Švabica

(Ages 12+)

• Based on the short story by Laza K. Lazarević

• Adaptation and Direction: Dušan Petrović

• Set Design: Sofija Lučić

• Costume Design: Jelena Vidović

• Music: Petar Bilbija

• Voice Coaching: Lidija Pajić

• Lighting Design: Radomir Stamenković

• Selection of Piano Pieces: Snježana Popović Vuleta

• Language Consultant: Nataša Kecman

• Stage Manager: Vesna Maksimović

• Prompter: Svjetlana Vranjković

Cast

• Miša Maričić: Branislav Aleksić*

• Ana Gutjar: Dana Poletan

• Paulina Gutjar: Miljka Brđanin

• Evica Maričić: Belinda Stijak / Božana Kukilo

• Nikolaj Ivanovič Tumanov: Bojan Kolopić

• Klara Vedel: Anđela Rakočević**

• Nikola: Senad Milanović

• Max: Anando Čenić

• Spalding: Boris Šavija

• Pianist: Snježana Popović Vuleta***

* Fourth-year Acting student at the Academy of Arts in Banja Luka, studying under Professor Radoslav Milenković and teaching associate Nikolina Friganović.

** Final-year Acting student at the Academy of Arts in Banja Luka, studying under Professor Željko Mitrović.

*** Snježana Popović Vuleta, MA, is a Full Professor at the Department of Piano and Accordion, Academy of Arts in Banja Luka.

Running time: 1 hour and 40 minutes.

Director's Note

When I was not quite twelve years old, towards the end of 1979, I saw a production of Švabica by the National Theatre in Sombor, adapted and directed by Miloš Lazin. The performance made such a profound impression on me that I can still remember certain scenes to this day. Working on this production is, for me, a kind of journey back into the past, a search for answers to questions I did not understand then and, it seems to me, have not fully understood even later in life, despite all its challenges.

Why are we so willing to burden ourselves with responsibilities and obligations imposed by certain social constructs (social status, career, patriotism…) and, for their sake, sacrifice our personal happiness, or even love?

There is no single, simple answer to this question. Our production is an attempt to encourage reflection on this issue.