Bitef

Yugoslav Drama Theatre j

BASH-LATTER DAY'S PLAYS

Neil Laßute BASH - latterday's plays

Directed by:

Iva Milosevic

Cast:

Nenad Pecinar (Boy), Tamara Krcunovic (Su), Gordan Kicic (John), Tamara Vuckovic (Woman)

Costume Designer:

Boris Caksiran

Set Design:

Gorcin Stojanovic

Music

Vladimir Pejkovic

Running time approx:

1h 55'

I believe that a few solid facts will contribute to a deserved recognition and acceptance of, at least in the domestic repertoire, a risky undertaking. In the beginning there was the Word, therefore let us start from the text. The anxiety I have experienced for several years at the very mention of Neil Laßute's name, the author of the drama Bash, has proved unjustified exactly owing to director Iva Milosevic. In this case, the memory of his misanthropic films In the Company of Men, Your Friends and Neighbours and somewhat more coherent Nurse Betty faded precisely because of the evident absence of the wish to enjoy, as it happens in the contemporary intellectual currents, the display of human suffering for its own sake, and also because of the present intention to accentuate the art of creating portraits of people similar to us, but encumbered with past conduct that - we hope - we never would allow ourselves. in this case, Laßute is exposed as an artist who stands apart from the majority of contemporary playwrights, in the same way in which his religion stands apart from the majority of mankind which is, as the facts tell us, mainly religious. The particular denomination of which Laßute is a member, called "The Church of Jesus Christ and Latterday Saints" better known as the Mormons, apart from determining up to a point the author's view of the world, served to draw a picture of a society with strict rules and a strict system of values. Through the three monologues delivered by four characters in three separate but complete miniatures, Laßute successfully conveys that heavy sins are not concepts from time-worn stories for the gullible, but that they can be committed by quite ordinary, perhaps even nice people, here, in the neighbourhood, and also that solid religious framework with an inclination to search for "good" cannot be any guarantee of safety against monstrous crimes. Neil Laßute's skill also lies in the convincing picturing of the ease with which his characters accept the committed and irrevocable deeds, which on this occasion I will not reveal. The important thing is that the impression of plausibility originates from the performance itself, which, in a world different from the playwright's (like the one we live in), succeeds in being recognizable without na?ve imitation of the Americans or poster-like allusion to the domestic situation. On the set designed by Gorcin Stojanovic and successfully suggesting the relaxed atmosphere of a cocktail party, Iva Milosevic successively brings Mr Nenad Pecinar, the leading actor of the National Theatre of Sombor, to face the audience. His presence on "Bojan Stupica"Stage is doubly justified: firstly, Pecinar is a very good actor, and secondly, the Belgrade audience will not be able to associate him as an actor with the parts he has played previously, otherwise it would encumber the degree and quality of the surprise caused by his character's story in Iphigenia in Orem. The second monologue. The Gaggle of Saints, is performed - in two voices - by Jelena Stupljanin (alternation;Tamara Krcunovic, ed. remark) and Gordan Kicic. But, here the situation is reversed. Both of these young actors are familiar to the audience and I believe it is for that reason, besides their professional qualities, that Miss Milosevic chose them. But, if the na?ve marrying girl by Miss Stupljanin is not an ultimate caricature, Mr Kicic, on the other hand, develops various aspects of his character to the end and perhaps beyond. Namely, within the limited time that he masterfully controls, Kicic, quickly but gradually, develops his character until the audience become aware that they know more about the character than the character himself. Still, the problem lies in the mutual need of the audience who simply searches for the potentialities of charm that the interpreter of a character may offer and of the actor who effectively meets the need. Finally, Medea Redux presents Mrs Tamara Vuckovic, after four years of absence from the stage and at her best. Her "heroine's" resignation mixed with a strange, frightening triumph seems to be, rightly, the culmination of the performance in the place where it belongs - at the very end, after which the impression remains that Neil Laßute has achieved his aim: to write