The drama program of the 37th Grad Theater Festival in Budva continued last night with the performance of the play (Pre)Faust by the Belgrade Drama Theater in the amphitheater of the Holy Trinity Monastery in Stanjevići.
The play was based on the famous work of Johann Wolfgang Goethe, dramatized by Fedor Šili, and directed by Boris Liješević.
The air temperature in Stanjevići was unexpectedly low for this time of year, but that did not hinder either the actors or the audience, who rewarded the entire ensemble with applause lasting several minutes.
The director of the play, Boris Liješević, is satisfied with the playing of the play, especially in the environment of the amphitheater in Stanjevići.
"It was cold, windy and difficult, but that verse by Goethe has made its way through the centuries and various times and has been reaching the audience for centuries, so it arrived tonight. And it will probably arrive as long as the world and the ages last," said Liješević and added that they are witty moments in the play derived from the text, but also from good acting.
"It's in the text, that's what Goethe gave. He gave that Mephisto as a comical, somewhat jovial character, and at the same time dark. Those are certainly the potentials of the text, but also the potentials of an excellent actor. It has to go together in order to came to the comic in this kind of material," said Liješević.
Actor Svetozar Cvetković said that the cold is not a decisive factor, even though the conditions for playing this play are strange.
"The conditions are significantly different compared to how we played it for the first time, thus causing changes in the game and the performance itself, but it made sense. I am satisfied with the reaction of the audience, but I also sympathized with them the whole time. It is obvious that we led them to sit for two hours and watch the play despite everything," said Cvetković and said that Goethe was a challenge.
"For me, it was a mitigating circumstance that ten years ago I worked with Boris Liješević in a play called "The Wizard" where I played Goethe, so I somehow knew what that man could carry with him and how he would treat such a topic as that paradigmatic theme of Faust's fate and questioning about life. I have never played something that has such a literary and artistic value as such a relevant text, historically, as something that is superb, and on which one's teeth are usually broken. It does not go easily for everyone, not even among the greatest directors, and I consider Boris one of the greatest," said Cvetković.
Actress Iva Ilinčić said that her biggest impression of this play was the combination of the play's theme and the environment in which it was performed.
"It is magical to play this play with this theme in this holy place. Some lines really gained weight and reality because Ozren really saw the cross from which he was running away and because Greta, when she utters "the judgments of God's justice", is really in somewhere where it's realistic to say those things, and that was the charm that a story really happened in front of us. That story in itself is the greatest quality of this play, Goethe wrote everything down," she said and added that it was lucky that they were in the play had a joint choreography during which they managed to warm up.
She added that the cooperation with the director was great.
"Boris is a magical director, this was the most beautiful process for me so far and Boris is wonderful. I think the result says everything about itself and I think we made a wonderful and magical show. It's a pleasure to work with him," said Ilinčić.
In addition to Cvetković and Ilinčić, Ozren Grabarić, Ivan Tomić, Daniel Sič, Ivan Zarić, Mirjana Karanović and Stanislava Nikolić are playing the roles in the drama that predates Goethe's famous "Faust".
The performance is also in the repertoire tonight at 21 pm in the amphitheater of the monastery of the Holy Trinity in Stanjevići.
Transportation is provided for the audience from the Mediteran Express station (in Budva) at 19:45, and there is a parking space near the monastery.
Bonus video:
