Bitef

Richard’s freedom The quiet scenery of Palics has changed. The nature has shown its another face. This change seems to me more dangerous, than if it had always carried gloomy, dark symbols in itself. On one of the promenades of the park in Palics, Shakespeare’s play, »Richard III« is being performed. There is a long fire strip: it lights up the path of the blood, sufferings and crime. From time to time, a sharp spotlight lights up the way from the fragile constructions of the Globe theatre. There are telltale signs about the murder, the crime. After the light sings, Richard 111 appears. In large, heavy countours, in black cloak. The performance begins with the final parts of Shakespeare’s text. Richard 111 has gained power by bloody means, he has realized the conscious wickedness. Elisabeth, his mother has pressed her heavy charges, and from Richard’s answer in can be seen that Richard has no doubts about himself. The order of the proud Greek »get to know yourself«, Richard has carried out with horrible consistency. With each crime, he has been nearer to himself. We do not meet him now in his deeds, but in a state. Then we really find out his complex individuality. The Richard’s universe has been outlined, the great »theatron« which looks down threatening on the constructions of the Globe theatre. According to the rules of miracle - plays, the past, the once happened events can be played again. The performance repeats the events in parts. First, however, Aleksandar Cvjetković, as Richard 111, drags himself along the long way, silently. He does it sufferingly, making enormous physical efforts. The way of crime is not an easy one. Agnes Heller has spoken about Richard’s man-contempt, not denying, that he had some reasons for that. Richard was the most talented and courageous boy in the family, yet his brothers got the crown, and sold it at a loss. At last, the brothers concluded an alliance with those, who took part in the murder of the young brother. Still, Heller sees in his

figure, even after this, Richard, who scorns men, who is a cynical evil, a moral monster. The Subotica performance does not follow the traditional theread of the interpretation. In the performance directed by Ljubiša Ristič, not the scornful, demoncially evil hero’s portrait is important, but the weight of such life, its burden, suffering and fear from redemption. Namely, there is a mysterious feature in Shakespeare’s play: how is it possible, that the hero, who sees himself and his entourage so clearly, resignes to annihilation, defeat, why is he so desperately heading for disaster? Or perhaps the ways of redemption are more complicated and often lead through wickedness. This performance has developed from questions of more parts. Therefore Ljubiša Ristić wanted to speak not only about the horrors of mad fights for power, not only about the mental characteristic of wickedness, but he has discovered metaphysical and tragical hero in Richard. Such, who suffers through his life, who resignes to evil as a form of freedom. He has conquered this, when he has realized the evil, for the sake of evil. »To be free means to cease aim« wrote Albert Camus. The dramatical strength of the performance results from the presentation of the aimless hell of freedom. The order of today’s allusion can be recognized in it, we betray freedom so that we endow it with aimlessness, this way making it comfortable. Returning to Camus agin: »blood has become invisible«, »the most ignorant criminal is a refreshing besides our very intelligent executors«. Richard has a lot, still, he is the man of »odium fatti« because he does not wish a life of any kind for himself; the adventurer of crime will rather become »criminal in freedom« than »intelligent executor« without freedom. »There is no other Shakespeare play which evokes so much the Greek tragedies« wrote Friedrich Schiller to Goethe. So that the spirit of the Greek tragedies could be felt again, blood and fire had to be shown, the elemental ambiguities of man’s life, desire and freedom. We see Ristić’s dramaturgical/directing problems in giving as clear tragical light as possible to Shakespeare’s story. For the sake of this, he has turned the historical dimension of the plot structure of the drama towards myth. Thus, he has interpreted the dyachrony feature as a synchronical one. Therefore could the performance begin with the last lines of the text, when Richard 111 has practically conquered his freedom. The plot, the inner necessity of the motivations has slackened, the demonic has torn out itself from the logical connenctions, and every single part of Shakespeare’s text has served the concise expression of the tragedy of Richard’s »way«. Instead of the details, the carefully expressed explanations, the metaphor of the way has become conspicious. In this interpretation, as it has already been said, Richard cannot be only a political plotter, who, in the fight for the power, does what he wants. Neither can he be the incarnator of human wickedness. Nor the man whose character is made of one material, his demons are contradictory, and he has two souls as Faust. He suffers the wickendness of the world, he gets rid of it and develops it to