A society full of injustice is the general image of our country, which affects interpersonal relationships, and therefore friendships. The moment we introduce justice and respect into the system, that moment interpersonal and even friendship relationships will begin to change for the better.
This is what he said in an interview with "Vijesti". Jelena Lela Milosevic, author of the play "Top Friends" which will be premiered tonight in Podgorica, in the Dodest hall of the Cultural and Information Center (KIC) "Budo Tomović", at 20 pm. Announcing the premiere, she points out that "we are all a little bit" of the "Top Friends" that we will only meet, but that we will also identify with what they go through and experience on stage due to certain circumstances, from self-knowledge, confession, opening up, tension, to humor...
Produced by KIC "Budo Tomović", the play was written and directed by Jelena Lela Milošević, and features excellent Montenegrin actors: Vanja Jovicević, Emir Catovic i Marija Maša Labudović for which the author has only words of praise. A repeat performance has been announced for tomorrow, at the same place and time, and tickets are sold out, according to KIC.
Friendship is a universal and always large and important topic that depends on several factors, including the circumstances in which individuals grow up and form relationships, and then the context of the time in which friendship takes place, and the play "Top Friends" reflects the contemporary or modern temptations of all of this.
"This play deals with the contemporary challenges of friendship. What one of the characters in the play states as the key problem of today's friendships is perhaps the answer to your question. He says: 'Superficiality seems to be the essence of all relationships,'" Milošević conceptualizes.
The play takes place on the eve of a dinner party, and the director says she wanted to create a real atmosphere.
"The director's approach was to make this an acting play, to focus all the attention on them, and to make everything so realistic that you get the impression that you are peering into that apartment from some hidden corner and watching the situations that are happening. And at that dinner, through three characters, interpersonal relationships, social expectations, internal dilemmas, and everyday misunderstandings between friends are explored. In a time when true friendship is challenged by ambition, honesty, and personal weaknesses, in a humorous and emotional way, the play exposes hidden weaknesses and insecurities that surface while the protagonists wait for dinner," she tells "Vijesti".
A combination of circumstances, the author explains, will lead the characters to open up to each other that evening. Moving from tension to humor, the play also addresses numerous other issues. The characters' insecurities and weaknesses are extremely real, and thanks to the acting trio, the audience will also recognize this.
"With such good actors, nothing is difficult. They are masters of their craft. They portray the characters and all their emotions and problems with such ease that it simply seems that they are what they are playing. That they are also the characters from the play in private. And that is the best part of this play. When you play with such sincerity and skill, then it is also faithfully transmitted to the audience," says Milošević, and there is also a humorous aspect.
"Humor is simply an integral part of our lives and life situations. It is often a tool we use even in the most difficult moments. It is the same in the play."
Ahead of the premiere, Milošević announces that visitors can expect an awakening of emotions that will provoke both laughter and tears, so it seems that a good drama is in the offing that returns to man and interpersonal relationships.
"The audience can expect to laugh, have their eyes filled with tears, and identify with the characters. My expectations are for the play to be successful and to be performed as widely as possible, not only in Podgorica, but throughout the country and region," she points out, adding:
"We are all 'best friends' to a certain extent. This is a story in which each of us can identify, because we have all been in the same or similar situations at least once in our lives," says Milošević, and the audience will find out which situations he is specifically talking about and what he means...
And so we come to our reality, the present, the society and circumstances in which we live and contribute, and where friendship and interpersonal relationships are put to the test.
"We can conclude that today we are a society in which interpersonal relationships are poisoned. There is enormous intolerance in the air. Too much animosity between people. The causes of this intolerance are definitely political in nature. Society is ruled by the ideology of division, one-sidedness and the negation of everything and everyone who does not accept the imposition of such a retrograde ideology. And friendship is precisely put to the test in such times. If there is or emerges a difference in the understanding of the world around us, can friendship overcome these differences? Those rights should be able to. But the question is what rights are," says Jelena Lela Milošević.
As in her dramatic text and performance, so in life - various social expectations and increasingly pronounced personal ambitions influence friendship and its strength.
"That's why it's very important to create a society of justice. But we're far from that. A society in which institutions function exclusively according to party lines, and not in the direction of expertise, justice, and the general interest, is a society that stumbles."
"Achieving personal ambitions by force, without cover and expertise, through interest spheres, by manipulating in various ways in order to grab, and not deserve. Such circumstances create a society of injustice. And a society full of injustice is the general image of our country. And this is precisely what affects interpersonal relationships, and therefore also friendly ones. The moment we introduce justice and respect into the system, that moment interpersonal and even friendly relationships will begin to change for the better," Milošević emphasizes, and he sends a message to future viewers, as well as all readers:
"If we kept love only for close and dear people, and introduced the category of respect as a general rule in interpersonal relationships, our society would be greatly healed"...
An interesting process and a fantastic acting trio
When asked how she came up with the idea and the need to write the text, and then stage the play "Top Friends", Jelena Lela Milošević answers that she finds ideas by observing the people and situations around her.
"Often while watching a movie or a play, while reading an interesting work, etc. And then, most often while driving, it all comes together and that's when the idea for a work is born," he says, adding:
"My desire was to direct this play because it was a premiere, and I thought that a different directorial reading might have taken the play in a different direction. And then it would have been a completely different play. My intention is for the premiere to be exactly as it is now. The direction is very subtle, unobtrusive so that the acting is the focus of the play. Especially when you have such professionals and great actors in the cast, it would be a shame not to give them all the space they deserve to show off their fantastic acting skills," says Milošević.
What is especially important to all artists, and especially to theater artists, is the process of working and creating a life and situation on stage. In an interview with "Vijesti", Milošević does not hide that for the small but fantastic team, this process was exciting, beautiful and useful.
"The process was incredibly interesting. That's to be expected with such a cast. They were so inspiring and entertaining, it was a pleasure to work with such professionals. I hope to continue this successful collaboration on some future projects," said Jelena Lela Milošević.
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