Sreten Asanović, Nomina, Plima, Ulcinj, 2011
By: Ivana Ančić
English version will be available soon.
Višnjik, A. P. Čehov, directed by Dejan Mijač, JDP, premiered on October 4, 2011.
By: Nikola Skočajić
It is easy to recognize the referential body with which Dejan Mijač, willingly or unwillingly, established a relation in the last play he would, allegedly, direct and for which, symptomatically, he had chosen Anton Chekhov’s last drama. However, regardless of the fact that Uncle Vanya, directed by Jürgen Gosch, played at the very same stage just over a year ago, we should take into consideration the said relationship of this domestic towards that guest production.
The press photos already made it clear that Darko Nedeljković’s stage design is a paraphrase and thus we need to remember the stage design for Uncle Vanya where another stage-box without naturalistic features was inscribed in the main stage. This secondary scene is the only space of play; it is lined with clay drying under spotlights and there is no change of light during the act. A “bench” is integrated into the upstage wall and it is the place where the actors establish their only physical contact with the scenography, consequence of which are clay stains on their costumes. The photos of The Cherry Orchard did not show that, although in its seemingly esthetic rigor it does resemble that of Uncle Vanya, what separates the two scenographies the most is the fact that the former is not different from the ambiance in which it is set. The scenography for The Cherry Orchard is not on the stage, it is its integral part. Where Gosch insisted on the departure from the ambiance, Mijač, despite the space that is not strictly mimetic, seemingly insists on illusion. The use of wood as material hardly leaves any room for association, and it confidently lulls the viewer into the rurality of вишнёвого сада. When the frame of the image is expanded onto a whole scene, we see kitchen cabinets on the side and the grass growing from the floor – all of which pleases the actors who gladly use the props they find or bring onto the scene. There’s no trace of minimalism critics hailing this production of The Cherry Orchard called attention to, but it is taken as an identity that can only hold on the photograph. The desired minimalism quickly collapses, especially when we see that the protagonists are not conditioned by the space in any substantial manner. Mijač, just as Gosch, wants to keep his actors exposed on the stage. Even though his Chekhov is twice shorter, for some unknown reason Mijač fails to do so. In The Cherry Orchard, the “bench” from Uncle Vanya is replaced by chairs (another replacement for scant tangibility) placed in the same position as the bench from Gosch’s production. By entering the stage from the floor, the actors occupy the chairs. Then they position themselves there and, while they are “not playing”, they also change their costumes, which suggests that they intend to stay there for the duration of the play. This, however, does not happen. Some of the actors leave the stage for no apparent reason and then return back to it as if they have never left. Where Gosch’s actors cannot steal off the stage without being noticed (they are in a box, fully lit), it is as if the ensemble of The Cherry Orchard takes advantage of the inconsistencies in the application of the concept taken over from Uncle Vanya and thus, taking into consideration that the chairs are mostly in half-darkness, they leave the stage perhaps in hope that this will not be noticed. The rest of their “not playing” thus seems meaningless, just as their entrance onto the stage from the floor has no purpose because other entrances to the stage are also open.
The institution of productions that present integral Chekhov is not new. Peter Štajn directed his Three Sisters back in 1984. We can assume that Mijač wishes to continue this tradition and that he cares not only to demystify Chekhov, but that he also wants to show that there was no need for any mystification in the first place. The fact that the productions of Chekhov (as well as other great playwrights), which bring their interventions to a minimum, were predominantly made in the mature phases of directors’ work seldom meant mere compliance with the given texts. As it has already been said, Jürgen Gosch first develops a serious conceptual platform in order to interpret Chekhov the way Chekhov would have wanted it. In his interpretation, Mijač offers only The Cherry Orchard’s textbook value and at that creates no adequate conditions for that, conditions suitable of a modern production. It is impossible to stage a play that would be but a mere illustration of a dialogue, however, Mijač does not heave enough faith even when the underwater currents are in question so he dedicates more attention to the concreteness of the spoken text. His interventions can be seen in his insistence that the actors’ speech is supported by the characters’ social status, which is most evident on the example of Boris Isaković who plays the merchant (Lopakhin) and especially on the example of Bojan Dimitrijević as an eternal student (Trofimov) – which only lowers the hauteur of their speech.
Genre as the main problem of the text is dealt with poorly. Although it seems there was an intention to deal with this problem during the play, in a short period of time we are exposed to radically different treatments of genre (and style). Jasna Đuričić – as we all know for some time now, a unique phenomenon in Serbian theatre – as Ranevskaya was probably confused by the director’s indecisiveness, so she yells and screams remembering the dead Grisha. Only a moment later, Nada Šargin, as Charlotta – of all actors giving the only interesting performance – offers a comic relief which seems as if directed in the best fashion of Frank Castorf. Gayev’s intimacy with Ranevskaya can only be occasionally glimpsed at, but it is also the only thing we can get from him at least from the interpretation of Svetozar Cvetković whom we saw so many times repeat always the same role of an eccentric confessor, which we were not deprived of now as well. Hana Selimović (Dunyasha) plays a bad farce and brings her character down to only a few epithets, which is also true of Branko Cvejić (Pishchik), with the only exception that in his case it is not exactly clear which epithets we could exactly give him. The complete mise-en-scène seems random, which becomes most obvious when the actors from filling up the space suddenly turn into strict photo-figures.
If we reject the idea that Mijač did not understand the concept Gosch used to defend his production of Chekhov (in the same way in which we already concluded that this is nothing more but a referential material), then we can only think that Mijač set up his production of The Cherry Orchard against Uncle Vanya as its critical body. Just as Mijač, by inserting the line, Ophelia, get thee to a nunnery, does not refer to Shakespeare but Gorky, perhaps here we have an undaunted testimony of an author who consistently puts an end to his career with a conventional inscenation.
Sreten Asanović, Nomina, Plima, Ulcinj, 2011
By: Ivana Ančić
English version will be available soon.
OSMI I SEDMI PUTNIK, Aleksandar Bjelogrlić, Citadela, Agora, Zrenjanin, 201
By: Dalibor Plečić
English version will be available soon.
Stjepan Gulin, Paz’te sad, paz’te sad (Meandarmedia, Zagreb, 2011.)
Authors: Ivana Ančić
Igor Marojević, Kroz glavu (Dosije, Beograd, 2012.)
Author: Dalibor Plečić
Damir Miloš, Pisa. Povratak (Meandarmedia, Zagreb, 2011.)
Author: Morena Livaković
POLITIČKE I DRUŠTVENE KONSTRUKCIJE IDENTITETA U VIDEO-PERFORMANSIMA NA BEOGRADSKOJ SCENI 1970-ih
Esej Vladimira Bjeličića
Esej u celini možete pročitati na portalu SEEcult.org
Esej Tihane Bertek
Od promatrača do sudionika
GALERIJA KAPELICA I POST-JUGOSLAVENSKI BODY ART (1995–2010)
Esej – Bojan Krištofić
Esej o radovima Šejle Kamerić, Maje Bajević i Nebojše Šerića Shobe
Piše: Slađana Golijanin
ESEJ – Razvaline socijalizma kao inspiracija za muzejske eksponate Mrđana Bajića i skulpturalne dosetke Ivana Fijolića
By: Milena Milojević
Piše: Nino Kovačić
Gostujuća izvedba šibenskog HNK, Pir malograđana, prema tekstu mladog Bertolda Brechta (napisan 1919.) izvedena je po sljedećoj formuli: na Danima satire u satiričkom kazalištu Kerempuh gledamo satiričan komad. Prema reakcijama publike, bila je uspješna, ali teško se oteti dojmu da je smijeh bio formulaično zagarantiran, jer bi takav instruirani moment humora trebao zauzdati spontani smijeh. Je li se možda radilo o “malograđanskom” humoru?
Glumice i to, KNAP, Zagreb, premijera 12.5.2012.
Piše: Nino Kovačić
Glumice i to, nova predstava u zagrebačkom KNAP-u, neobičan su kazališni ‘slučaj’. Naime, predstavu su, dramaturški i režijski osmislile te, naravno, glumački ostvarile četiri mlade glumice. U trenutačnoj opće-društvenoj, pa tako i kazališnoj situaciji, kojom prijete olovni pojmovi poput recesije, prekarijata i outsourcinga (nedavno su najavljena i otpuštanja “hladnopogonskih” glumaca), one su, kako piše u najavi “nezaposlene i pune entuzijazma, odlučile su preuzeti stvar u svoje ruke i napraviti hit!”. Očito sklone postdramskom pristupu izvedbi koji se, između ostalog, bazira na ekipnoj work-in-progress metodi, izvedbenoj anti-iluziji i autoreferencijalnosti, glumice/autorice su se “trgnule” i napravile parodiju o tome kako rade predstavu, po ironičnom ključu: kad ne ide pravljenje predstave treba napraviti predstavu o tome kako se ne može raditi predstava.
“Nije život biciklo”, Biljana Srbljanović, režija: Anselm Veber, Produkcija: Šaušpilhaus Bohum, Nemačka; Sterijino pozorje 2012, selekcija Nacionalne drame i pozorišta
By: Tamara Baračkov
English version will be available soon.
„Grebanje, ili kako se ubila moja baka“, Tanja Šljivar, režija: Selma Spahić, Bosansko narodno pozorište Zenica/Bitef teatar-Hartefakt (Beograd), premijera: 7. septembar 2012. (Zenica), 11. oktobar 2012. (Beograd)
By: Tamara Baračkov
English version will be available soon.
„Sluga dvaju gospodara“, Karlo Goldoni, režija: Boris Liješević, Grad teatar Budva/Srpsko narodno pozorište Novi Sad/Narodno pozorište „Toša Jovanović“ Zrenjanin, premijera: 27. jul 2012.
By: Tamara Baračkov
English version will be available soon.