Serbian Theater

8/13/2019 Serbian Theater

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arrivin in !er"ia,


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!er"ian national epics and !hakespeare7s traed& #ere inter#oven, and Pera !eedinac

'44/), in #hich a traed& $rom the histor& o$ !er"ian people #as interconnected #ith

the "urnin pro"lems o$ Kostic7s time, #ere theatre landmarks. The per$ormances o$aksic7s dramas elisaveta, the Princess o$ %ontenero '404) and !tano-e Glavas '484)

proved his talent and passionate, re"ellious temperament, "ut also his poor dramaturical

skills.

At the end o$ the nineteenth centur&, the dominant in$luence o$ German models in!er"ian theatre decreased. Hith the return, especiall& to Belrade, o$ the individuals #ho

#ere educated in rance, the in$luence o$ rench theatre strenthened. Be$ore the Horld

Har +, this #as the in$luence o$ Comedie2rancaise and Paris "oulevard theatres, ratherthan ne# theatre trends in rance. ;ecent st&les o$ uropean dramatur& and theatre

'9aturalism, !&m"olism, (pressionism) 2 and not onl& rench 2 #ere sensed in !er"ian

dramatur& and theatre. Borisav !tankovic introduced ne# sensitivit& and ne# poetictones in the ;ealist approach into the alread& #orn2out enre o$ popular $olk pla&s 6#ith

sinin6, #ith his #ork Kostana '$irst per$ormed in ?), #hich has a cult $ollo#in

amon !er"ian theatres and audiences.

Branislav 9usic '4012?34) le$t his mark on the entire t#entieth centur&, dominatin therepertoire o$ !er"ian theatre. Devotin his li$e to the theatre, not onl& throuh his #ritin

"ut also throuh his activities in the theatre 'as a manaer, literar& consultant, producer,

and as an actor as #ell in his earl& &ears), he #ould listen care$ull& to see #hen theaudience #ould lauh and then used this e(perience in #ritin his comedies, #hich are

characterised "& the #idest possi"le amut o$ procedures and approaches to provoke

lauhter. !till up2to2date and vital, 9usic7s #orks #ere $ertile round $or several

e(traordinar& per$ormances in modern !er"ian theatre 'The Bereaved amil&, produced"& %ata %ilosevic, The People7s ;epresentative, produced "& De-an %i-ac) and trul&

success$ul e(periments #ith chanes in enre 'A !uspicious Person, produced "& !on-aovanovic, %ister Dollar, produced "& %iroslav Belovic, The %asses, produced "&De-an %i-ac).

Dobrica Mil*tinovicin the title role o! Sha+espeares tragedy King

ear, the National Theatre, Belgrade, &)/

Bet#een the t#o #orld #ars, the theatre2oin pu"lic #as enchanted"& the per$ormances o$ the visitin %osco# Art Theatre '?/2?/

and ?/1), #hich "ecame the ideal. 5o#ever, di$$erent st&listic

orientations appeared in practice= $rom (pressionism and !&m"olist

st&lisation to 9aturalism and ps&choloical ;ealism. +t should "enoted that, parallel to the elements o$ ;omanticist diction in actin 'as a re$lection o$ the

nineteenth centur&), #hich continued to thrive in the $irst post2#ar decade, natural ur"an

speech and modern sensitivit& in theatrical e(pression also appeared. At that time,Belrade had an ensem"le at a hih, central uropean level o$ per$ormance.

A$ter Horld Har ++, the theatre in !er"ia started developin rapidl&. +n spite o$ the man&

neative e$$ects o$ administrative manaement in the theatre, a more sel$2conscious and
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serious relation to#ard creative #ork #as shaped and artistic am"itions increased.

5o#ever, the earl& post2#ar &ears #ere characterised "& the !oviet in$luence and

!tanislavsk&7s domaticall& understood %ethod. !er"ian imitators com"ined theaesthetics o$ the %osco# Art Theatre 2 #hich "eloned to a particular, speci$ic period,

and #as thus condemned to "e ephemeral 2 #ith the essence o$ %ethod, #hich is "ased

on the Iuestionin, con$irmation and $urther development o$ the eternal la#s o$ the ver&nature o$ per$ormance on stae. The onl& e(ception #as the Juoslav Drama Theatre,

$ounded in Belrade in ?18, #hich athered the "est actors $rom all over Juoslavia.

Thanks to its artistic director Bo-an !tupica '?2?8) and the theatre7s orientationto#ard the improvement o$ artistic skills and pro$essionalism, this theatre turned out to "e

an outstandin uropean theatre in the $irst decade o$ its activit&. This #as proved "& its

success at the Theatre o$ 9ations in Paris, #ith per$ormances o$ Encle %aro-e "& %arin

Dr>ic, in ?@1, or Bulichov "& %aksim Gork&, in ?@@, The Bereaved amil& "&Branislav 9usic and The Discover& "& Do"rica Cosic, in ?01. This can "e illustrated

#ith the revie# in the ne#spaper 6Fe iaro6, #ritten "& ean2acIues Gautier= 6The #a&

in #hich the Juoslav Drama Theatre $rom Belrade per$ormed or Bulichov is most

praise#orth&... He have a homoenous ensem"le in $ront o$ us... $ull o$ the spirit o$unit&, #hich acts #ith a hih level o$ consciousness and emanates dinit&.6 At that time,

the Juoslav Drama Theatre staed a national and international repertoire, includinmodern dramas #hose value has "een ackno#leded. ;ealism #as the credo o$ !er"ian

art at that time, "ut the primar& determination in the per$ormances o$ this ensem"le #as

to master the enre and st&le o$ the pla& and to "roaden the ;ealist approach. The& aimedto achieve authenticit& o$ interpretation and stood up aainst stereot&pes, "analit& and

vularisation, #hich thus led to the hih pro$essionalism o$ the ensem"le. An idolatrous

attitude to#ard the tasks o$ theatre #as invoked= 6The actor #as an artist, the set desiner

2 a master, the producer 2 an artiste remarIua"le rehearsal #as a cele"ration, and theopenin niht 2 a historical event.

Milivoje 0ivanovicin the title role o! Ma+si" 1or+ys dra"a 2gor

B*lichov

A$ter ?@, #hen Juoslavia "ean to open up to#ard the Hest, a moretolerant and artisticall& more productive atmosphere #as created. The

Belrade Drama Theatre, #ith its ne# repertor& pro$ile, distinuished

itsel$ amon the theatres in !er"ia. Bet#een ?@ and ?@4 it staed thepla&s o$ Arthur %iller 'The Death o$ a !alesman, The Cruci"le,


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overstepped 'it #as the $irst per$ormance o$ Beckett7s pla& on an astern uropean stae).

rom ?@0 to ?0 Atelier // per$ormed the pla&s o$ ean2Paul !artre '5uis Clos),

uene +onesco 'The Chairs), Al"ert Camus 'Fe %alentendu), 5arold Pinter 'TheCaretaker), !la#omir %ro>ek 'The Policemen), alon #ith other #orks o$ modern

international drama, "oth $rom the Hest and the ast. The stae o$ Atelier //

disentanled itsel$ $rom aspirations to#ard verism and "ecame real theatre 2 not hidinthat $act $rom the audience, "ut rather presentin itsel$ as such. The epitome o$ this actin

st&le #as the popular actor :oran ;admilovic '?332?4@). A$ter the esta"lishment o$ the

Belrade +nternational Theatre estival 'B+T) in ?08 2 #hose spiritus movens #as%ira Trailovic '?/12?4?), the manaer, toether #ith ovan Cirilov '?3), the literar&

consultant o$ Atelier // 2 this theatre has turned to the national repertoire 'discoverin

ne# plarihts or dramatisin the prose o$ cele"rated national #riters), a trend #hich

has "een a noticea"le peculiarit& o$ its repertor& polic& to this da&. The 9ational Theatre,the oldest one in Belrade, continued to pla& the role o$ the theatre o$ national culture.

5avin a traditionall& ood actin ensem"le, it staed nationall& and internationall&

standard authors, and occasionall& pla&s #hich "elon to the modern repertoire 'The

orest "& A. 9. *strovsk& in ?18, The Caine %utin& "& 5. Houke in ?@0, "othproduced "& 5uo Kla-n, and Krle>a7s drama +n Aon& in ?@?, produced "& B. !tupica,

#ere representative per$ormances in the $irst post2#ar decades). The !er"ian 9ationalTheatre $rom 9ovi !ad had a distinctive role in the theatre li$e o$ !er"ia. +ts 6olden ae6

2 $rom ?@3, #hen it athered a roup o$ &oun producers, led "& Dimitri-e D-urkovic

'?/@), to ?81, #hen the 6team o$ producers6 $inall& disinterated 2 is remem"ered $orits search $or ne# #a&s o$ dramatic e(pression in !er"ian theatre. The& #ere= the ironic

l&rical theatre, insistence on the ph&sical aspect o$ actin e(pression, the repertoire7s

orientation to#ard the sensitivities o$ the &oun, educated audience, the motto that the

actor and space o$ actin are the elementar& sins o$ theatre lanuae, theatre #hich aimsat social intervention and the presentation o$ the dark sides o$ our epoch and o$ socialist

societ&. The activit& o$ the 9ational Theatre $rom !u"otica in the last decade should "e

mentioned as #ell. +t has a multi2ethnic ensem"le #hich, accordin to F-u"isa ;istic'?18), its artistic director, decisivel& shapes the character o$ theatre production itsel$ 2

precisel& "ecause o$ the mi(ture o$ various cultural in$luences and traditions.

Mija 3le+sic and Mira St*picain 4ncle Maroje by Marin Dr5ic, the

6*goslav Dra"a Theatre, &)/)

+n the $irst hal$ centur& o$ !er"ian pro$essional theatres, the -o" o$

producin #as done "& one o$ t#o persons= theatre manaers 'most o$ten

#riters "& vocation) selected pla&s $or the repertoire, did the critical

ela"oration o$ the te(t and the character anal&sis, made decisions a"outassinin parts 'respectin the conventions o$ uropean theatres a"out

the division o$ the ensem"le into actin specialities) and #ere responsi"le $or the purit&

o$ lanuae and orthoep& on the stae. *n the other hand, prominent and e(periencedactors took care o$ the technical2scenic aspects o$ the per$ormance. Production as an

autochthonous artistic act "ean in !er"ia in ?1, #ith the enaement o$ the $irst

pro$essional producers= Aleksander +vanovich Andre&ev '48@2?1), #ho came toBelrade #ith the reputation o$ "ein !tanislavsk&7s student and a mem"er o$ the %AT,
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and %ilutin Cekic '44/2?01), #ho #as a disciple o$ German directors Carl 5aemann

and %a( ;einhardt.

Theatre direction on !er"ian staes "et#een the t#o #orld #ars #as marked "& threeproducers o$ entirel& di$$erent poetics= %iha-lo +sa-lovic '482?34), uri- F7vovich

;akitin '44/2?@/) and Branko Gavela '44@2?0/), durin his $our2&ear uestenaement in Belrade. +sa-lovic studied in German& and #as a $ollo#er o$ the

%eininen Pla&ers and %a( ;einhardt his theatrical poetics #as "ased on doinscrupulous service to the dramatic #ork. ;akitin, on the other hand, as a $ollo#er o$ the

;ussian avant2arde director a.

3 scene !ro" Branislav N*sics co"edy The Bereaved 7a"ily,a

per!or"ance o! the 6*goslav Dra"a Theatre

%iroslav Belovic "uilt his distinct directin pro$ile on a

comprehensive education in prestiious directin schools

'Feninrad, !trat$ord2upon2Avon, Belrade). A i$ted and versatile author 'plariht,

poet, essa&ist, actor, pro$essor), he interpreted pla&s "& tr&in to put the actor in the$oreround o$ his per$ormances. The most strikin Iualit& o$ his productions is their

poetic ;ealism 'The Plouh and the !tars "& !. *7Case&, The 5ostae "& B. Behan, Jou

9ever Can Tell "& G. B. !ha#, Encle %aro-e "& %. Dr>ic and The 9o"le Glem"a&s "&%. Krle>a in the


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leadin !er"ian director. 5is use o$ a variet& o$ sources in preparin the per$ormance and

his meticulousness in utili>in them ensure his authorit& in the actin ensem"le, #hich is

care$ull& chosen and put toether "& him. 'And even more= in spite o$ the di$$erina"ilities o$ individuals, he is capa"le o$ makin actors a#are o$ the per$ormance as a

#hole, thus achievin "rilliant individual creations and the hihest o$ artistic levels "& the

entire ensem"le.) 5e has a pronounced sense $or the rh&thm o$ the per$ormance and $orthe d&namics and the cadence o$ actor7s speech in radin con$licts on the stae 2 o$ten in

the d&namics o$ mis2en2scene. +n decipherin his production st&le in eneral, one must

proceed $rom a comprehension o$ theatre accordin to #hich the startin point is theauthor, and the $inal one 2 the actor in $ront o$ the audience. 5is "est per$ormances are

created on the "asis o$ the national drama corpus 'The Epstart "& . !. Popovic, The

%asses "& B. 9usic, The !pa#nin o$ Carp "& A. Popovic, The !opalovic Travellin

Theatre "& F-. !imovic). *$ the per$ormances staed $rom the international repertoire the$ollo#in should "e mentioned= nova "& %. Gork&, Encle >otti "& K. Goldoni, Holves and !heep "& A. 9. *strovsk&,uente *ve-una "& F. de


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Cid), . . !chiller 'Don Carlos), . Dostoevsk& ';askolnikov), F. Tolsto- 'ed-a

Protasov), and, in the national repertoire, B. !tankovic '%itke) and +.


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The maisterial line o$ !er"ian actin, represented "& Tosa ovanovic 2 Do"rica

%ilutinovic 2 Pera Do"rinovic 2 %ilorad Gavrilovic 2 :anka !tokic 2 ;asa Plaovic, #as

continued a$ter Horld Har ++ "& %ilivo-e :ivanovic 2 %ira !tupica 2 Branko Plesa.%ilivo-e :ivanovic '?2 ?80) #as one o$ the last representatives o$ the pleiad o$

actors #ho #ere "ards, heroes and missionaries. 5e #as characteri>ed "& an outstandin

and po#er$ul actin temperament, supplemented "& a distinctive stature and e(pressivevoice. +n interpretin characters $rom all kinds o$ enres, he sculpted them $rom one

"lock, like a hue rock, #ith reat inspiration and elementar& strenth in his momentum

'title role in or Bulichov "& %. Gork& and Kin Fear "& H. !hakespeare, ather inPrisoners o$ Altona "& . P. !artre, Aaton in The Bereaved amil& "& B. 9usic). The

landmark in the post2#ar !er"ian theatre #as Branko Plesa '?/0), #ho introduced

!er"ian actin into the modern trends o$ uropean theatre e(pression. 5is handsome

stature, impecca"le diction 2 #hich stimulated his $aster and more modern speech rh&thm,unseen "e$orehand on !er"ian staes, toether #ith "road education 2 #hich ena"led him

to move master$ull& throuh the #orks o$ classics and the most modern #riters o$ our

time, made him a uniIue actor in the contemporar& !er"ian theatre '+van in The Brothers

Karama>ov "& . %. Dostoevsk&, %arIuis de Posa in Don Carlos "& . . !chiller,!hakespeare7s characters dar and %cDu$$, the antholoical role o$ the villain in At the

nd o$ the ;oad "& %ari-an %atkovic, as #ell as a series o$ comical and lion charactersin the #orks $rom the international repertoire). ;iht ne(t to :ivanovic and Plesa stand

F-u"isa ovanovic '?42?8) and F-u"a Tadic '?/?), #ith remarka"le per$ormance

Iualities and valua"le artistic achievements. ovanovic #as characterised "& reat po#ero$ trans$ormation, a handsome virile stature and a speci$ic sensitivit& #hich made it

possi"le $or him to ad-ust spontaneousl& to the modern international repertoire and ne#

theatre trends "etter than an& other actor o$ the eneration "et#een the #ars 'alsta$$ in

5enr& ic,!asa 9eina in Holves and !heep "& A. 9. *strovsk&, Danica in The Fove o$ Jour Fi$e

"& %ilan D-okovic, Grusche e in The Caucasian Chalk Circle "& B. Brecht).

0oran =ad"ilovic and Maja 8*c+ovicin the per!or"ance 4b*-=oi by

3l!red Jarry

+n the period "et#een the t#o #orld #ars a circle o$ theatre set

desiners and costume desiners, #ho discarded the restraints o$

uropean illusionistic scenoraph&, "ean its activit& in Belrade.T#o o$ them should "e sinled out= the painter ovan Bi-elic '4412
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?01), #ho accomplished the transition "et#een $ine arts and the art o$ set desin in

!er"ian set desinin, and in colouristic

e$$ects, $olklore elements and ornamentation. 9e# tendencies have appeared in the setdesins o$ illage o! Sa+*le in Banatby

0oran Petrovic and Di"itrije Dj*r+ovic

The most important theatre institution in !er"ia is !teri-inopo>or-e 'esta"lished in ?@0 in 9ovi !ad), in the $rame#ork o$

#hich the Juoslav Theatre estival 2 a $estival o$ per$ormances

created on the "asis o$ the national drama heritae 2 is held ever& &ear. or almost $our

decades, the per$ormances sho#n at this $estival have made a valua"le contri"ution to thea$$irmation o$ !er"ian and south !lavonic #riters. The per$ormance 5eaven7s

Detachment '?@0), "& t#o d"utants, Aleksandar *"renovic '?/4) and D-ord-eFe"ovic '?/4), #as the turnin2point in the !er"ian post2#ar dramatur&. +t is a soul2stirrin stor& a"out seven prisoners in the 9a>i camp *s#iecim 'Ausch#it>), #ho aree

to murder their co2su$$erers in order to prolon their o#n lives $or three months. The pla&

neated !ocialist ;ealism, revived ;ealism and couraeousl& opened up discussion a"outmoralit& and human nature. +n the ne(t decade, theatres "ean stain the #orks o$ the

national drama corpus more and more, and the characters and situations in them "ecame

ps&choloicall& more comple(, closer to the pro"lems o$ modern societ&. 5istoricalanaloies and Aesopian lanuae #ere used, in order to e(plain the contemporar& social

situation and the current historical process. +mportant moments o$ that decade #ere the

per$ormances o$ dramas #ritten "& Borislav %iha-lovic 'Banovic !trahin-a),


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o$$ered criticism o$ social realit& 'The Development o$ Boris Tailor, The !pa#nin o$

Carp, ;ooster #ithout a Tail, Co$$ee #ith Cream). Besides Popovic, the most respecta"le

modern !er"ian #riters are F-u"omir !imovic '?3@) and Dusan Kovacevic '?18). Thestains o$ the "est !imovic7s #orks '5asanainica, The %iracle in !aran, The

!opalovic Travellin Theatre) revealed his moral sensitivit&, the melod& and rich Iualit&

o$ his lanuae, and his e(traordinar& i$t $or humorous imaination. +n his popularit&amon audiences, Dusan Kovacevic succeeded Branislav Nusic, althouh he is a

plariht #ho, takin $or ranted all the virtues o$ his o#n people, unsparinl& ridicules

all their shortcomins, $allacies, "aseness and $oolishness 'The %arathoners7 or-e have contri"uted to the international reconition o$ !er"ian

plarihts. A reat num"er o$ 9usic7s pla&s #as per$ormed in the theatres o$ the !oviet

Enion 'the "iest success #as The Ca"inet %inister7s Hi$e, staed in the theatres o$ /8cities), the C>ech ;epu"lic, Poland, 5unar&, Bularia and other countries. !imovic7s

drama The !opalovic Travellin Theatre #as sho#n in rance 'Paris), Poland, the C>ech

;epu"lic and !lovakia. The comedies o$ Dusan Kovacevic#ere staed in theatres in

German& 'Berlin, 9uern"er, Potsdam), Poland 'Harsa#, Craco#), 5unar& 'Budapest),Great Britain 'Fondon), the E!A '!an rancisco), Ekraine 'Kiev), the C>ech ;epu"lic

'Praue) and !lovakia 'Bratislava).

j*bisa Jovanovic, j*ba Tadic and Misa Jan+eticin theper!or"ance ;hen the P*"p+ins Blosso"ed by Dragoslav

Mihajlovic

A special emphasis should "e placed upon the +nternational

Theatre estival B+T, thanks to #hich, as it has "een alread&mentioned, Belrade #as incorporated into the theatre map o$ urope and the #hole

#orld. +t also made it possi"le $or !er"ian theatre to "e directl& in$ormed o$ sini$icantinternational theatre achievements. +t should not "e $orotten that some per$ormances inthe earl& &ears o$ B+T shocked the pu"lic #ith their nudit&, the lavishness o$ erotic

scenes and the aressive "ehaviour o$ the actors. 5o#ever, it #as a privilee to see, on

Belrade7s staes, the authors #ho have made their mark on the recent histor& o$international theatre 'Peter Brook, +nmar Berman, er>& Groto#ski, Anatoli- $ros,

Tadeus> Kantor, Peter !tein, Fuca ;onconi, ulian Beck, udith %alina, ;o"ert Hilson,

uenio Bar"a, Pina Bausch and others). +n the $ollo#in &ears B+T "ecame animportant stimulus in the creation o$ an international intellectual theatre climate in

!er"ia, and the e(periences o$ B+T #ere incorporated "& distinuished authors in

!er"ian theatre. !er"ian productions appeared more $reIuentl& in the proramme o$ this

$estival and some o$ them proved to "e up to uropean and international standards 'theper$ormance o$ the Juoslav Drama Theatre 5app& Da&s or Tarelkin7s Death "&

!uhovo2Ko"ilin, produced "& Branko Plesa, shared the $irst pri>e o$ B+T #ith

per$ormances o$ Berman and $ros in ?81, and in ?? the per$ormance o$ the sameF7+llusion ComiIue "& Corneille, produced "& !lo"odan Enkovski, shared the $irst a#ard

#ith the per$ormance o$ the theatre Eltima $rom Brussels).
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Thirt&2$ive pro$essional theatres are active in !er"ia toda&, as are three institutions o$

hiher education 'the acult& o$ Dramatic Arts in Belrade, the Academ& o$ Arts in 9ovi

!ad and the acult& o$ Arts in Pristina), and t#o theatre museums 'the %useum o$Theatre Arts o$ !er"ia in Belrade and the Theatre %useum o$ ascenske umetnosti '%atica !rpska Proceedins $or Theatre Arts) in 9ovi !ad, and

6Teatron6 and 6Fudus6 in Belrade.

!pace #ill not allo# a discussion o$ the activit& o$ children7s theatres, puppet theatres,

music and dance theatres, or an anal&sis o$ the #ork o$ composers o$ stae music, or o$theatre critics and theatre e(perts. The& have all contri"uted, in their o#n #a&, to the

diversit& and hih merit o$ theatre li$e in !er"ia.

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