Bitef

THE NATIONAL THEATRE UŽICE

The National Theatre Uzice was founded as the Regional NationalTheatre by the decisión of Serbien Ministry of Education on August lOth, 1945. With the reconstruction of Partisan Square in the town centre, theTheatre moved into a new building that was a part of the new development of the new urban Identity of the town, The new building was opened in 1967, Until now, theTheatre has produced 495 different performances. Momentarily,The National Theatre Uzice is thè only professional theatre in thè southwestern Serbia and Its funding comes mainly from the Uzice Municipality. It is recognized as one the most respectable theatre organizations in thè country and it is among the most awarded ones in formet Yugoslavia. Uzice is a town of about 80.000 inhabitants, inciuding several thousands of high school and university students from southwestern Serbia, northern Montenegro and Bosnia. The development and strengthening of theatrlcal institutions would have great influence on awakening thè cultural spirit of both the town and the gravitating territory. It Is important to emphasize that during the last few years thè majority of public in the theatre are young people, They seek in the theatre a place that gives them cultural and spiritual asylum, not only a place to spencfpleasant evening. Our objective, through the new works and through thè ones in thè repertoire, is to give a spectator an opportunity to experlence theatre not only as a mere fun, but also as a way to expand its views, to enrich everyday life by reaching a higher level of understanding about themselves and the surrounding world and about their own identity. We hope that thè audience walk out of our theatre building with a desire to come back again. We think that theatre, in its unique way, can make an important contribution towards improving thequality of life of an individual as well of society. At least as far as it concerns young people, opening doors is our mission. The long-term objectives for our Organization are to widen the perspectives and to become a modern Theatre of European relevance. Under the influences of new young Art Director Nemanja Rankovic, the Theatre has began to invite international artists to work with the resident company and to develop projects through international collaborations.This has resulted into a renewing and refreshing ofthe theatrical language, brining a more interdisciplinary approach and introduction of new media and technologies, The Theatre has also began thè restoration of a space that will be transformed into a black box theatre, open to more experimental works, educational projects and a theatre for young generations. The National Theatre of Uzice is also working towards thè establishment of a Center For Contemporary Drama And Education, aimed at encouraging the development of creative and technical skills in thè performance arts.

SERBIAN HARLEQUIN IS LOOKED FOR

Goldonian ironie sharpness and biting sarcasm typical for Balkan culture, combined in a Contemporary reviewed reading, which emphasize attractiveness of a raw and sharp aesthetics, create explosive and dynamictotality, amusing and wild. Venice becomes a kind offree zone, a town at the borden Servant is not a victim of a class System, but a poorthing withoutjob or anything, trying to take advantage of every occasion.Trying to subject Goldonian text to our Contemporary needs, the element of double game emerged with inevitable power, transforming the story into a bitter and ironie metaphor not only of our recent history, but also of the present time, Double game does not concern only international spies, politicians, diplomáis and warmongers. Literature, film and history are full of such characters, anyhow, we all are the players of double games. We all serve more than one master. Not only servant Harlequin, which is named Boban in our adaptation and is a taxi driver, but all other characters behave ambiguously, following another objective as well, The conflict appears when a question turns up: should I follow my material and economic interests or should I follow what in my heart is? Goldoni's text Supports us with its structure of actions and features of its characters, but at the same time it ailow us freedom to go through it, transforming it and making it to become our Contemporary text. We follow it as a map, using, however, a geographic and temporal transposition, enabling usto count on actuality, bringing to thè stage topics and aesthetics, which make sense to us today.The game of contradictions is exactly what should be emphasized, pushing thè story towards thè ultimate consequences. A parable breaks out of it pungent and full of irony.The structure ofthe original text, relations between the characters and situations which gradually bring a sequence of absurd and amusing misunderstandings, with exchange of persons and roles, remain in the base ofthe play. Amusing because they are cruel, absurd, because they are catastrophic. The events which become an expression of a society full of contradictories.

Andrea Paciotto

Andrea Paciotto (direction and adaptation) is an Italian director, whose artistic path mostly developed abroad. Significant was the encounter with Ellen Stewart, the founder and Art Director of La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club from New York, where he was a resident director and with which he has been cooperating presently. Since 1999, he started working as a freelance artist cooperating with different organizations in Europe, USA and Mexico on the realization of ballet and theatrical performances, multimedia events, installations and operas. After studies in Italy, he completed Master studies at thè City University of New York. Then he conducted a research project on applying new technologies in thefield of live performance at thè DasArts University in Amsterdam. He realized series offilms and documentaries, different kind of cultural projects and developed educational programs. He conducted Seminars and courses, in Italy and abroad, about different aspects of theatre and audiovisual production. Since 2004, Andrea lives in Italy and manages the Organization OFFUCINA. Connection with Serbia started in 1996., when he participated at Bitef Festival in Beigrade in a play realized with the La MaMa group. From that first encounter, visits followed bringing to realization ofthe two previous productions.