force is flowing there," said Savić.

He confirmed the layering of the text, as well as that it can be applied in several areas of life, that it can also refer to issues such as morality.

"The quality of the play depends solely on the people who direct and act and on how deeply they can read the text... I did my best," said Savić.

Šćepanović: Even smaller environments can produce a good show

Director Milija Šćepanović told "Vijesta" that this is actually his first theatrical direction, if you don't count one "student attempt".

He pointed out that he worked on television, radio, and film, and that he tried to implement all the elements he had acquired earlier "on boards that mean life". He added that it is difficult to do a show outdoors and within the festival conditions.

Šćepanović brought something of his own into the scenography itself.

"In the theater you always have some imaginary elements that are reduced. You saw that here we had real doors, real windows, everything opened like in real life. I even had a little problem with my colleague who was doing the scenography, but I think in the end we managed to implement those things, that "suspense" that comes with thriller genre films," he said.

Šćepanović explained that this play is, in fact, a comedy that they reworked, adapted, and added some new elements to.

"I think that all that, that mixing of styles, contributed to the visual identity of the play and I hope that we managed to create something original", he said, adding that the biggest compliments he received after the premiere were that it was something different.

He also said that they tried to do it in the musical aspect as well, at the level of sound and light.

"It's a good thing that the "gro" of the author team is from Montenegro. The Cultural Center Bar does not have too much experience in theater production", stated Šćepanović.

He stated that this is a comeback production, independent after a long series of years, and he hopes that they managed to show that some smaller environments can produce an interesting and complex show, and that it does not have to be only institutional theaters that exist in Montenegro. "but also to join colleagues from cultural centers from Tivat, Budva..., who have been doing this successfully for years".

Đurđević: Art is just the essence of life

Actress Mirjana Đurđević is no stranger to this type of play, she said and added that she always looks forward to them, whatever the genre. She said that the text is the most important when it comes to film and theater, "the script itself or the text".

"The text is exactly what attracted me when I got the offer to do this. The director sent me a text that I immediately liked, and all other agreements come later, so I like this kind of experiments," explained Đurđević.

She says that art is just the essence of life and that's how it should be.

"That's what we artists think, maybe we're mistaken, but we think that theater should be the essence, just one small part of life that will be shown", concluded the actress.