Boris Liješević is a theater director whose origins and first artistic steps are related to Budva, and whose plays have been performed in front of audiences in Europe, America, and Canada for the last two decades. His directing style is characterized by an engagement based on the text, whether it is plays based on literary works or author's projects when the play texts are created as a result of working with actors and are based on documentary material. Liješević is also known to the public as an author who clearly defines his views on topics that are important to society, which is precisely the feature of many of his author's projects. The Montenegrin theater environment was marked by his "Fathers built" produced by CNP, which has been playing to always full halls for 10 years, "Guardians of Your Honesty" by the City Theatre, "Under Both Suns" by the Royal Theater Zetski dom. Local audiences remember his "Waiting Room" at Atelje 212, "Flour in the Veins" by Sarajevo SARTR, "The Use of Man" by Novi Sad/Čortanovci/Sarajevo/Budva, "The Reader" by Belgrade Drama Theater and many other plays. During the last two Grad Teatar festivals, his latest projects "War and Peace" and "(Pre)Faust" were played right after the Belgrade premieres in the unusual space of the amphitheater of the Holy Trinity Monastery in Stanjevići above Budva. Last year, at the opening of this festival, Liješević was awarded the "Grad Teatar" award for his overall contribution to theater art. He is the winner of many awards for theater direction, among which are the Sterija awards, the City of Belgrade Award, the awards Anđelko Štimac, Petar Kočoć, Bojan Stupica, Muci Draškić, Mira Trailovic - Grand prix of the BITEF festival... Associate professor at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, at the Department of Acting and a member of the Council for Culture of the Municipality of Budva.
For two years now, your plays have been performed in the amphitheater of the Stanjevići monastery, which was too small to accommodate all the spectators who wanted to watch them. These are the plays "War and Peace" and "(Pre)Faust". What challenges does the director face when moving the play to a completely new space?
- Stanjevici Monastery is a great discovery for me. Both spiritually and theatrically. After hosting the play "War and Peace", I became something of a part of their family. It's a monastery that opened its doors to the festival when almost everyone in town started treating them like an unwanted guest. They played music too loudly, closed the passages, took away the scenes... Monasteries have always been refuges for exiles. Even now, the Stanjevici monastery has accepted actors for whom there are almost no more places in Budva. The amphitheater he designed Father Simeon it has Epidaurus-like acoustics. The invitation for (Pra)faust to play in Stanjevici was a great motivation for me to finish the play in June, even though it seemed impossible at some point. After the performances in the monastery, we had conversations about various even theological questions that the piece opens up. I am very grateful Abbot Efrem and the brothers of the monastery for their hospitality, as well as the City Theater that gave me the opportunity to play in a place like this.
In recent years, the audience of the "Grad Teatar" festival has had the opportunity to see your latest plays only a few weeks after they "came out" in the home theaters. As a Budva resident, are you concerned about the reception of your new plays on Budva stages?
- Why should you worry about me? It can be stressful when a completely new play needs to be adapted to a new space immediately. It's also stressful when you have to stop your summer vacation and start rehearsing and adapting the play to a new venue... but in the end, I'm glad and a great pleasure to play in front of the people of Budva. They have serious continuity and viewing experience.
We have witnessed that in recent years, and this year it is especially visible, there is a proliferation of festivals on the stage between churches that take place before and after the "Grad Teatar" festival, where theater performances take precedence. Before the end of this year's festival, the management of JU "Grad Teatar" addressed the public regarding this, calling it "tightening the hoops around the festival". Do you think all this is useful for the city or not?
- I think that no one has a monopoly on cultural life and I am glad that the citizens of Budva have a choice. Although too many offers can lead to inflation in quality. I think that all these productions should be looked at on several levels before investing in them. Local topics do not have to be the main trump card. If I were to be offered a show in Skopje about how it was created, for example Flea market or Kale fortress, I'm not sure I'd run to watch that. Pozoroste is not a matter of the local community and its preferences. Wonderful examples of the plays "Trus i trepet" or "Kanjoš Macedonovic" were outstanding in every segment. First of all, they are important in the theatrical sense, and only then in the local historical ethnographic sense. Pozoriste speaks a universal language and seeks something that is recognized on all meridians. I am of the opinion that productions in Budva should be preceded by a professional judgment. Production proposals of the City of Theater go through not only their own court, but also the board of directors of the co-production theaters, then through artistic councils, selection teams... before something is put on the repertoire and goes into production. It seems to me that Budva has been caught by a fashion of local narratives. However, if the plays really prove to be valid and stand up for themselves and prove themselves in front of another audience, unfamiliar with our toponyms, then every story ends there. But again, it is a bit strange that in a short period of time there are several similar festivals in the same area.
In connection with the promotion of these new theater festivals, some newspaper texts mention the "City Theater" festival program in the last six years in a negative context. What is your view on this?
- In the last six years, Grad Theater has regained its reputation to the greatest extent possible. Before that, various things happened, such as City Theater productions being sold and shown around Serbia and the region as private productions. And the money from hosting ended up in private pockets. Performances are aesthetic and production and subject to being easily manipulated. It was an elaborate job. And thank God that doesn't happen anymore. The festival is now run by professional people who love it and behave in a homelike manner. They invest in technical equipment. They care about her. I hope it will stay this way. Montenegrin actors play in every production, the guest actresses are satisfied with the hospitality and relationship. The best performances that can be obtained at that moment come to the festival. It's not the same time as in the 90s when theaters competed to see who would come to Budva. For many, it was the only possibility to see the sea. Now theaters find it difficult to gather ensembles over the summer. Especially in July and in the first half of August, when actors are reluctant to interrupt their vacations or shoot for incomparably more money than what they get in the theater. For a time, the festival disappeared from the map of serious festivals because of all the things listed above. I don't know what the complaint is now, but I'm sure it's unfounded.
Budva as a city, together with the municipalities of Boka, is in the finals before being declared the European Capital of Culture for 2028. If Budva wins this status, what is the most important thing? What, in your opinion, should be changed for the better?
- A theater should be established. And I'm not just referring to a building for hosting plays throughout the year, but to an institution that would be independent from the festival. In addition to the theater building, Budva needs an institution or an administration that will employ young actors and create their own plays throughout the year. There are Summer Games in Dubrovnik, but there is also the Marin Držić Theater. Those two houses cooperate when and if necessary, but are independent of each other. This is the cultural content that Budva lacks. So it is not just a hall, but an institution with workplaces, a statute and a budget.
It is a common occurrence in your plays, especially in those that could be seen by the audience in Montenegro, that they deal with large and important narrative themes. The performances "War and Peace" and "(Pre)Faust" are based on some of the most important literary works of the world's cultural heritage. The play "Under both suns" is based on a novel and then a play by Ognjen Spahić. Contrary to your way of working, today we often witness a superficial and sensationalist attitude towards literary texts and their interpretation in the theater. How important is it for playwrights to be educated readers?
- A director does not have to be a professor of literature. The most important thing is talent. And to work on it. Among other things, this includes reading. When someone asks me how to prepare for the directing entrance exam, I always say "just read all the school reading you missed". Reading develops good taste and aesthetic culture and is therefore important for anyone involved in culture.
The public often talks about the money allocated for culture in different areas. As a member of the Council for Culture in Budva, what is your view of the problems of cultural policy when it comes to finances? What is particularly important to pay attention to in the distribution of money?
- That is difficult to answer without being general. I believe that we should invest in the culture of normal and healthy living. Budva doesn't even have sidewalks that haven't been turned into parking lots, and we're talking about cultural politics. It is a cultural policy: children's playgrounds, free sports clubs, programs for a healthy upbringing. The city should be treated domestically and with love, and then the priorities in the distribution of money will be determined. However, the city is now overcrowded with everything and everyone and it seems as if there is no escape. Capital has disfigured him. Whoever owns some capital can do anything and neither rules nor procedures apply to him. Kapital is the city architect in Budva.
It is known that your upbringing and beginnings as a director are related to the "Grad Teatar" festival. If you had to somehow define the meaning of this festival to someone who was not familiar with it, how and with what words would you do it?
- For those who do not see the meaning of the festival, no definitions will help. For them, meaning is realized exclusively in the number of tourists, tickets, overnight stays... I'm not saying it's irrelevant, but theater and festivals are a matter of general culture, urban culture, education, humanism... My career is the result of the City of Theater. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be doing this business either. Many theater people originating from Budva are the result. Jelena Minic, Dejan Ivanic, Milos Boreta, Lazar Nikolic, Petar Strugar... the festival helped some young people find their way. It is immeasurable with statistics. It can be an object of manipulation when the question is asked: what does the festival bring to the city? How to explain to such people what the festival is and what is its meaning? That this meaning is not expressed in the language they speak!
When will the audience in Montenegro have the opportunity to watch one of your plays again, and do you have any plans to collaborate again with any of the Montenegrin theaters?
- I think that already on September 9, the play "The Reader" that I did in the Belgrade Drama Theater will be a guest at the Zetski Dom. Last year around this time, I directed the play "Under Both Suns" at the Zetski Dom, and now I am arranging a new project at the Montenegrin National Theater. Montenegrin theaters really invite me regularly and I thank them for that. I enjoy working in Montenegro.
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