Name Branislave Liješević is inextricably linked to the City Theater, since her work significantly influenced and contributed to this festival becoming one of the most renowned in the Mediterranean.
In the year the festival was founded, she was a member of the Grad Teatr organizing committee, for two years she was the assistant director, and for twelve years, from 1990 to 2001, she was the director and selector of the drama program. After the 15th festival, when the Grad Theater was left without the main theater stage at the Citadel and without the concert and exhibition hall in the Santa Maria Church, she announced that she was stepping down as director. She returned to the city theater one more time, during 2004 and 2005, as a drama program selector.
The time when she was at the head of the Grad Theater was a time of political turbulence, major conflicts, changes and crises. At that time, it managed not only for the festival to survive and to be held even in the years when the disintegration of Yugoslavia was already visible, when national intolerance and local disagreements were rampant, but also to occupy a high place on the list of European theater festivals and to position itself in the region as the most recognizable cultural brand of Montenegro, which is a huge success not only for Budva, but also for the entire country.
At the time of breaking all ties, including those in the theater world, the fact, which can be documented from the festival programs, is that the City Theater remained completely open. It was held as a free, cultural manifestation that invited people from all over, primarily from the ex-Yugoslav republics. Artists and theaters from Macedonia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia started coming to the Budva festival already in 1995, earlier than to other festivals in the region. In those years, the biggest projects of Europe and the world paraded through Budva, and the City Theater was also a great "stepping stone" in the careers of many Montenegrin artists who today have significant careers.
Thanks to such management, the festival received numerous offers for guest appearances, as well as offers for co-productions and collaboration. During that time, in the true sense of the word, the Grad Theater production of "Kanjoš Macedonović" began, a drama which, according to the novel Stefan Mitrova Ljubiša, wrote and directed Vida Ognjenović. With Kanjoš, the theater reached for the legends of the Budva region, as well as, a little later, with the dramas "Trus i trepet" and "Jegor's road", which were part of the "Budva cycle" by the same director. Many other productions followed, such as "Waiting for Godot" Haris Pašović, “Mother Courage” Rahim Burhan, "The False Emperor Šćepan Mali", "Troil and Cressida", "Radovan III" and "Leons and Lena" directed by Dejan Mijač. "Konte Zanović", Radmile Vojvodic, "Banović Strahinja", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "Karolina Neuber" and "Ivanov" Nikita Milivojevića, "Yoke" Ljuboslava Majera, "Chicken" Jagoš Marković, "Storm" Slobodan Unkovski, "Antigone in New York" with which the director took a break after three decades Boro Draskovic returned to the theater stage.
Because of all of the above, Branislava Liješević is the first winner of the JU "Grad Teatar" Jubilee Award for special contribution to the festival. Today we can meet her in Budva as a festival audience. In the year when Budva is running for European Capital of Culture, we wanted to hear her opinion about this famous festival today, as well as about culture in Montenegro in general.
You led a festival that was one of the most famous in the cultural space of that great Yugoslavia, today it is hard to imagine. Do you think that was an advantage or a disadvantage?
I think that the time that has passed since then has not jeopardized either the importance or the size of the City Theater that I led. When something is founded on good foundations, it lasts. The conception of this festival coincided with the possibilities, past and visual recognition of Budva and its hinterland. It can be said that Budva has been waiting for centuries for this festival and that this happy circumstance happened at the end of the twentieth century. The people who came up with the City Theater took into account all the circumstances and from the first festival it was clear that they had found the best solution.
A lot of work and effort has been invested to accept the festival in the environment where it was created and to give it the adequate importance it has for the city of Budva. The city theater was one of the most famous in the cultural area of Yugoslavia, but it is still the same even now, even though that Yugoslavia is gone. There were various wanderings, some wanted to make it according to their own measure, but it held its own despite everything.
Which artistic names could you single out as particularly significant collaborators in your career?
There were almost no names from Yugoslavia that did not participate in the creation of the Grad Teatr program: Dejan Mijač, Dusan Jovanovic, Boro Drašković, Vida Ognjenović, Haris Pašović, Egon Savin, Rahim Burhan, Jagoš Marković, Nikita Milivojević, Radmila Vojvodić, Branislav Mićunović, Milan Karadzic, Slobodan Unkovski... There are important musical artists from the country and the world, painters, poets... For example, Ronald Harwood the great English writer arrived in Budva to collect the award that was given to him in the square between the churches.
The "Grad Teatar" festival brand has been around for thirty-seven years. How would you compare the festival then and today?
I think that every time has its own peculiarities. It is normal that the weather affects the oscillations in the quality of the program, but I really do not have any objections to this contemporary Grad Theater. At a time when many things in world culture and civilization are falling apart, the City Theater is holding on and is a credit to Budva, Montenegro and art lovers. I have to say that even at this moment the Grad Theater is highly appreciated in the territory of the former Yugoslavia, even though many things have changed. The weather today is not as favorable to culture as it was when I was leading it.
At the time when you were running the festival, it was often exposed to various criticisms, despite being one of the most prestigious events in that large area. How do you look at it today?
When something has its foundations and a solid concept, it is unlikely that various criticisms and subversion will threaten it. Criticisms related to cooperation with Belgrade theaters and artists. We must remember that sanctions were in force at that time and that Montenegro and Serbia, which then formed one country - Yugoslavia, were isolated, but even then we managed to bring plays from Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Europe . I think that the criticisms came from those people who felt threatened that they were not running Grad Teatar.
At that time, the republic, and today the state of Montenegro, stood behind the Grad Teatar festival. Today it is the city of Budva. What do you think is better for the festival and for the cultural environment in general?
At that time, the City Theater had all the support of the city, the state and the Ministry of Culture, which was a great formula to create a significant festival and a special cultural project in Montenegro. There was understanding from the Prime Minister Milo Đukanović who was also the president of the City Theater Council, and that support resulted in large projects, significant guest appearances by theaters from around the world and artists who gave their stamp to the City Theater program as a world event. Today, it is more difficult to maintain the level that the festival had, but the festival management manages it with some magic and true commitment, and I congratulate them on that.
I think that the city's support is very important, i.e. irreplaceable, and that the festival is part of Budva's history and tourist offer. It would not be out of place for the Ministry of Culture to include Grad Theater among institutions of national interest. Maybe it was done, but I don't have that information.
What is your opinion about the festival today? Which way should it go?
The festival is well managed nowadays. Numerous co-productions testify to the fact that it is established both in Montenegro and in the region. Nowadays, all cultural institutions are threatened by a lack of funds for work, but cooperation and co-productions make it possible to create significant projects. What Grad Teatar has today are great connections with theaters in the region and a reputation as a serious and great partner in creating large projects that only one theater company cannot do alone.
It is essential to mention that your son, Boris Liješević, is today a respected director whose plays are staged in many countries. Do you think your career helped him or hindered him along the way?
My son Boris was lucky to grow up with the Grad Theater. He started watching plays at a very early age and, as a high school student, began to direct plays with his peers in the environment, at Ričardovo glava and other venues in Budva. He recognized his inclination towards the theater and that determined his profession. As for my help, I'm not sure it was crucial. Sometimes it was even counterproductive.
The city of Budva is a candidate for the title of European Capital of Culture in 2028. What opportunities, in your opinion, does this bring and what advice would you give to the people who manage the city?
I am very much looking forward to Budva's candidacy for the European Capital of Culture. Budva deserved it with its history and geographical location and proximity to the great Greek and Hellenic culture. We just need to continue improving the conditions for the performance of cultural programs, ensure that along the entire coast there are places for the performance of ambient performances, that tourists are attached to the programs of the Grad Theater as before and that at every step it is seen that Budva is a special city with its own history and views on art and culture.
How much do you follow the events on the Montenegrin cultural scene today and what is your opinion about it? What do you think about the culture development strategy in Montenegro? What do we need and what is missing here?
I think that in Montenegro culture has the conditions to develop to a higher level. Montenegro has the potential to be an example of caring for culture, it just needs more attention and resources from the state. It has its own national theater that promotes young directors and actors, brings plays from other cities of the region. More funding would facilitate work in that field. I'm only talking about dramatic art here, but Montenegro has all the prerequisites to raise all areas of art to an even higher level.
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