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Director, Set Concept,
Author of the stand-up text NIKOLA ZAVIŠIĆ
Dramaturge, Song Writer MAJA PELEVIĆ
Costume Design MIRNA ILIĆ
Movement Director DUNjA JOCIĆ
Repetiteur Géza Kucsera
Assistant Director Jelena Mihajlović
Premiere:
November 21st 2008
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CAST |
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Maximilian von Moor and Kosinsky |
LjUBIŠA RISTOVIĆ |
Karl von Moor |
BRANKO LUKAČ |
Franz von Moor |
MILAN VEJNOVIĆ |
Spiegelberg |
SRĐAN SEKULIĆ |
Smuggler and Daniel |
MILOŠ STANKOVIĆ |
Little Grimm, Schufterle and Grimm later |
BRANISLAV JERKOVIĆ |
Stand-up comedian; Razmann and Schufterle |
VLADIMIR GRBIĆ |
Stand-up comedian; Roller |
MARKO MAKIVIĆ |
Amelia von Edelreich and Death |
MINjA PEKOVIĆ |
Band of Robbers |
Darko Mačković, Albert Vujković |
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The Band |
Géza Kucsera, keyboards |
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Armand Meszaros, bass |
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Mátyás Lakatos, drums |
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| NATIONAL THEATRE / NÉPSZÍNHÁZ - SUBOTICA |
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The history of theatrical life in Subotica takes us back to 18th century when, as records show, there were two forms of theatrical performances: plays performed at schools and those prepared by German professional actors who maintained their leading position until the appearance of Hungarian theatre. In 1874 Hungarian actors left Subotica getting replaced by actors from the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad. The theatre in Subotica was very popular and this town constantly worked on the project of building a house worthy of Thalia. In 1853 the Rogina bara (swamp) was reclaimed (nowadays Korzo) and the Town Assembly engaged Master Skultéti to build the theatre building on this site. The versatile theatrical artist György Telepi undertook to do the interior. The new building emerged in a year, but its Corinthian Columns were not inscribed with the name of the theatre but the Pest Hotel, because the town fathers considered it more profitable. In 1904 came a reconstruction: the stage was widened, a balcony was constructed and the name of the City Theatre was written on the edifice. In the spring of 1915 the theatre was destroyed in a fire. The Pest Hotel escaped the same destiny, and the small theatre hall was left untouched. In 1924 the restructuring of the theatre building lost in the fire commenced. The new theatre house was inaugurated in 1927 with the opera Imperial Bride by Rimsky Korsakov performed by the National Theatre from Belgrade. In autumn 1945 the Subotica theatre building became permanent home to professional troupes. After over 90 years the town finally got its permanent company and its theatre. On 19th September 1945 the Presidency of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina decided to establish its two ensembles: the Croatian National Theatre and the Hungarian National Theatre. It was made official on 28th October 1945 by Mirko Bogovic’s play Matija Gubec directed by Branko Spoljar, while the newly founded Hungarian Theatre opened with its first premiere - Béla Balazs’s The Dance of Witches directed by Laszlo Pataki on 29th October 1945. By the decision of the Executive Board of AP Vojvodina, on 1st January 1951 the two companies merged into one single company of the National Theatre-Népszínház. In autumn 1952 the music ensemble grew into the Opera only to be closed by the end of the season 1953/54. This period in the theatre’s history is known as its “Golden Age”. Subotica had as much as three stages, and in the summer of 1952 it got a rotating stage as well. One of the stages was the Summer Stage at Lake Palic. Subotica became a true festival town. Following the 1958 statute of the theatre the Croatian Drama became the Drama in Serbo-Croatian Language, while Hungarian Drama became the Drama in Hungarian Language. In 1970 the project of the theatre building restructuring was completed, but in 1974 the inspectors decided to close it because the installations in the building were too old. In the following year, after the reconstruction, the theatre started operating in its original house once again. In 1985 it was concluded that the foundations of the building were unstable and that it had to be demolished so the Council for Reconstruction was established. Ljubisa Ristic came to the theatre in the following year, where he stayed for the next ten years, during which time Ristic together with Nada Kokotovic gathered a great group of directors and performers from many centres in Yugoslavia. The Dramas were cancelled and a single artistic ensemble with a concept of an unconventional theatrical expression was formed instead.
The National Theatre Népszínház became traditional once again in 1995. When SO Subotica decided it would financially participate in the theatre building restructuring in 1997, this initiated the process of reaching a decision on the destiny of the building. A competition for designing the new building was announced and the company YUSTAT from Belgrade won the contract, but the financing slowed down due to the bombing. After the rehabilitation the roof above the main staircase fell down, so from March to October 2002, having no place of their own, the ensemble had their plays as guests on different stages. In October 2002 the staircase restructuring was completed and the season opened on the home stage. In 2003, the project of adaptation, restructuring and construction of the theatre building was finally finished and the spring of 2007 has been set as the date for commencement of the works. Both Dramas of the Subotica Theatre will perform on the Jadran Stage until the new building is finished. |
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P E R F O R M A N C E...... |
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It is interesting that this is the premiere of Schiller’s work on the stage of the Subotica theatre, and in history it will be remembered as the first performed melodrama. It has a form of a stand-up comedy, in which there are elements of a puppet performance. The play should realistically last 5-6 hours in order to show all the situations from the work. However, we “packed” the essence into an hour and a half not to be boring. I made a parallel with the critical ‘90s, so there is irony present, and not reality. I heard a thousand times the word “play” in connection with the contents of a play or the procedure of its creation. The piece is like a top, it spins faster and faster and then it stops, as life itself. Please see the performance and if someone’s head starts spinning, feel free to blame me – the director Nikola Zavišić briefly announced the play.
 Dnevnik - Subotičke, November 21, 2008
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S E L E C T O R ' S...R E P O R T...... |
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In the increasingly complex history of correspondence, signatures, all sorts of post- and post, post- distortions, abbreviations, dramatic hybridization etc. of distinguished dramatic texts, at least according to what statistics and experience tell us, Shakespeare is by far on top of the world list, but others are not doing badly either. Nikola Zavisic, an active producer of a few domestic theatrical controversies, enlisted himself on the world map of such happenings, when the national output is concerned, with his Subotica address, introducing into Schiller’s game an extremely visible subtext of local sub-cultural aspirations and mishaps, starting with hooligans and homo-eroticists, and finishing with the unrealized fencers and champions of the idea of a new Sturm und Drang collectivism possibilities.
Into this parodist collage of narrative, physical, dance-expressive, musical and dis/illusionist Theatre, Zavisic courageously imports both what Schiller speaks about and what the recently gone epochs are whispering along, from the perspective of the eternal and the present, while the youthful actors rap and step, with voice and body, and with meaningfulness of the seemingly provocative action. The direction of this kind of borrowing from Schiller, or within him, is constructed from the presented and artificial horizon of every individual spectator, but luckily so that there is no one who is unsatisfied with the totality of the play reduced in such a way. So, un/fair as much as pleasant, satisfactory in the real, scenic time.
Igor BURIĆ & Vladimir KOPICL |
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Nikola Zavisic: Born in 1975 in Bela Crkva, Vojvodina, received his Master’s Degree from the Drama Faculty of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (DAMU), Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre Directing in 2003.
Since 1991 he has been actively involved in theatre writing and directing. He has worked on over 30 productions in Serbia, Montenegro, the Czech Republic and Holland. With a troupe he established in Prague (Comfactory) he has visited many festivals around Europe (the Czech Republic, Poland, Belgium, Germany, Holland). At the Prague Academy he worked as the Assistant Lecturer to Professor Joroslava Shiktancova in the Department for Acting (subject Acting), 2002-2003.
In 2002 he worked as an assistant to A. J. Weissbard, the lighting designer with director Robert Wilson, on the opera Osud (Fate) by Leos Janácek, produced on the grand stage of the National Theatre in Prague. This experience has left a permanent mark on the director reflected in his continued interest in exploring the use of light in theatre.
Nikola Zavisic has directed in children’s theatres (Little Theatre “Dusko Radovic”: Kiki and Bozo, Almost Anyone May Fall (Except the Heron); Puppet Theatre “Pinokio”: Aladdin’s Magic Lamp, Foolfart, Bastien and Bastienne, in Uzice, Pancevo and Podgorica) as well as for adults (The Light of the Microcosm by P. P. Njegos / Rex; The Outsider by A. Camus / Ponec, Prague; Several Suitcases the Oerol festival, Holland; 1984. by G. Orwell / the Oerol festival, Bitef; Plasticene by V. Sigarev / Atelier 212 Theatre; Godot on a Hot Tin Roof by B. Dimitrijevic / SNT; The Castle by F. Kafka / YDT).
He is the author of the drama Teenage Club which is playing at the Little Theatre “Dusko Radovic”. |
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If only one word was required from me (as it nicely says in the title), it would be the word PLAY. I know, it sounds general, we have heard a thousand times the word game in connection with a theatre play or the process of its production, often various magic features and ritualistic powers are assigned to that word. It is mystified too much. In spite of my awareness of the possible abuse of the word PLAY, my directorial word would then be...Hm...TOP (it rhymes with the word “play” in Serbian)! The Chinese one that can be bought for 200 dinars on the street, with leaded diodes that glitter when spun.
This is, therefore, a top: it is spinning, faster and faster, and then it stops. It sounds more or less like anything, like “life” itself, for example. But it still makes sense. It really does.
The manner in which these Robbers (In Serbian, a part of the word, “boy,” is highlighted) were created in this very moment in the theatre with this ensemble, with these very collaborators, is illusory to describe. Except for this one word I don’t want to repeat anymore, because it would look too much like something else (what I didn’t want to write about).
Please, then, and if it starts spinning in your head (or any another part of the body or soul), you can blame me, the director, for it…hm…the parent of this play.
Nikola ZAVIŠIĆ |
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Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805), German writer and art theorist. Studied medicine at a military academy, served as a squad physician. In 1781 he published his first drama, The Robbers, which resounded with its language and revolutionary charge. From then on his wonderings began, but also his efforts to learn as much as possbile; he lived in several cities, he found himself in Weimar, then in Jena, where he taught history at the university.
Still in youth he accepted a conception about the world as an arena for an infinite conflict between the opposites, between good and evil, passionate will and duty, individual aspirations and social strains, which is contrary to human nature. He conceived of freedom as authentic human aspiration, so he decided on a fight against every tyranny, which is the theme of his plays The Robbers, Don Carlos and Wilhelm Tell. His first theoretical work about theatre art, About Contemporary German Theatre, in the spirit of the enlightenment tradition, accentuates the significance of theatre, which reveals to the audience various aspects of human suffering, but also rewards them with the acquisition of courage and experience.
Plays: The Rebellion of Fiesco in Genoa, Intrigue and Love (Kabale und Liebe), the trilogy Wallenstein: Wallenstein's Camp, Picolomini, Wallenstein's Death, Mary Stuart (Maria Stuart), The Maid of Orleans (Die Jungfrau von Orleans, The Bride of Messina (Die Braut von Messina), William Tell (Wilhelm Tell), unfinished play from Russian history Demetrius.
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A dangerous joke
(...) Director Nikola Zavišić and the dramaturge of the project, Maja Pelević, who is, at the same time, the author of the songs, translated this Schiller romanticist classic into a pop musical. That pop sensibility is reflected in the choice of music - a parodist use of the hits from MTV - but, primarily, in the general, light, unserious, joking and, youthful tone of the play. Playing with popular culture appears in the metanarration (what a heavy word for this light art!): in the fact that actors Marko Makivić and Vladimir Grbić, who are in the programme of the play dubbed “MCs” (educational TV programme, one could say), tell parts of the play and present the most general literary/historical facts about Schiller and his age, constructing, thus, an additional dramaturgical frame. Pop cultural interpolations do not stop at the educational, but form metastases on the sports TV programme, because the scenes of the battles are shown as broadcasts of football games. (...)
Ivan MEDENICA, Vreme, April 2 2009
Robbers
The director/dramaturge team Nikola Zavišić - Maja Pelević can be find behind this concise Schiller for Dummies project in which the romanticist story about the rise and fall of a group of robbers of the Robin Hood type turns into a presentation of a group of sports fans without whom no single, massive rampage in Serbia can be imagined. This in itself is not a problem, because the decision of the main hero to become an outlaw (because of family problems besetting him) truly needs a transport into contemporary circumstances. However, in spite of the fact that Schiller’s characters eventually become even murderers, they are not the kind of people who do not think about themselves, their actions and consequences that follow them. Primarily this refers to the leader of the gang, Karl Moor, who is disgusted because his “search for freedom” has turned into mad violence.
Zavišić's singing team is superficially wrapped into a discourse of popular culture. The songs are performed to the music of instant products such as New Kids on the Block, No Doubt or Alanis Morisette, they are imitations of the videos from Youtube, partisan songs and a few notes of Djurdjevdan, and a very nonchalant, uncritical stance towards insanity and “the macho right,” similar to the political incorrectness of South Park, but a lot lower, because the creators of the animated series are completely politically and socially aware in their critique of the phenomena that do not deserve politeness. The Robbers are minimised into irony according to Schiller’s tragedy and irony according to the director’s concept, and mostly into a joke all the time serving as a coin for tipping the audience. And the wit of some gags is not problematic. What is problematic is the unscrupulousness of the authorial team to keep on insisting on them even when the robbers’ rampage escapes control and becomes a crime for the sake of crime. The humorous approach to this problem creates a climate that justifies the hooligans. Metastases according to the system: she was wearing a mini skirt so it is no wonder she was raped, but all this can be a “cool” Zero level of tolerance for this kind of carelessness, vulgarity and missed actualisation.
S.O., Yellow Cab, April 10 2009 |
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