Večernji program - Dubrovačke ljetne igre

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Dubrovačke ljetne igre
Dubrovnik Summer Festival
10.7.–25.8.2012.
SKUP: IGRE
THE MISER: PLAYS
redatelj directed by
Saša Božić
Lazareti
Lazaretto
21., 22., 23., 24. srpnja
21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th July
21.30 9.30 pm
Izvođači Performers
Lukre/ Dobre, Kamilova mati Kamilo’s mother
Baldo
Ivan/ Zlati Kum, Dobrin brat Dobre’s brother
Dugi Nos, negromant Magician
Marko
Doris
Satir Satyr/ Doris
Vili
Izet/Silvio
Nataša Dangubić
Dado Ćosić
Ivan Grčić
Petra Hrašćanec
Marko Jastrevski
Nataša Kopeč
Doris Šarić-Kukuljica
Vilim Matula
Silvio Vovk
Građani Dubrovnika Citizens of Dubrovnik:
Franica Bačić, Nikola Beatović, Vedran Benić, Baldo Božović, Luko Brailo,
Zora Brajević, Žuža Egrenyi, Ileana Grazio, Ivo Grbić, Igor Hajdarhodžić,
Ksenija Hajdarhodžić, Đelo Jusić, Nike Gjaja Karapešić, Milka Podrug
Kokotović, Lukša Lucianović, Vaso Lučić, Heide Luetić, Jovica Popović,
Andrija Seifried, Jozo Serdarević, Ivica Sršen, Matko Sršen, Feđa Šehović,
Nikša Šuman, Patricija Veramenta, Tomo Vlahutin
Video
Suradnica za dramaturgiju i prikupljanje arhivske građe
Dramaturgy assistant and collecting archive materials
Suradnica za pokret Choreography by
Kostimografkinja Costume design by
Josip Visković
Petra Jelača
Petra Hrašćanec
Duška Nešić Dražić
Tehnička ekipa Technical team
Marko Mijatović, – rasvjeta lighting; Fifi sound Dubrovnik, Cvijeto Baulei– ton
sound engineer; VSP video, Zvonimir Bašica, Miran Brautović- video
produkcija video; Senad Čobić, Arslan Čobić – transport i montaža scene
stage transport and mounting; dubrovački studenti – montažeri i pomoćni
radnici students – mounters and support staff; dipl.ing. Vinko Dubović, voditelj
tehnike Dubrovačkih ljetnih igara Technical Manager
Hvala: Vedranu Beniću, Arsenu Dediću, Kseniji Hajdarhodžić, Hrvoju Juvančiću,
Davoru Mojašu, Maji Nodari, Dubravki Šimunović, Teatru &TD, Zagreb filmu
We greatly appreciate the help of Vedran Benić, Arsen Dedić, Ksenija
Hajdarhodžić, Hrvoje Juvančić, Davor Mojaš, Maja Nodari, Dubravka
Šimunović, Theatre &TD, Zagreb Film
O predstavi skup: igre
Predstava skup: igre raspravlja
sjećanja gledatelja predstave Skup u
režiji Koste Spaića iz 1958. godine i
uzima ih kao polazište za autorsku
meditaciju na temu smisla i djelovanja
kazališne umjetnosti.
Dubrovnik u svojoj suvremenoj
povijesti postaje sinonimom za Grad
teatar i kroz djelovanje Dubrovačkih
ljetnih igra. Povijest tog festivala
proizvela je osim samih umjetničkih
radova i određenu, ponekad vrlo
jasnu misao, o odnosu Grada i
teatra, gradu kao pozornici, kulisama
ljudskog iskustva. No vrlo često u tim
spoznajama izostaje aspekt publike,
građana Grada kojima teatar više od
pola stoljeća nudi prostor
promišljanja, postaje mjestom rada i
(su) života.
Kosta Spaić, jedan od ponajvećih
hrvatskih kazališnih umjetnika upravo
je u Dubrovniku kroz svoje režije
komedija Skup i Dundo Maroje
Marina Držića razvio postulate
ambijentalne režije. Legendarni
uspjeh postigao je Spaić
inscenacijom Držićeva Skupa 1958.
godine u parku Muzičke škole,
stvorivši idealni okvir za ljude
Njarnjas-grada i prikazujući ih u
ambijentu koji se potpuno poklopio
sa samim okvirom Držićeva teksta.
Sama predstava je kroz svoj dugi
život (igrala se 14 godina!!!) postala
nezaobilaznim potpisom festivala.
Projekt skup: igre namjerno žrtvuje
originalnu predstavu u korist
gledatelja iste, propitujući suptilne
teme poroznosti ljudske memorije,
trajanja umjetničkog čina. Kao da želi
odgovoriti na pitanje: umire li
umjetničko djelo sa svojim
posljednjim gledateljem?
Predstava skup: igre počinje tamo
gdje originalna predstava završava: u
gledateljevom oku. Kombinirajući
kazalište i dokumentaristički video
rad istražujemo kako Spaićev mitski
Skup koji je praizveden prije 54
godine naseljava svjetove ljudi koji su
prisustvovali njezinim izvedbama.
Kroz akumulaciju narativa, slika, tijela,
zvukova istražujemo na koji način
shvaćamo vlastitu subjektivnost i
njenu temporalnost. Misao o Gradu,
povijesti njegovog urbaniteta i
karaktera postaje prostorom za
izmišljanje novih svjetova.
Saša Božić
RJEČNIK PREDSTAVE
Ambijentalni teatar u Dubrovniku
U Dubrovniku, ambijentalni teatar
uvodi Marko Fotez, primjenjujući u
svojim režijama načela adekvacije i
korespondencije, biranjem dramskih
naslova prema prirodnoj urbanoj
scenografiji Grada. Kosta Spaić
nastavlja svoje ambijentalne režije na
principu Grada-teatra, odnosno
načelu sinkronije, bazirajući ih na
paraleli scensko događanje-život
Grada. Do konca 60-ih ambijentalni
koncept Grada -teatra određuje i
repertoarnu politiku dramskog
programa, čije su odrednice, djela
dramskih klasika i dubrovačka
književnost, prisutne i do danas.
70-ih godina eksperimentira se s
prepoznatljivim oznakama već
afirmirane dubrovačke
ambijentalnosti, a u skladu sa
suvremenim kazališnim strujanjima
tog doba. Ista se tendencija nastavlja
80-ih, u čijoj drugoj polovici počinju
svojevrsni problemi vezani uz sam
koncept programa i ambijentalnosti,
koji se nastavljaju kroz ratne 90-te. U
prvom desetljecu 21. stoljeća,
rapidno se izmijenila slika grada pa
tako i dramskog programa Ljetnih
igara.
Žuža Egrenyi
(Dubrovnik, 31.12.1923.)
Diplomirala na Akademiji za kazališnu
umjetnost u Zagrebu 1956. godine.
Bila u angažmanu u HNK Varaždin,
Dramskom kazalištu Gavella u
Zagrebu, kazalištu Komedija u
Zagrebu. U Kazalište Marina Držića u
Dubrovniku dolazi 1960. i ostaje do
1986. Od nagrada koje je dobila za
svoj glumački rad izdvaja one za
ulogu sinjorine Estere u istoimenoj
monodrami Matka Sršena u režiji
Tomislava Radića u Kazalištu Marina
Držića; Zlatna kolajna Zemuna 1986.
i Nagrada na Danima satire i humora
u Zagrebu 1986. Posebno draga
uloga joj je ona u predstavi Divni dani
Samuela Becketta u režiji Vlade
Habuneka u Kazalištu Marina Držića
1978. Od uloga na Ljetnim igrama
izdvaja one iz Vojnovićevih djela: u
Dubrovačkoj trilogiji, Ekvinociju i
Maškaratama ispod kuplja.
Višegodišnja je suradnica Radio
Dubrovnika, kao novinarka, autorica
sjajnih reportaža. Osjeća se
Dubrovkinjom, premda je Kalamota
njezin raj. Čitavog je života imala pse.
Karma je jedanaesta. Osim teatra,
Kalamota i životinje njezina su
najveća ljubav. Ima i papigu koja se
zove Pasko.
Branko Gavella
(Zagreb, 29.7.1885. – Zagreb, 8.4.
1962.),
Hrvatski kazališni redatelj, pedagog,
teatrolog, kazališni kritičar i
prevoditelj. Maturirao u Zagrebu, a
filozofiju, germanistiku i slavistiku
studirao u Beču, gdje je 1908. i
doktorirao. Od 1909. zaposlen u
zagrebačkoj Sveučilišnoj knjižnici, a
1914. počinje režirati u zagrebačkom
kazalištu. Ovdje je, a potom i u svim
južnoslavenskim kazališnim
središtima, Češkoj, Slovačkoj te Italiji,
postavio 279 dramskih i opernih
djela, pri čemu se posebice ističu
režije Držića, Gundulića,
Brezovačkoga, Krleže, Begovića,
Shakespearea, Pirandella i Wagnera.
Utemeljitelj je Akademije za kazališnu
umjetnost u Zagrebu (1950.), te
jedan od osnivača Zagrebačkoga
dramskog kazališta (1953.), danas
Dramskoga kazališta „Gavella”.
Redoviti član JAZU od 1961.
Na Dubrovačkim ljetnim igrama
režirao je djela Držića, Gundulića,
Vojnovića, Goethea, a naročito je
zaslužan za afirmaciju Vojnovićevog
dramskog opusa i karakterističnog
dubrovačkog idioma hrvatskog
jezika. Posljednja režija koju je počeo
pripremati, ali je nije dovršio, je bila
također za Dubrovačke ljetne igre, i
to Shakespeareova Oluja, čiju je
premijeru realizirao njegov učenik
Kosta Spaić. Zaštitini znak doktora
Gavelle bili su njegov štap i šešir.
Štapa se naročito sjeća premijerna
publika Spaićeva Skupa 1958.
Izet Hajdarhodžić
(Trebinje, 25.12.1929. – Zagreb,
12.12. 2006.)
Selma Karlovac
(Zagreb, 12.4.1932. – München,
31.12.1994.)
Hrvatski kazališni glumac. Maturirao
je u Dubrovniku 1948. godine.
Diplomirao je glumu 1957. godine na
Akademiji za kazališnu umjetnost
Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, a kao glumac
pojavljivao se u kazališnim
predstavama, te filmovima i
televizijskim dramama. Osobito se
isticao karakternim ulogama. Kraće
vrijeme radio je kao novinar i kazališni
kritičar Radio Dubrovnika, zatim je
glumac, redatelj i umjetnički direktor
dubrovačkog Narodnog kazališta
(danas Kazalište Marina Držića). Na
Radio Dubrovniku je prvi puta izveo
Skupa kao radio igru, kada je imao
samo 18 godina. Kraće vrijeme bio je
član Narodnog pozorišta u Sarajevu,
a od 1968. je profesor glume na
Akademiji dramske umjetnosti u
Zagrebu. U Hrvatskom narodnom
kazalištu u Zagrebu djeluje od 1968.
godine. Najpoznatiji je po ulozi Skupa
u Držićevoj komediji Skup kojega je
kroz dva desetljeća igrao na
Dubrovačkim ljetnim igrama i u
Dramskom kazalištu Gavella u
Zagrebu u režiji Koste Spaića.
Dobitnik je brojnih nagrada, posebice
za ulogu Skupa. Ostat će zapamćen
kao nositelj bitnih uloga dubrovačkog
repertoara (i identiteta) na
Dubrovačkim ljetnim igrama, kao
Skup, Dundo Maroje, gospar Lukša u
Kafetariji. Radio je i u diplomaciji, kao
ataše za kulturu Republike Hrvatske
u Moskvi.
Hrvatska i njemačka kazališna i
filmska glumica, rođena u Zagrebu.
Igrala na Dubrovačkim ljetnim igrama.
Posebno je zapamćena kao Kupido
u predstavi Tirena u režiji Marka
Foteza. Bila je prva žena u
Dubrovniku 1960-ih koja je nosila
bikini, na glasu kao ljepotica,
popularna glumica, slobodoumna
žena. 60-ih odlazi u Njemačku, gdje
igra u raznovrsnim njemačkim
filmovima. Pod kraj glumačke karijere
upoznaje Rainera Wernera
Fassbindera i tijekom 70-ih i 80-ih
godina 20. stoljeća igra neke
epizodne uloge u njegovim filmovima,
što vraća ugled njezinoj karijeri.
Fani Muhoberac
(Prijevor, Rijeka dubrovačka,
15.10.1925.-Dubrovnik, 23.7.2001.)
Gimnaziju završila u Dubrovniku, a
studij talijanskog jezika i književnosti
na Filozofskom fakultetu u Zagrebu.
Po povratku u Dubrovnik bila
načelnica ureda za prosvjetu i kulturu
tadašnjeg kotara Dubrovnik, uredila
Bogišićevu biblioteku u Cavtatu,
pokrenula osnivanje ogranka Matice
Hrvatske u Dubrovniku. Godine 1964.
postala je direktorica Dubrovačkih
ljetnih igara, na čijem je čelu bila do
1971. Upravo u tom razdoblju
realizirano je nekoliko najuspješnijih
festivalskih sezona, poznatih po
sjajnim dramskim predstavama kao
što su Dubrovačka trilogija 1965. i
Julije Cezar, obje u režiji Koste
Spaića, Macbeth u režiji Vlade
Habuneka 1970. ili Život Eduarda II.
iz 1971. u režiji Georgija Para. Za
njenog mandata ravnatelj drame bio
je Kosta Spaić, a ravnatelj glazbenog
programa Milan Horvat.
..Što se ima, to se dava. A tko sve
dava, vele dava....Grad je danas
postao jedna velika munčjela.
karakteristične dubrovačke
ambijentalnosti. Još uvijek se pamte
njegove režije Držićeva Dunda Maroja
na Gundulićevoj poljani i Skupa u
parku Muzičke škole. Bio je erudit,
poliglot, prevoditelj, uvjereni ljevičar,
izvrstan violinist.Također i pasionirani
obožavatelj brzih vozila i
aviomodelarstva. Vozio je Jaguara.
Umro je režirajući, u Hrvatskom
narodnom kazalištu u Zagrebu.
Ruke
Tara tara tara tam
Imali ste osjećaj da mu je cijela
unutrašnjost ušla u te ruke. Zapravo
te ruke su bile njegov unutarnji život...
I on je stvarno obožavao tu
munčjelu...Rukama je po zraku pisao,
o kad bi mi znali što je on pisao?
Skandiranje, uzvici koje je izvikivala
družina kuhača u Spaićevoj režiji
Držićeva Skupa u pohodu ka
Skupovoj kući, s nakanom da
pripreme gozbu za pir njegove kćeri
Andrijane. Silazili su niz skaline
između dva reda klupa u gledalištu u
parku Muzičke škole. Nosili su koplja
sa galetama (tradicionalno
dubrovačko pecivo u obliku kruga), a
jedan od njih oko vrata i živo kozle,
koje je posebno dogovoreni seljak iz
Župe dubrovačke svaku večer
donosio za predstavu. Kažu da je taj
ritmički poklik preuzeo i sam doktor
Branko Gavella, kada je, nakon
premijere, silazio niz ulicu od Muzičke
škole, skandirajući: tara tara tara tam!
Munčjela
Kosta Spaić
(Zagreb, 21.1.1923. – Zagreb,
23.4.1994.)
Hrvatski kazališni i operni redatelj,
dugogodišnji ravnatelj dramskog
programa Ljetnih igara, za vrijeme
njihovog tzv. ‘zlatnog doba’, koje
mnogi lociraju u razdoblje između
1964. i 1971, kada je direktorica bila
Fani Muhoberac. Bio je i intendant
HNK u Zagrebu, te umjetnički voditelj
Dramskog kazališta Gavella.
Diplomirao je na Filozofskom
fakultetu i na Muzičkoj akademiji,
smjer violina. Ostvario je niz
zapamćenih režija, ne samo u
ondašnjoj Jugoslaviji nego i u
inozemstvu. Posebice se istaknuo
amblematskim predstavma na
Dubrovačkim ljetnim igrama,
značajno doprinjevši razvoju
Zlatno doba Dubrovačkih ljetnih
igara
Više je stavova o tome o kojoj bi se
dekadi 20. stoljeća radilo. Ipak, većina
suvremenika smatra da su to bile
60-te godine 20. stoljeća, kada je na
čelu Igara bila Fani Muhoberac,a
ravnatelj dramskog programa Kosta
Spaić. Nakon 1971., Igre nastavljaju
svoj uspon, pa će mnogi i 70-te
izdvojiti kao dio zlatnog doba, u
dramskom smislu obilježeno
predstvama koje su pratile svoje
kazališno vrijeme, a pars pro toto,
reprezentativni primjer bi bila
predstava Aretej Miroslava Krleže u
režiji Georgija Para. 80-te godine su
bile nešto mirniji nastavak, a krajem
te dekade veliki uspon zamire, dolazi
i do nekih socio-ekonomskih
promjena, turizam postaje masovniji,
a to zatišje uspona Ljetnih igara
definitivno okončava 1991.,
Domovinski rat, i sve što su na
regionalnoj i europskoj razini donijele
90-te godine 20. stoljeća.
Neizdržljivo divan Grad
Živjeti u Dubrovniku znači živjeti
predrasudu u kojoj je svijet dovršen
onog trena kad je posljednji kamen
uzidan u krunište posljednje kule... U
Dubrovniku se ne može živjeti u svom
vremenu, isključivo u njegovom
vremenu. Preciznije, u njegovom
bezvremenu...Dubrovnik je ružan
grad. Ružan zato što negira
suvremenost života, tj. nadređuje joj
ostatke svoje suverenosti...
Dubrovnik je sam sebi ideal i ta
narcisoidna zagledanost u sebe, to
zurenje u bonacu da se ulovi
savršenstvo svog obrisa, čini ga
punim predrasuda. Dubrovnik je
neizdržljiv i divan. Neizdržljivo divan.
Odluka da obnavljaju Grad poslije
potresa najveća je greška koju su
Dubrovčani načinili. Potres je bio
tragičan kraj jednog sjajnog
Dubrovnika; poslije potresa počinje
sjajan kraj jednog tragičnog
Dubrovnika... Onog trenutka kad je
Marojica Kaboga počeo obnavljanje
Dubrovnika, na njega se poput
proloma oblaka izlila nostalgija za
onim što je bilo prije Velike trešnje. I
od tada do danas Dubrovnik vapi za
onim što je bilo, očajava što to nikad
više neće biti i kroz tu prizmu odbija
priznati da je ono što jest, a ne ono
što je bilo... Mi stojimo na ruševinama
onog zemljotresa. Dubrovnik je
tragičan. Odatle proizlazi i njegovo
katarzično djelovanje za one koji ga
posjećuju. Za njih je to kao posjet
predstavi. Žiteljima preostaje da budu
dovijeka glumci i naravno sve ono
prokletstvo koje ide sa tim pozivom...
Iz eseja Milana Milišića
‘Vremenska stupica’
Iz Lazareta Dubrovnik gledat’
Razgovor s autorom projekta Sašom
Božićem
Ova predstava nasljeduje tu
jednu ambijentalnu liniju da se u
mikrourbanitetu Dubrovnika Grad
gleda kroz izvedbu. Samo što se
ovdje radi o izvedbi građana
Grada Dubrovnika koji su prisutni
u predstavi kao video materijal,
čiji su govori onda preneseni u
scenski tekst koji izgovaraju
glumci.
Petra Jelača: Krenimo od ideje,
kako je počelo?
Saša Božić: Dora Ruždjak me
pozvala da radim predstavu na
Ljetnim igrama nakon što je vidjela
moju probu na rezidenciji u
Lazaretima za predstavu Nosferatu.
Inače, ideja koprodukcije Ljetnih igara
i Art radionice Lazareti bila je njena
želja od trenutka kad je došla na
mjesto ravnateljice Drame Ljetnih
igara. Slaven i Srđana iz ARL-a su se
složili stime, uz želju i na neki način
uvjet da se ta predstava u
koprodukciji bavi Gradom i Igrama.
Ne bez razloga, naime, oni imaju
višegodišnji program art in
community, niz umjetničkih projekata
koji se bave memorijom i umjetničkim
praksama arhiviranja s jedne i
gradom Dubrovnikom s druge strane,
kao što je bio projekt Hrvoja
Juvančića Sjećanja Grada. Meni je
bilo zanimljivo baviti se onim što se
definira u povijesti Ljetnih igara kao
‘zlatno doba’, kultnim predstavama
kao što su Kafetarija, Dundo Maroje,
Skup.
I onda sam htio preko jedne
predstave progovoriti o svim tim
temama. Pala mi je na pamet ideja
da se bavim gledateljima jedne od tih
predstava zato što sam radeći
zadnjih 10 godina u Dubrovniku, na
rezidencijama u Lazaretima, slušao
priče ljudi o tome kako je to nekad
bilo sjajno i zanimalo me što je to bilo
tako sjajno. Dakle ne iz aspekta
samih predstava nego iz iskustva
gledanja i pamćenja. Ova se
predstava stoga na određen način
bavi i procesima gledanja, politikama
pogleda u kazalištu i procesima
pamćenja, borgesovskom
metaforom, umire li knjiga sa svojim
zadnjim čitateljem, preneseno na
predstavu, umire li sa zadnjim
gledateljem.
Na Dorin prijedlog izabrali smo
predstavu Skup, iako sam se ja htio
baviti predstavom Dundo Maroje,
također u režiji Koste Spaića,
naprosto zato što sam o toj predstavi
više znao i zato što se o toj predstavi
dosta uči na Akademiji dramske
umjetnosti u okviru kolegija Režija
baštine jer je ogledni primjer hrvatske
ambijentalne režije. A Dora je
predložila da to bude Skup zato što
je najdugovječnija predstava na
Igrama.
Ono što je meni jako bitno za ovaj
projekt nije samo određeno
činjenicom da se neki glumci
uvježbavaju u nekoj predstavi i da je
onda prezentiraju publici. Bitno mi je
da projekt ima procesualan karakter i
da generira neku drugu vrstu
odgovora publike koja nije samo
pljesak na kraju i komentar poslije.
Zato se ona bavi nekim živim
procesima grada danas. U tu svrhu
smo početkom svibnja stavili oglas u
lokalne medije - tv, radio stanice i
novine, i uputili poziv svim građanima
koji su između 1958. i 1972. gledali
probe ili im prisustvovali i eventualno
sujelovale u predstavi Skup Koste
Spaića. Taj video-materijal njihovih
sjećanja zapravo je materijal
predstave. Iz njega smo stvarali
scenski tekst.
Petra Jelača: Dogodilo se i to da
smo otkrili da gledatelji više nose
u sjećanju impresije na suživot
grada i predstave Skup nego na
samu predstavu i da svaka ideja
o rekonstrukciji njihovih sjećanja
tu prestaje.
Saša Božić: Nakon razgovora s
ljudima proces je krenuo nekim
drugim tokom jer je postalo jasno da
ta sjećanja ne generiraju moguću
rekonstrukciju predstave nego
zapravo otvaraju neke druge
probleme. Probleme življenja u
Dubrovniku, odnosa Grada i Igara, i
problematiku načina na koji predstava
živi u smislu da koloplet umjetničkih
događanja u tom istom Gradu prije
30, 40, 50 godina priječi suočavanju
s Dubrovnikom kakav je danas. Dakle
ta neprestana potreba za
mitologizacijom svoje vlastite
mladosti. Mitologizacijom nekog
vremena u kojem se Grad
prepoznavao u kazalištu i u kojem se
kazalište prepoznavalo u Gradu.
Stvarajući te miteme bolje prošlosti i
optimizma sjećanja ljudi lakše
funkcioniraju, bolje podnose sudar s
nekim novim točkama urbaniteta i
življenja u Dubrovniku danas. Ja u
svojoj predstavi, a ni osobno, ne
želim kritizirati jer sam je radio za
građane ovog Grada. Ona je iznimno
lokalna, a ja nisam građanin ovog
Grada. Dakle nemam tu poziciju, ni
pravo, ni moralnu osnovu da bih
nešto propovijedao, ali se nadam da
predstava sama otvara neke žarišne
točke, točnije pruža priliku građanima
da ih oni sami rastvore.
U tom smislu mi je bilo bitno, na neki
čudan način, nasljedovanje Držićevog
teatra ili ideologije njegovog teatra
samo u jednom drugačijem
scenskom rukopisu. Ova predstava
se ni na koji način ne bavi Skupom,
čak ni Skupom Koste Spaića toliko,
ali nasljeduje tu jednu liniju da se u
mikrourbanitetu Dubrovnika Grad
gleda kroz izvedbu. Samo što se
ovdje radi o izvedbi građana grada
Dubrovnika koji su prisutni u
predstavi kao video materijal, čiji su
govori onda preneseni u scenski
tekst koji izgovaraju glumci. To nisu
naši stavovi, misli ili sjećanja, nego
njihovi. Dakle nema medijatorskog
odnosa dramskog teksta i glumačke
izvedbe nego je ona prenesena u
građane same. U tom smislu
Njarnjas-Grad nije više samo
metafora koja se scenski realizira kao
neka vrsta kanala kroz koji Dubrovnik
gleda samog sebe nego NjarnjasGrad postaje sam Dubrovnik i njegovi
građani danas.
Petra Jelača: Mi smo, na neki
način, opet obrnuli obrnuti
Držićev svijet.
Saša Božić: Da, vratili smo ga u
realitet.
Što se same strukture tiče, predstava
posjeduje neka tematska žarišta
kojima se bavi, kao što su Izet
Hajdarhodžić, njegova kreacija
Skupa, i ona se nekako od pitanja
glume seli ka pitanju gledanja i u
predstavu samu. Dakle, od Izeta ona
se širi na gledatelje, a to smo
pokazali preko teme djece. Zatim se
od gledanja širi na način življenja,
odnos Grada i Igara nekada i sada.
To su neke žarišne točke naše
predstave koja tu neku vrstu
paučinaste poroznosti sjećanja na
predstavu Skup koristi ne bi li
izmišljala neki svoj vlastiti svijet. Kroz
predstavu putuju različiti junaci od
Izeta Hajdarhodžića preko Selme
Karlovac pa do nekih lokalnih
današnjih moćnika. Dubrovnik plovi u
prošlost, u 60-te, u sadašnjost, pa i u
budućnost.
Petra Jelača: Zanimljivo je
također što mi Grad izvana
promatramo i o njemu pričamo.
Saša Božić: Model koji smo izabrali
za samu izvedbu nije reprezentacijski
nego pripovijedni. Što je meni jako
zanimljivo jer se time prvi puta kao
autor bavim. Surađivao sam na nekim
sličnim projektima ali kao dramaturg,
ne kao autor. Taj pripovijedni modus
je modus putovanja kroz arhitekturu,
kroz vrijeme, koji se događa kroz
izlaganje.
Petra Jelača: Spominjali smo ovih
dana dosta ambijentalni teatar,
njegov razvoj od početaka Igara
do danas i Kostu Spaića kao
njegovog bitnog predstavnika.
Ovo što mi sada radimo i što su
još neki prije 10-ak godina radili,
primjerice Bobo Jelčić i Nataša
Rajković 2003. godine u Radionici
za šetanje, pričanje i izmišljanje,
bilo bi na neki suvremeni način
bavljenje Gradom i možda put
nekog novog, suvremenog
smjera ambijentalnosti?
Saša Božić: Pa čini mi se da je ta
promjena zanimljiva. Nije to Spaić prvi
napravio, ali je Spaić to jako dobro
razradio. Tu ideju ambijentalnog
teatra gdje Grad u Gradu postaje
metafora za kazalište, prema kojoj su
se onda tražili neki scenski lokaliteti
koji su odgovrali tom tipu realizirane
metafore. Promjena koja je danas u
nekim predstavama Dubrovačkih
ljetnih Igara prisutna jest da životnost
Grada postaje materijal teatra a ne
životnost njegove arhitekture. Dakle s
pitanja urbaniteta kroz arhitekturu i
život u toj arhitekturi naš se fokus seli
na bavljenje samim tim građanima i
njihovim životima.
Petra Jelača: Suvremeni smo u
samom odabiru mjesta što se
tiče ambijentalnosti.Ta
svojevrsna izmještenost iz Grada
je tvoj umjetnički stav.
Saša Božić: Jest, i vezan je za moje
umjetničko djelovaje u Lazaretima i
za funkciju Lazareta u ovom gradu. I
zato mi se sviđa što se radi o
koprodukciji pa se nadam da će oba
ta partnera moći tu nešto pronaći. S
jedne strane Ljetne igre, koje bi, u
iskustvima umjetničkih praksi koje
promoviraju ili produciraju Lazareti,
mogle pokušati naći neku vrstu ključa
za svoj razvoj dalje, dok Art radionica
Lazareti može dobiti jednu vrstu
vidljivosti koju svojim radom
zaslužuje.
(Francuska), Mathew William Smith
(Novi Zeland) i Dalija Aćin (Srbija).
Petra Jelača: Predstava je rađena
s mišlju na zajednicu, na građane
Dubrovnika. Pa bi, nadam se,
mogla naći put do publike,
Dubrovčani bi je mogli prihvatiti
kao meditaciju na temu vlastitog
identiteta. Kritika i ironija je
izuzetno blaga i nasljeduje
obrnutu držićevsku komiku,
kritiku i ukazivanje na postojeće
stanje na pitak, neprimjetan
način.
Potpisuje dramaturgiju za
nagrađivane predstave poput
Ogoljeno (Zagrebački plesni
ansambl-Nagrada hrvatskog glumišta
2008. za Najbolju plesnu predstavu,
koreografija: Snježana Abramović
Milković ), Nos Vamos a ver
(Kazalište Novi život, Zagreb, Grand
prix festivala Zlatni lav u Umagu,
koreografija: Ksenija Zec), Isto
(Zagrebački plesni ansambl, Nagrada
hrvatskog glumišta za najbolju
koreografiju Kseniji Zec, 2005 ). Za
zajednički projekt s beogradskom
umjetnicom Dalijom Aćin Handle with
a great care nagrađen je prvom
nagradom Jardin d’ Europe,
najprestižnijeg europskog plesnog
festivala Impulstanz u Beču 2008.
Saša Božić: Meni nije bio cilj
manipulirati publikom, ali jest otvoriti
neke probleme na način jednog
scenskog jezika koji, nadam se,
može s njima komunicirati. Dakle on
je vrlo jednostavan.Vrlo se izravno
obraća publici. Mislim da bi svaka
nadgradnja i razgradnja tog jezika
samo stvorila barijere.
Petra Jelača: Taj scenski jezik
komunicira i razna znanja.
Saša Božić: Naravno. O povijesti,
identitetu, mentalitetu i urbanitetu
Dubrovnika. A nadam se da će
potaknuti i neke druge sociološke,
teatrološke, i umjetničke projekte.
Saša Božić kazališni je redatelj i
dramaturg, prisutan u polju
europskog suvremenog plesa. Kao
dramaturg, izvan Hrvatske surađuje s
priznatim koreografima: Isabele
Schaad (Njemačka), Simone
Aughterloney (Njemačka), Francesca
Scavette (Norveška), Martine Pisani
Predstave koje Božić potpisuje kao
dramaturg producirane su u
europskim kazališnim kućama poput
Hebbel am Ufer (Njemačka),
Kaaitheatre (Belgija), Pact Zollverein
(Švicarska), Gessnerale (Švicarska),
The National Dance Centre
(Norveška), Beogradsko dramsko
pozorište (Srbija), a gostovale su na
svim relevantnijim europskim
festivalima. Kroz 2008. i 2009.
kooordinirao je popratni program
Eurokaza, a trenutno radi kao
asistent na Odsjeku za scenski
pokret pri Akademiji dramskih
umjetnosti u Zagrebu. Zajedno s
Barbarom Matijević vodi nezavisnu
kazališnu skupinu de facto.
Programsku knjižicu uredila
Petra Jelača
About the play
Theatre project the miser: plays
discusses memories of the audience
of the play The Miser directed by
Kosta Spaić (1958) and takes those
memories as a starting point for the
author’s meditation on the meaning
and existence of the art of theatre.
In its recent history Dubrovnik has
become a synonym for a city of
theatre and this also happens
through the Dubrovnik Summer
Festival’s activities. Besides artistic
works, the Festival has produced a
certain – at times very clear – belief
about the relationship between the
City and theatre, the City as a stage,
the coulisses of human experience.
However, these beliefs often exclude
the aspect of the audience, the
citizens of Dubrovnik to whom, for
more than half a century, the theatre
has offered a space of reminiscence
and has become a place where they
work and (co)exist.
It is precisely in Dubrovnik, while
directing the plays The Miser and
Uncle Maroje by Marin Držić, that
Kosta Spaić, one of the most
important Croatian theatre artists,
developed the postulates of sitespecific theatre. In 1958 Spaić
received universal acclaim with his
mise-en-scène of Držić’s The Miser in
the Art School Park where he created
an ideal framework for the people of
the City of Players and where he
showed them in a setting which
perfectly matched the framework of
Držić’s text. The play itself, with its
long stage life (it was featured on the
Festival’s programme for 14 years!),
became an irreplaceable hallmark of
the Festival.
The project the miser: plays
deliberately sacrifices the original
play, in favor of the audience of this
play, questioning the subtle themes
of human memory porosity and the
duration of the artistic act. It seems
as if the play wants to answer the
question: does a work of art die
together with the last member of its
audience?
The miser: plays begins precisely
where the original play ends: in the
viewer’s eye. Combining theatre and
documentary video, the project
examines how the mythical play –
The Miser, directed by Kosta Spaić
and first performed 54 years ago –
inhabits the worlds of people that
witnessed its performances. By
accumulating narratives, images,
bodies and sounds we explore the
ways in which, through our
relationship with the theatre, we
grasp our own subjectivity and its
temporality. Thoughts on the City and
the history of its urban character thus
become a space for imagining new
worlds.
The unbearably wonderful City
To live in Dubrovnik means to live a prejudice which says that the world was
completed when the last stone was built into the crown of the last turret... In
Dubrovnik it is impossible to live in one’s own time or exclusively in one’s own
time. More precisely in its timelessness... Dubrovnik is an ugly city. Ugly
because it denies contemporary life, i.e. it believes the remnants of its own
sovereignty to be more important than modern life... Dubrovnik is its own ideal
and this narcissistic self-centeredness, staring at the peaceful sea in order to
catch a glimpse of the perfection of its own reflection fill Dubrovnik with
prejudice. Dubrovnik is unbearable and wonderful. Unbearably wonderful. The
decision to rebuild the City after the earthquake is the biggest mistake the
people of Dubrovnik have ever made. The earthquake was a tragic ending of
a marvelous Dubrovnik; after the earthquake comes the marvelous end of a
tragic Dubrovnik... The moment when Marojica Kaboga started the
reconstruction of the City, he was overwhelmed with nostalgia for the life
before the big earthquake. Ever since then Dubrovnik has been wistful for the
times gone by, desperate that those times will never come again and because
of that it refuses to be what it is instead of what it was... We stand on the
ruins of that earthquake. Dubrovnik is tragic. This is the reason why those
who visit it experience a catharsis. For them, it is like going to the theatre. The
citizens do not have a choice but to be actors forever and, of course, carry
the curse of that calling...
From the essay The Trap of Time
by Milan Milišić
DICTIONARY OF THE PLAY
Žuža Egrenyi
(Dubrovnik, 31st December 1923)
She graduated from the Zagreb
Academy of Dramatic Art in 1956
and worked at the Croatian National
Theatre in Varaždin, at Gavella
Theatre and Comedy Theatre in
Zagreb. She came to Marin Držić
Theatre in Dubrovnik in 1960 and
stayed until 1986. Among the prizes
she has won for her acting it is
important to mention the award
Zlatna Kolajna Zemuna (1986) and
the award of the Satire and Humor
Festival in Zagreb (1986), both for the
role of Mademoiselle Esther in Matko
Sršen’s monodrama of the same
name directed by Tomislav Radić and
performed at the Marin Držić Theatre.
She is especially fond of the role in
Beckett’s Happy Days directed by
Vlado Habunek at the Marin Držić
Theatre in 1978. Among her roles at
the Dubrovnik Summer Festival she
singles out the ones in plays by
Vojnović: A Trilogy of Dubrovnik,
Equinox and Dance of Masks in the
Attic. For many years she has
collaborated with the Dubrovnik
Radio as a journalist and author of
outstanding cover stories. She feels
as a citizen of Dubrovnik although the
Island of Koločep is her paradise.
She has owned dogs all her life and
Karma is her 11th dog in a row.
Besides the theatre, Koločep and
animals are her biggest passions.
She also has a parrot called Pasko.
Branko Gavella
(Zagreb, 29th July – Zagreb,
8th April 1962)
Croatian theatre director, teacher,
theatrologist, theatre critic and
translator. He graduated from high
school in Zagreb and studied
Philosophy, German and Slavic
Studies in Vienna, where he also
obtained his Ph.D. in 1908. In 1909
he started to work at the Zagreb
University Library and in 1914 he
directed his first play in Zagreb. He
directed 279 plays and operas in
Zagreb as well as in other Yugoslavian
theatre centres, in the Czech
Republic, in Slovakia and in Italy, the
most important ones being plays by
Držić, Gundulić, Brezovački, Krleža,
Begović, Shakespeare, Pirandello and
Wagner. He is the founder of the
Zagreb Academy of Dramatic Art
(1950) and one of the founders of the
Zagreb Theatre (1953), today’s
Gavella Theatre. He became a regular
member of the Yugoslavian Academy
of Arts and Sciences in 1961.
At the Dubrovnik Summer Festival he
directed plays by Držić, Gundulić,
Vojnović, Goethe and he deserves
special merit for the recognition of
Vojnović’s plays and the typical
Dubrovnik dialect of the Croatian
language. The last mise-en-scène
which he started to prepare, but did
not finish was another play for the
Dubrovnik Summer Festival, more
precisely Shakespeare’s Tempest,
whose premiere was directed by one
of his students, Kosta Spaić. A
walking stick and a hat were Mr.
Gavella’s emblem. The stick is
especially remembered by the
audience present at the premiere of
The Miser directed by Spaić in 1958.
The golden age of the Dubrovnik
Summer Festival
There are several opinions on which
decade of the 20th century this
expression refers to. However, most
contemporaries believe that the
golden age covers the 1960s when
Fani Muhoberac was General Director
of the Festival and Kosta Spaić the
Theatre Programme Director. After
1971 the Dubrovnik Summer Festival
continued its rise so many would say
that the 1970s also belong to the
Festival’s golden age, when the
Festival featured plays in tune with the
theatrical tendencies of the time. A
representative example of this kind of
play is Miroslav Krleža’s Arethaeus
directed by Georgij Paro. The 1980s
were somewhat calmer and at the
end of that decade the rise was
coming to an end due to certain
socio-economic changes and mass
tourism. The period finally ended in
1991 with the beginning of the
Croatian War of Independence and
everything that the 1990s brought to
the region and to the whole of Europe.
Selma Karlovac
(Zagreb, 12th April 1932 – Munich,
31st December 1994)
Croatian theatre and movie actress,
born in Zagreb. She played at the
Dubrovnik Summer Festival. Her
most noted role was the one of
Cupid in the play Tirena by Marko
Fotez. She was the first woman in
Dubrovnik to wear a bikini in the
1960s, famous for her beauty, a
popular actress with liberal views. In
the 1960s she went to Germany,
where she acted in numerous
movies. At the end of her acting
career she met Rainer Werner
Fassbinder who gave her several
episodic roles in his movies in the
1970s and 1980s, which restored her
reputation as an actress.
Izet Hajdarhodžić
(Trebinje, 25th December 1929 –
Zagreb, 12th December 2006)
Croatian theatre actor. He graduated
from high school in Dubrovnik in
1948. He completed his drama
studies in 1957 at the Academy of
Dramatic Art in Zagreb and he played
in theatre plays, films and television
dramas. He specialized in character
parts. For a short period he worked
as a journalist and theatre critic for
the Dubrovnik Radio and then as
actor, director and artistic director at
the Dubrovnik National Theatre
(today’s Marin Držić Theatre). At the
age of 18 he performed The Miser as
a radio drama on the Dubrovnik
Radio. For a while he was a member
of the National Theatre in Sarajevo
and from 1968 onwards he was
Professor of Drama at the Academy
of Dramatic Art in Zagreb. The same
year he started working at the
National Theatre in Zagreb. His most
famous part is that of the Miser in
Držić’s comedy of the same name
directed by Kosta Spaić, a part which
he played at the Dubrovnik Summer
Festival and at Zagreb’s Gavella
Theatre for two decades. He is the
winner of numerous awards,
especially for the role of the Miser. He
will be remembered as the actor who
performed very significant roles from
Dubrovnik’s repertoire (and identity)
at the Dubrovnik Summer Festival,
e.g. the Miser, Uncle Maroje and Mr.
Lukša in the play Kafetarija (Coffee
Shop). He was also a diplomat; he
worked as Croatia’s cultural attaché
in Moscow.
Hands
One was under the impression that
the whole of his inside had entered
those hands. Those hands were, in
fact, his inner life... And he truly
adored that money box... He used
his hands to write in the air, oh, if we
only knew what he wrote?
Money box (munčjela)
... What one has, one gives. And who
gives it all, gives a lot... the city has
become one big money box.
Fani Muhoberac
(Prijevor, the Dubrovnik littoral; 15th
October 1925 – Dubrovnik, 23rd July
2001)
She graduated from grammar school
in Dubrovnik and completed her
studies of Italian language and
literature at the Faculty of Humanities
and Social Sciences in Zagreb. Upon
her return to Dubrovnik she was the
head of the Office for Education and
Culture of what was then the
Dubrovnik District, she organized the
Bogišić Library in Cavtat and
encouraged the foundation of a
branch of Matica Hrvatska, the oldest
Croatian cultural institution, in
Dubrovnik. In 1964 she was
appointed General Manager of the
Dubrovnik Summer Festival, a
position which she held until 1971. It
was precisely in that period that
several of the most successful festival
seasons took place, featuring
outstanding theatre plays such as A
Trilogy of Dubrovnik (1965), and
Julius Caesar, both directed by Kosta
Spaić; Macbeth directed by Vlado
Habunek (1970) or The life of Edward
II directed by Georgij Paro (1971).
During her mandate, Kosta Spaić
was Theatre Programme Director
and Milan Horvat was Music
Programme Director of the Festival.
Kosta Spaić
(Zagreb, 21st January 1923 –
Zagreb, 34th April 1994)
Croatian theatre and opera director,
Theatre Programme Director of the
Dubrovnik Summer Festival in its
‘golden age’, which many situate
between 1964 and 1971, when Fani
Muhoberac was General Manager.
He was General Manager of the
Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb
and Art Director of Zagreb’s Gavella
Theatre. He graduated from the
Faculty of Humanities and Social
Sciences and he completed violin
studies at the Zagreb Music
Academy. He directed a number of
memorable plays, not only in what
was then Yugoslavia, but also
abroad. He was specially noted for
his emblematic plays at the
Dubrovnik Summer Festival,
contributing significantly to the
development of the characteristic
site-specific theatre in Dubrovnik. The
audience still remembers his miseen-scène of Držić’s plays Uncle
Maroje (Gundulić Square) and The
Miser (Art School Park). He was an
erudite person, polyglot, translator,
ardent leftist and outstanding violinist.
He was also an aficionado of racing
cars and aeromodelling. He drove a
Jaguar. He died while directing, at
the Croatian National Theatre in
Zagreb.
Site-specific theatre in Dubrovnik
The first one to introduce site-specific
theatre in Dubrovnik was Marko
Fotez, who used the principles of
adequacy and correspondence in his
mise-en-scènes and who chose
plays in accordance with the natural
urban setting of the City. Kosta Spaić
based his site-specific plays on the
principle of theatre-city, i.e. the
principle of synchrony, thus basing
the plays on the relationship between
what happens on the stage on the
one hand and the life in the city on
the other. By the end of the 1960s
the site-specific concept of
Dubrovnik as a theatre determined
the repertoire policy of the Festival’s
Theatre Programme, whose
characteristics (plays by classical
authors and authors from Dubrovnik)
have been present until today. In the
1970s the Festival’s artists
experimented with recognizable
features of the firmly established
site-specific theatre, but in such a
way so as to be in tune with
contemporary theatrical tendencies.
The same efforts continued in the
1980s, but in the second half of the
decade certain problems connected
to the concept of the programme
and site-specific theatre itself arose.
They went on in the war period,
during the 1990s and culminated at
the beginning of the 21st century,
when the image of the City – and
consequently of the Festival’s Theatre
Programme - rapidly transformed.
surroundings of Dubrovnik. They say
that this rhythm was adopted by Mr.
Branko Gavella himself when, after
the premiere, he went down the Art
School stairs humming: tara tara tam!
Tara tara tam
Saša Božić: Dora Ruždjak invited
me to create a play for the Dubrovnik
Summer Festival after she had seen
my rehearsal for the play Nosferata at
the Lazaretto. She has wanted the
Dubrovnik Summer Festival and the
Lazareti Art Workshop to make a
co-production ever since she was
appointed Theatre Programme
Director of the Festival. Slaven and
Srđana from the Lazareti Art
Workshop agreed with the idea, but
their idea and condition was for the
play to deal with The Festival and the
City of Dubrovnik. There was a
reason for this; for several years they
Cries coming from kuhači, the cooks
at the wedding ceremony in Spaić’s
mise-en-scène of The Miser as they
were going to the Miser’s house in
order to prepare the feast for his
daughter Andrijana’s wedding party.
They were going down the stairs
between the two rows of seats in the
Art School Park. They carried spears
with galettes (a traditional roundshaped pastry from Dubrovnik) and
one of them was even carrying a live
goat on his shoulders which was
brought especially for the show every
evening by a farmer from Župa in the
Watching Dubrovnik from the
Lazaretto
Interview with the director Saša Božić
This play follows the tradition of
site-specific theatre, i.e. of
looking at the City of Dubrovnik
through the performance within
the framework of Dubrovnik’s
micro-urban setting. The only
difference is that in this case we
are dealing with a performance
by the citizens of Dubrovnik who
are present in the play as part of
the footage; their words are then
transferred into the script and
pronounced by the actors.
Petra Jelača: Let us start with the
idea. How did it all begin?
have been involved in an ‘art in
community’ project, which is a series
of art projects dealing with memory
and archiving on the one hand and
Dubrovnik on the other hand,
something similar to Hrvoje
Juvančić’s project entitled Sjećanja
grada (Memories of the City).
Personally, I found it interesting to do
something connected to what we
know as the Golden Age of the
Festival and cult plays such as The
Coffee Shop, Uncle Maroje and The
Miser.
So I wanted to talk about all those
subjects in a single play. I had the
idea to focus on the audience of one
of those plays because, while
working at the Lazareti Art Workshop
for years, I had been hearing people’s
stories about how great it used to be
and I was interested to find out what
precisely had been so great. I was
not interested in the plays
themselves, but rather in the
experiences of watching and
remembering. In a certain way this
play is also about the process of
watching, the ways in which the
audience watches a play, memory
processes, Borges’s metaphor, the
question whether the book dies
together with its last reader or, in the
context of theatre, if a play dies
together with the last member of the
audience.
We accepted Dora’s suggestion to
work on The Miser, even though I
had wanted to work on Uncle Maroje
(also directed by Kosta Spaić), for the
simple reason that I was more
familiar with that play and that it is
dealt with in detail at the Academy of
Dramatic Art. It is studied in the
course Heritage Directing because
that play is the hallmark of Croatian
site-specific theatre. Dora suggested
that we should choose The Miser
because it is the Festival’s longestperformed play.
What I find to be of extreme
importance in this project is not
simply that certain actors rehearse
and then present the play to a certain
audience; it is the fact that the play
itself is a process by nature and that
it generates a different sort of
response from the audience - not just
an applause at the end and a
comment or two after the play. It is
about certain living processes in the
city which are happening today. This
is why, at the beginning of May, we
placed an ad in the local media – TV
and radio stations and the
newspapers – inviting all those who
had watched the rehearsals or
participated in them or in the play
The Miser directed by Kosta Spaić
between 1958 and 1972 to contact
us. The footage which we then
recorded and which shows their
accounts is in fact the material of the
play.
Petra Jelača: It also happened
that we discovered that the
audience remembers more the
impressions of the co-existence
of the City and the play The Miser
than the play itself. This means
that every thought we might have
had about the reconstruction of
their memories ends.
Saša Božić: After the conversations
with those people the whole process
headed in a different direction
because it was clear that those
memories do not generate a possible
reconstruction of the play, but raise
some new issues instead. The issue
of life in Dubrovnik, the relationship
between the City and the Festival,
and the problem concerning the way
in which the play continues to live in
the sense that the occurrence of
artistic events in Dubrovnik 30, 40 or
50 years ago stops us from facing
Dubrovnik as it is today. In other
words, it is an incessant need to
mythologize one’s own youth. People
mythologize a time when the City
could recognize itself in the theatre
and when the theatre could
recognize itself in the City. Creating
those mythemes of a better past and
optimistic memories helps people to
function in their daily lives and to
handle the collision with some new
aspects of urban life and living in
Dubrovnik today. I do not wish –
either in the play or personally – to
criticize, because I created the play
for the citizens of this city. The play
has a very local character and I am
not a citizen of this city. This means
that I do not have the position, the
right or the moral basis to preach,
but I hope that the play itself opens
up certain points of interest, i.e. that
it gives the opportunity for the
citizens to open them up themselves.
In that sense I find it important – in a
somewhat strange way – to follow
the tradition of Držić’s theatre or the
ideology of his theatre, but in a
different setting on the scene. This
play is in no way about The Miser,
not even so much about The Miser
directed by Kosta Spaić, but it
follows the tradition of looking at the
City of Dubrovnik through the
performance in Dubrovnik’s microurban setting. The only difference is
that in this case we are dealing with a
performance by the citizens of
Dubrovnik who are present in the
play as part of the footage and their
words are then transferred into the
script and pronounced by the actors.
These are not our opinions, thoughts
or memories, but theirs. Thus, there
is no mediation between the script
and the performance – it has been
transferred to the citizens
themselves. In this sense the City of
Players is no longer merely a
metaphor which is realized on the
scene as a sort of a channel which
allows Dubrovnik to watch itself, but
the City of Players transforms into
Dubrovnik and its citizens today.
Petra Jelača: We have, in a way,
reversed again the already
reversed world of Držić.
Saša Božić: Yes, we brought it back
to reality.
The play deals with certain thematic
focal points, such as Izet
Hajdarhodžić and his creation of the
Miser and the play steps away from
the question of acting and moves
closer to the question of watching
the play and to the play itself. It
expands from Izet to the audience
and we showed that in using the
subject of children. It expands from
the way of watching to the way of
living and the relationship between
the City and the Festival then and
now. These are some of the focal
points in our play which uses a
certain kind of fragile porosity of
memory of The Miser in order to
create a world of its own. The play
is frequented by different heroes
– from Izet Hajdarhodžić, through
Selma Karlovac and all the way to
some of today’s local magnates.
Dubrovnik travels to the past, to the
60s, to the present and then to the
future.
Petra Jelača: Lately we have
often mentioned site-specific
theatre in Dubrovnik, its
development from the beginning
of the Festival up until today as
well as Kosta Spaić as its
important representative. What
we are doing today and what
others did some ten years ago
(e.g. Bobo Jelčić in his Walking,
Talking and Imagining Workshop
in 2003) might be a contemporary
way of dealing with the City and a
path to a new, modern direction
in site-specific theatre?
Saša Božić: Well, it seems to me
that this change is interesting. Spaić
was not the first one to have done it,
but he did an excellent job of
developing it. The idea of site-specific
theatre where the City in the City
becomes a metaphor for the theatre
and where they looked for specific
stage locations which were in line
with that kind of realized metaphor.
The change which is present in
certain plays at the Festival today is
that the life of the City becomes the
material for the theatre and not the
life of its architecture. Thus, when
dealing with urbanism through
architecture and life in that
architecture, we are in a way dealing
with citizens and their lives.
Petra Jelača: When it comes to
site-specificity, our choice of
venue is contemporary. The
dislocation from the City is your
artistic stance.
Saša Božić: Yes, it is and it is
connected to my artistic activities in
the Lazareti Art Workshop and to the
function of the Lazaretto in this City.
Still, the Festival brings a different
kind of visibility in a tough artistic
environment, which, it seems to me,
gives us the best opportunity to see
the City. This is the reason why I am
pleased that this is a co-production; I
am hoping that both partners will be
able to find something for
themselves. On the one hand, the
Festival can try to find a key to its
further development in the artistic
activities promoted by or produced
by the Lazareti Art Workshop and on
the other hand, the Lazareti Art
Workshop can get the visibility which
it deserves due to its work.
Petra Jelača: The play was made
with the community and the
citizens of Dubrovnik in mind so I
hope that it might find its way to
the audience. The people of
Dubrovnik might accept it as a
meditation on their own identity.
All the critique and irony is very
gentle and it follows the tradition
of Držić’s reversed comedy,
critique and warning about the
present situation in a light,
unobtrusive way.
Saša Božić: My aim was not to
manipulate the audience, but to raise
some issues on the stage and to,
hopefully, communicate them to the
audience. The language of the stage
is very simple and very direct. I
believe that any simplification or
addition would only create barriers.
Petra Jelača: The language used
on the stage also communicates
different kinds of knowledge.
Saša Božić: Of course. Knowledge
about the history, identity, mentality
and urbanism of Dubrovnik. And I
hope that it will encourage others to
engage in different sociological,
theatre and artistic activities.
Saša Božić is a theatre director and
dramaturge and he is also active in
the field of European contemporary
dance. As a dramaturge, across
Croatia’s borders, he collaborates
with renowned choreographers:
Isabele Schaad (Germany), Simone
Aughterloney (Germany), Francesca
Scavette (Norway), Martine Pisani
(France), Mathew William Smith (New
Zealand) and Dalija Aćin (Serbia).
He has worked as dramaturge on
prize-winning plays such as Ogoljeno
(Zagreb Dance Ensemble; Croatian
Actors’ Guild Award for the best
dance play 2008, choreography by
Snježana Abramović Milković), Nos
vamos a ver (Novi život Theatre,
Zagreb; Grand prix of the Gold Lion
Festival in Umag; choreography by
Ksenija Zec, 2005), Isto (Zagreb
Dance Ensemble, Croatian Actors’
Guild Award for the best
choreography for Kesnija Zec, 2005).
In 2008 the project Handle With a
Great Care which he worked on
together with the Belgrade artist
Dalija Aćin won the Jardin d’Europe,
the first prize of the most prestigious
dance festival in Europe, the
Imuplstanz in Vienna.
Božić has worked as dramaturge in
plays which have been featured at all
major European festivals and which
were produced in famous European
thetres such as Hebbel am Ufer
(Germany), Kaaitheatre (Belgium),
Pact Zollverein (Switzerland),
Gessnerale (Switzerland), The
National Dance Centre (Norway),
Belgrade Thetre of Drama Art
(Serbia). In 2008 and 2009 he
coordinated the special programme
of the International Festival of New
Theatre EUROKAZ and he is
currently working as assistant at the
Department for Movement at the
Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb.
In collaboration with Barbara
Matijević he runs the independent
theatre ensemble de facto.
Programme notes edited by
Petra Jelača