Ten years later, "My Daughter" still hits right to the heart

Some plays last because they are well-staged. Some because they have a strong ensemble. Some because of the audience that keeps coming back to them. "My Daughter" by the Montenegrin National Theatre, by all accounts, lasts because of all of these things combined.

Last night, a decade of performing the play based on the text was celebrated in front of a packed auditorium at the National Theatre. Maje Todorovic and directed Ana Vukotić, one of the rare domestic plays that has managed to stay alive in the repertoire for ten years, with an audience that continues to return to it.

Judging by the reactions after the anniversary performance, the reason is not just nostalgia.

"An exceptional play that still has a powerful impact today. The actors' interpretations are impressive, and the final scenes are particularly moving. I leave the theater with truly strong impressions," said one of the spectators after the performance.

Placed in a historical framework, through the story of a princess Zorki Petrovic"My Daughter" speaks about the position of women, their relationship to the female child, social expectations and the limits of freedom - issues that, as it turns out, have not lost their relevance even ten years later.

The author of the text, Maja Todorović, admits that she would write some things differently today, but not the reason why the text was written.

"When I wrote this text, I was very young, but what truly hurt me at the time and what I wanted to raise as a question obviously still communicates with the audience. The initial impulse was the attitude towards female children and the position of women in society, but I did not want it to remain at the level of a daily topic, but to speak about something much broader through a historical story," said Todorović.

For director Ana Vukotić, perhaps this is precisely the reason the play continues.

"It is very rare for a play to last ten years, and even rarer for it to remain artistically alive and continue to communicate strongly with the audience. I haven't seen a play in a long time and I was genuinely moved by what I saw. What perhaps strikes me most is that the questions that led to the play are still open and that some things in society change very slowly," said Vukotić.

One of the actors who marked the history of the play, Mirko Vlahovic, believes that the audience recognizes what cannot be acted out by force.

"I think it's clear on stage how much we love this play and how much it means to us. When you have a good script, good direction, a strong cast and good relationships between people, then something is created that lasts. Wherever we played, the halls were full. That's confirmation that this play has a true connection with the audience," said Vlahović.

Za Vanja Jovicević, for whom Zorka was her first major theatrical role, this play is also a personal story of maturation.

"I matured both as an actress and as a person, and each of those changes left a mark on Zorka. Playing one character for an entire decade and growing with it is truly rare. The audience comes back because they recognize the emotion and the truth," said Jovićević.

Actress Varja Djukic believes that the play survives precisely because it talks about things we haven't left behind.

"The audience loves this play because they recognize something true and human in it — a story about women, freedom, limitations, and social circumstances that still resonate strongly today," said Đukić.

In the cast, besides Jovićević, Vlahović and Đukić, there are also Slavko Kalezic, Dusan Kovacevic, Goran Vujovic, Jovan Dabovic, Slobodan Marunovic, Danilo Celebic, Zoran Vujovic i Miso Obradovic, while part of the play was also an actor who died too soon Stevan Radusinović.

The play "My Daughter" premiered on May 17, 2016, after Maja Todorović's play of the same name was awarded as the best contemporary domestic play at the CNP competition.

In ten years, it has won numerous awards in Montenegro and the region, but perhaps the greatest confirmation of its longevity is that the audience, a decade later, still leaves the theater with the same question - how much has what the play is about really changed?