The success of "Hero of the Nation", Nikšić Theater and the community

With the performance of the play "Hero of the Nation" on Wednesday evening and the ceremony of awarding the "Ardalion" awards that the ensemble won at this year's 30th edition of the Yugoslav Theater Festival "Bez prevoda", the Nikšić Theater marked the success of that, but also of the overall theater production in the year that is coming to an end.

Only the third performance of "Hero of the Nation" in the main theater gathered a large audience who witnessed a humorous story, almost a parody, about contemporary life, real and that created for the sake of popularity and publicity, its pitfalls, but also a story about the individual, family, society, ambitions, values, heroism, empathy.

Full of humor and recognizable everyday situations and challenges, the play seems to send clear messages that are also conveyed in the spoken lines: turn to real life and real problems, ignore "what people will think", with a reminder that denial does not and will never have the power of breaking news. Although it seems that "Hero of the Nation" would speak best from a smaller stage or with the curtains partially drawn and lowered (for the sake of the theme itself, the atmosphere, but also the scenography that would be additionally emphasized), it definitely draws the audience into its box and into the game that we ourselves witness or participate in almost every day.

"It's as if we are inexorably moving towards a situation where the boundary between offline and online is blurred." "Life no longer exists. We will all eventually become actors in a global reality. 'Hero of the Nation' is not just a comedy of the absurd, it is above all a family drama, where generational differences generate both the plot and the denouement - and a sad and warning ending. I am convinced that this successfully mastered genre dichotomy will largely determine the success of the play," wrote the author of the play's text Ivan M. Lalić.

Adapted and directed by Milan Neskovic, scenography Vesna Sušić, costume Margareta Shobot, and the music is by the bands "Autogenous Training" and "Azilanti". The following stars in the play: Vladan Gajović, Biljana Keskenović, Stevan Vuković, Maja Stojanović i Nikola Vasiljevic (originally Ljubomir Bandović). This team earned six “Ardalion” awards, namely: for best play, best direction, best female role (Keskenović), best set design, best young actor (Vuković), as well as a special award for dramatic monologue (Gajović).

Just as the jury of the "Without Translation" Festival assessed, the president Branislava Stefanović and members: Miodrag Tabacki i Djordje Kostic, It is a "stylistically and genre-unique play, teetering on the edge of comedy and tragedy, drama and melodramatic", while the actors "create a play whose absurdity the audience recognizes as their own with their balanced play".

The practice of the "Bez prevoda" Festival requires that the awards be presented on the stages of the theaters from which they come, which is what the director of the National Theater in Užice did, Jelena Vasovic.

Emphasizing that it was her honor and pleasure to greet those present on behalf of the theater that has been successfully implementing the Yugoslav Theater Festival "Without Translation" for 30 years, she recalled this year's slogan "Look me in the eye", which the jury was guided by when making its decisions and unanimously awarded six out of nine awards to the Nikšić Theater.

"I congratulate all the awardees, as well as the director of the Nikšić Theater. Radenko Krulanović and his associates for the success achieved, with the wish that they continue in that spirit, and that the cooperation between the National Theatre of Užice and the Nikšić Theatre be as good as possible in the years to come," said Vasović.

In his address, Krulanović expressed pride in the ensemble and the general achievements of the theater he heads, but also gratitude to the audience that follows and supports the repertoire.

"Thank you to the true heroes of the nation who want to make the world a better place with their art. Thank you to Jelena Vasović who shares her joy with us. Success is achieved by those who believe they can, they will say." Virgil"Our (tonight's) success is not only in the awards, but also in the fact that all of you, our dear friends, benefactors, respected audience, are with us, without whom this theater could not exist. If we accept the New Testament thought that we are known by our deeds, then we can certainly say that this is the success of the community, that the community is deliverance and salvation," he said.

He also reminded of other awards that the Nikšić Theater won last year: at the Festival of Small Forms in Zaječar, Stevan Vuković and Maja Stojanović received a special award for the play "Lungs", at the "Makado" festival in Podgorica, Vuković received the award for best actor, and at the Festival of Small Stages and Monodrama in East Sarajevo, he won the title of best actor. Pavle Bogojević for the role in the play "The Godfathers".

In addition to representatives of the Municipality of Nikšić, led by the president Marko Kovačević, and the President of the Assembly Milice Lalatovic Zizic and others, The performance and celebration were also attended by the director of the Montenegrin National Theatre. Ilija Subotic and producer Nela Otašević, Director of JUK Herceg Fest Tatjana Ateljevic and theater program editor Milina Kovačević, actor Dejan Đonović and numerous other representatives of the Montenegrin cultural, artistic and theatrical scene.