Đekna
“Đekna Hasn’t Died Yet, and We Don’t Know When Will She”
by Miodrag Karadžić and Živko Nikolić
Podeli:
Mirko Radonjić
Aleksandar Anđelić
Lina Leković
Ilija Gajević
Mirko Radonjić
Assistant Director
Damjan Pejanović
Nina Martinović
Cast
Vule Marković
Pavle Novaković
Maša Labudović
Jelena Laban
Anja Misović
Jelica Vukčević
Production: Royal Theatre „Zetski dom“, Montenegro
Duration: 75 minuta
Photography: Duško Miljanić
Đekna by Miodrag Karadžić
Miodrag Karadžić established himself as Montenegro’s leading comic playwright with his very first comedies, which followed one another in rapid succession. His second play, Đekna Hasn’t Died Yet, and We Don’t Know When Will She, was written and premiered in the early 1980s. Towards the end of that decade, it was expanded into the screenplay for the television series directed by Živko Nikolić.
Živko Nikolić is not mentioned here merely because of the acclaim he earned through his films. The world of his plays and artistic vision are, in fact, closest to his own worldview and cinematic aesthetics. Karadžić draws dramatic power from language itself, using it to activate the mechanisms of tragedy, which – much like Nikolić does through cinematic language – he conceals beneath grotesque humor and verbal wit. Through his devastating humor, Karadžić dethrones the then – dominant “patriotic – epic” poetics of of the epic Montenegrin hero or challenged the clichés of humanity and bravery.
The thematic foundations of Karadžić’s dramatic universe rest on the “demythologisation of morality, love, death, and political identity” (Goran Bulajić), while the cinematic principles through which he structures his comedies make him an innovator within Montenegrin dramatic literature. Although, at first glance, the dialect – inflected language and highly localized humor of his grotesque comedies may appear untranslatable, the fact remains that Miodrag Karadžić is nevertheless one of the most widely translated Montenegrin playwrights.
Ljubomir Đurković
Foreword of the book After Hamlet – A Selection of Montenegrin Drama
(Dubrovnik – Kotor – Podgorica, 2011)
About the director
Mirko Radonjić was born in Podgorica in 1984. He graduated in Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts and in Theatre Directing from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Cetinje. As a theatre director, he has collaborated with theatres throughout Montenegro and the wider region, and is regarded as one of the leading figures of Montenegro’s independent theatre scene. His most notable productions include: The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann (“Prazan prostor” Drama Studio, Faculty of Dramatic Arts Cetinje, KotorArt); Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare (Sarajevo War Theatre – SARTR, BiH); Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov (Montenegrin National Theatre, Podgorica); Banović Strahinja by Starac Milija / Borislav Mihajlović Mihiz (National Theatre Subotica, Hungarian Drama Company, Serbia); Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (“Prazan prostor” Drama Studio, Royal Theatre “Zetski dom”, Cetinje); Dog Years by Günter Grass (Studio K Theater, Budapest, Hungary); The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne (National Theatre Subotica, Hungarian Drama Company, Serbia); Lagarije – Class About a Surrogate, based on motifs from Dušan Vukotić’s animated film Surrogate (Nikola Đurković Cultural Centre, Kotor Festival of Theatre for Children); Rooms by Ilija Đurović (“Prazan proctor” Drama Studio); The Son by Mirjana Medojević (Royal Theatre “Zetski dom”, Cetinje). His productions have been performed and received awards at theatre festivals in Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slovakia.
His productions have been performed and received awards at theatre festivals in Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slovakia.
