The play “Lullaby for Aleksija Rajčić” of the National Theater in Belgrade in co-production with “Sterija’s Theater” and the “Novi Sad – Capital of Culture” Foundation was declared the best at the 25th “Petar Kočić” Theater Fest, which was held in the National Theater of the Republic of Srpska.
The decision was made by a jury consisting of Duško Ljuština, Nataša Ivančević and Ana Tasić after watching five plays in the Teatar Fest competition program.
“The performance is awarded for the completeness and success of the entire stage language – stylistically and formally unusual and inspiring dramatic text, suggestive, hypnotic sound, precise, symbolically effective scenography, ambiguous costume, expressive play of the ensemble and direction – which skilfully and imaginatively connected all these elements in one aesthetically strong whole“, it is stated in the explanation of the jury.
Award for best director at the festival, it was awarded to Jugo Đorđević for directing the play “Lullaby for Aleksija Rajčić”.
“The direction has delicately combined the musical, dramatic and choreographic segments of the performance, cleanly and consistently, without excess signs. Achieved through stylization and dreamlike mise-en-scène, the director’s management of the plot leads to an extremely striking experience of the play, through the collision of rational and irrational meanings”, is the opinion of the expert jury .
Awards for best actor and best actress of the festival went to Marko Baćović for the role of Spasoj Blagojević in the play “Deceased” by the Montenegrin National Theater, and equally to Jasna Diklić for the role of Ana in the play “My Son Just Walks a Little Slower” by the Sarajevo War Theater and Vanja Ejdus for the role of Aleksija Rajčić in the play “Lullaby for Aleksija Rajčić” of the National Theater in Belgrade.
As the jury stated, Baćović layered and lavishly portrayed Spasoj’s innate scumbag, propensity for theft, corruption and hypocrisy and the complete absence of ethics and humanity: “His game flows with striking ease and unobtrusive dexterity, in the construction of a recognizably contemporary strongman, a vulture who takes what does not belong to him with diabolical charm.“.
“Jasna Diklić, using reduced and expressive means, in a complex space interwoven with absurdity, grotesqueness and realism, shaped an extraordinarily authentic character that exists between reality and imagination, memory and oblivion, a place that protects from the pain of everyday life. Her play is a reflection of the magic of superb stage presentation, seductive and elusive because it incorporates numerous meanings, a mirror of the complexity of the human soul.“, was explained in the jury’s decision.
They further state that Vanja Ejdus convincingly presented Aleksia with a measured and expressive sensibility, skillfully shaping a mixture of tragedy due to the inevitability of the pain of suffering and the fatal desire to be close to a man, and a specific cheerfulness, the strength of reconciliation with suffering.
“Elegantly dressed, as if she were the heroine of a glamorous opera, she almost ceremoniously represents Alexia, who becomes a pillar of resistance against the defeating and backwards patriarchy, without losing her strength, gentleness and peace“, is the opinion of the jury of this year’s Theater Fest.
Special award was awarded to Jelena Kajgo for the text of the play “Rollerkoster”, optionally performed on the stage of “Atelje 212”.
“‘“Rollerkoster” is a skilfully written, comical and true piece that deals stimulatingly with the problems of national and religious identities, the ambivalent influence of new media and technologies on everyday life, emotional frustrations, with the changed social position of women, as well as with the absurdities of political correctness. The text is valuable because of its striking contemporaneity, sharp observations and cathartic humor, and it should be noted that it is especially valuable because our repertoires have recently rarely featured contemporary domestic comedies, which intelligently hit the neuralgic points of this time.“, explained the jury.
In addition to these main ones, due to extraordinary, special successes, the jury decided to award more two special awards…
Namely, an actor Teodor Vinčić was awarded for a special contribution to the stage play for the role of a robot in the play “Rollerkoster” by “Atelje 212”, and for an unusually convincing expressiveness, built on uniformly ritualistic, repetitive, specifically rigid movements that authentically represent a reflection of artificial intelligence, physically, but also mimetically very expressive.
The second special award, according to the jury, went to the festival selector Sladjani Zrnić because, as stated in the decision, she expertly, skilfully and thoughtfully established an artistically high-quality and meaningful stimulating program, representative and thematically rounded, consistently focused on the issues of family and social disintegration, ubiquitous decadence, moral and physical impairment.
In honor of the awardees, the opera “Children” of the National Theater in Belgrade was performed in the National Theater of Srpska, based on the text by Milena Marković, and directed by Irene Popović, who composed the music for the piece.
Nela Mihailović, Suzana Lukić, Predrag Miletić, Vanja Milačić, Pavle Jerinić, Milena Đorđević, Bojana Stefanović, Bojana Bambič, Dragana Varagić, Aleksandar Vučković, Miona Marković, Teodora Sparavalo, Jelena Blagojević perform in the opera, accompanied by singers, chamber orchestra and choir. and Vladan Matović.