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White City, 21°C

Sonja Ciric

He has been working for "Vreme" since the sixth issue. She was the editor of the culture section twice, and in recent years she has been editing Mozaik. She was a permanent contributor to magazines such as "Status", "Prestupa" and "Scene" and the weekly magazines "Zabavnik" and "Bazar". She published nine novels and received four important awards for "I will not think of Prague".

Latest news

National Theatre

A year of Bokan at the National Theatre: The decline of production and reputation, damage, lawlessness

Applause and joy, which are an integral part of the two premieres played at the end of the season, are not suitable for the atmosphere and situation in which the National Theater finds itself after a year with Dragoslav Bokan and his associates from the Management

Termination

The Shakespeare Festival is no longer welcome in the Province

The Shakespeare Festival, a unique festival in the country that has existed for 13 years, cannot take place in Vila Stanković this July, the Provincial Government announced. Reason: planned works. Sounds familiar

University at the crossroads

Academic community: Every country would be proud of Belgrade University

Blocking the intersection in front of the Government of Serbia, the participants of the "University at the Crossroads" protest said that they would not give up defending the autonomy of the University

Ministry of Culture

How money from the "Cities in Focus" program is spent

There is no publicly available analysis by the Ministry of Culture on what has been done and what is still being done with the 2,38 billion invested in the Cities in Focus program

European Union

European Commission: Albania will jeopardize EU accession if it opts for Kushner

The project of Donald Trump's son-in-law on the island of Sazan could threaten Albania in the accession negotiations for EU membership, warns the European Commission

Beograd

Demolition of Staklenac, Bajlonije pijaca, changing the panorama of Belgrade

City manager Miroslav Čučković announced the demolition of the Staklenac Shopping Center, Bajlonije market, buildings around Pančevac, the arrival of the mole...

The state and the film

Balkan festival of film direction with the help of friends, without a country

The festival, which will show 21 films this year and at which the independent Balkan Film Fund will be initiated, is being held without dinars of state aid.

Sale of NIS

MOL received approval to negotiate NIS until June 16

Hungarian MOL received OFAK's approval for further negotiations on the purchase of the Russian majority stake in NIS

Expo 2027

Expo in Belgrade already has more participants than the one in Astana

Belgrade already has 130 registered participants for Expo 2027, and Astana in Kazakhstan had 117, said Igor Kovačević in Washington, where it was pointed out that the Expo is an opportunity to expand cooperation between the USA and Serbia

Initiative

"European Cities" campaign: This is how European Union cities look and live

The Free Citizens Movement undertook the "European Cities" campaign in order to present to citizens the benefits of Serbia's membership in the European Union.

October salon

Jelena Medaković and Vuk Vidor: It is not true that the October Salon does not have a curator

The allegations of the KCB Program Department that the October Salon is in danger are incorrect, according to Jelena Medaković, secretary for culture of the city and member of the Board of the October Salon, and its president Vuk Veličković Vidor

Ministry of Culture

Anyone who wants to make films and exhibit should contact the Expo

The Ministry of Culture announced 27 competitions this year. The priority of the competition for film art is not film, only festivals and film events. But that's why anyone who wants to film should contact Expo. The same applies to fine artists and their exhibition ambitions

Sterijino posorje

Director of the Sterija Theater: The police were in the theater building during a routine inspection

The police entered the Serbian National Theater as part of a routine control, says Miroslav Radonjić, director of the Sterija Theater, and not to influence the jury.

Security

Is the Upper Town of the Belgrade Fortress safe only if it is empty?

JP "Belgrade Fortress" closed four entrances to Upper Town. Does that mean it's not safe there even with cameras and physical security?

Book Festival

Belgrade Festival of European Literature: Conversations in a time when they are not

Three panels dedicated to important issues of literature and culture at the 15th Belgrade Festival of European Literature, at a time when conversations about culture are rare

Reward

Architectural Event 2025: Josifovski's "Amphitheater of Culture" as a public articulation of rebellion

According to the jury of the Society of Architects of Belgrade, the "Amphitheater of Culture" by Andrej Josifovski Pianista is an architectural event in 2025 because it goes beyond the framework of an art installation and becomes a critical commentary on the state of culture and cultural policy in the city

New Pazar

Mikser Festival in Novi Pazar: The Sound of the "New World"

The jubilee 15th Mikser festival will be held in Novi Pazar, the city of youth. Partibjekersi, Vroom, Marcelo, Amira Medunjanin and the like take part, and there are also theater performances on the program.

October salon

The October Salon is in danger, the city government is responsible

Four months before the start of the 61st October Salon, the preparations for this largest art manifestation in the country did not begin, and the budget was reduced four times

Banner case

The SNS banner was removed from the Palace of Albania

A banner with the message of the SNS was removed from the facade of the Palace of Albania, which threatened the lives of a hundred birds of the protected species of the white cheetah.

Exspo

Competition for Expo culture programs: The prizes are not small, and everyone is invited

The entire cultural scene was invited to the contest for cultural projects for the Expo, and premiums from half to eight million dinars were offered.

Banner case

Vučić: We sent alpinists to save the čiopes, because we love animals

The banner from the Palace of Albania will be taken down at 19 p.m., confirmed President Vučić, it will be taken down by alpinists, and he said that all this is an attempt to dehumanize him and others who work responsibly

Interview

Jovana Karaulić: It is our duty to publicly name what is happening

Why do opposition parties and others persistently point out to the government that it is not working according to the law and as it should, if the government ignores them? Jovana Karaulić from the DS says that silence would mean agreeing to the normalization of the collapse of institutions

Sabac

Clash at the Šabac Theater: Why the season ended prematurely

According to the director's decision, the season of the Šabac Theater ended a month earlier, allegedly due to the reconstruction of the buffet and foyer. Most actors believe that this is not the right reason

Beograd

What did the Belgrade Gallery Days do, and the museums didn't

What the museums did not do on the occasion of the European Night of Museums, 18 galleries did: they united on the occasion of the three-day Belgrade Gallery Days event.

Festival

Festival of solo games: The body as personal expression, communication, research

The 6th "Festival of solos" begins, a new exploration of the possibilities of the solo form, opens the questions of personal expression of the individual on stage

Travel performance

"Hammam Internationala": In search of a forgotten community

A performative travelogue created by researching the remains of Turkish hammams in the region - "Hammam Internationala - under the domes" is a search for a forgotten community

Charity event

ULUS: We have already collected more money than the City gives us

Even before the start of the charity campaign launched to help unpaid employees, the Association of Fine Artists of Serbia collected more money than they receive from the City of Belgrade.

', title: 'A year of Bokan at the National Theatre: Declining production and reputation, damage, lawlessness', pubdate: '2026-06-12 21:13:12', authors: authors, sections: "Kulture", tags: "dragoslav bokan, National Theatre, Nikola Selaković", access_level: access_level, article_type: "news", reader_type: reader_type }; (function (d, s) { var sf = d.createElement(s); sf.type = 'text/javascript'; sf.async = true; sf.src = (('https:' == d.location.protocol) ? 'https://d7d3cf2e81d293050033-3dfc0615b0fd7b49143049256703bfce.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com' : 'http://t.contentinsights.com') + '/stf.js'; var t = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(sf, t); })(document, 'script'); dataLayer.push({ 'event': 'Pageview', 'pagePath': url, 'pageTitle': 'A year of Bokan at the National Theatre: The decline of production and reputation, damage, lawlessness', 'pageContent': 'On Thursday, June 11 on the Big Stage National Theatre ballet premiered in Belgrade Zorba the Greek to the music of Mikis Theodorakis, choreographed and directed by Konstantin Kostyukov. For Sunday, June 14, the premiere is also announced by the Drama of the National Theater. It will be a show God's people directed by Jug Radivojević based on the prose of Borislav Stanković. These two premieres will mark the end of the 2025/26 season at the National Theatre, and at the same time the end of the year in which he heads the Board of Directors Dragoslav Bokan. However, the applause and joy that are an integral part of the premiere are not suitable for the atmosphere and situation in which the National Theater is located, thanks to Dragoslav Bokan and his colleagues from the National Theater Administration. Prime Minister First, about the premieres in this season in all three ensembles of the National Theatre. God's people are the second drama production of the National Theater this season. Many would say that there were not two of them, but only one and a half, because the previous one, Mrs. Olga, was actually a co-production with the National Theater of the Republic of Srpska from Banja Luka, which was agreed upon during the previous administration, and which was only realized during Bokan's time. U To God's people starring six actors. In To Mrs. Olga three actors are from Narodni, while the rest are part of the team from the Banja Luka Theater, with two of them acting in both plays. This means that this season only seven actors from the entire Drama ensemble have been hired in new plays. There are 66 of them on the website of the National Theater in the Drama ensemble. Zorba the Greek is the second ballet premiere, the previous one was Don Quixote to the music of Ludwig Minkus, choreographed by guest Jose Carlos Martinez, director of the Paris Opera Ballet. And this play is an acquisition from the time of the previous administration. The opera had one premiere - Eugene Onegin Tchaikovsky directed by Mario Pavlo del Monaco, as well as three renewals of old plays that have not been in the repertoire for a long time. What is there little of and what is there a lot of? In short: since Dragoslav Bokan has been at the National Theatre, Drama, Opera and Ballet have only had five premieres. During that time, however, there were many, many things that were illegal and unworthy: the two-month closing of the building, unrealized but planned performances, dismissals, the banning of collective members from entering the building, fines, mobbing, illegal rules, material damage, lost reputation, strikes, protests, criminal charges to the Prosecutor's Office for organized crime, requests to replace the minister, the Administration, Bokan... On the good/bad scale, this bad is incomparably heavier than those five prime ministers. And all of this would not have happened if the Ministry of Culture had not proposed to the Government of Serbia to elect Dragoslav Bokan as the President of the Board of Directors. Requests for replacement A few days after Bokan was elected, the employees of the National Theater, mainly the artistic part of the collective, publicly said at a press conference that they would not accept him. That the National Theater will not be led by a crime-ridden personality, the commander of the White Eagles in the Wars of the Nineties, an outspoken right-winger, and that they demand his removal. [caption id="attachment_4999935" align="aligncenter" width="1897"]

Media conference of the employees of the National Theatre[/caption] The Singlus Actors' Union, the Ballet Dancers' Union, and the Music Artists' Union of the National Theater asked the Ministry of Culture and the Government of Serbia to reconsider their decision. When people selected by the Ministry of Culture and Bokan were appointed to the management positions of the Theater, the employees extended the request for Bokan's dismissal to the Theater Management and to the Minister of Culture, Nikola Selaković. This became the main demand of their warning strikes, of which there have been a dozen since last June, as well as their protests. Unfortunately, they are still current. On March 6, the Union of Actors of the National Theater Singlus submitted criminal complaint to the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime against Minister Nikola Selaković, Dragoslav Bokan and Acting Director of the National Theater Dragoljub Bajić, accusing them of harming the collective, abuse of official position, which primarily refers to the decision of the Ministry of Culture and the Theater Management to close the building for two months on October 3, even though they did not have a decision from the MUP, and for the collapse of the material condition and reputation of the house. In the history of the National Theater, it is not known that any other criminal charges were filed against the head of the theater apart from this one. This April, the actors are public invited Prime Minister Matsut to engage in the resolution of their requests. Of course, none of the mentioned responded to them. Closing the building Two days after the start of the season, and a few hours before the beginning of the warning strike of the acting union "Singlus" of the National Theater in Belgrade on October 3 due to the Rulebook prohibiting the expression of political opinion from the stage, the building of the National Theater was closed at the request of Minister Selaković and acting manager Bajić. It was said that it was fire-safe, although there was no decision by the MUP to close the building. The minister said that money must be found immediately for people's safety. How much money was set aside, what was done, and whether the building is now safe, has never been known. The building was closed for two months. Because of this, the premiere date of the ballet has been moved Don Quixote, and the performance of the ballet was cancelled A bagel in which world star Sergei Polunin was supposed to be a guest. Unrealized plans Two plays that were planned in Drama were not realized. They are Romeo and Juliet directed by the Bulgarian director Javor Gardev, i The Second Book of Migrations directed by Boris Liješević and dramatized by Fedor Šili. According to the knowledge of the employees, the guest from Bulgaria postponed cooperation with the National Theater until 2027 in the hope that he would then be able to work with another Administration, and the official explanation that "Vreme" received at the time referred to the postponement of the premiere of the ballet Don Quixote which caused the postponement of the drama premiere. However, everything would have been fine if Minister Selaković and Dragoslav Bokan had not closed the building. The decision not to work The second book of Migrations, Boris Liješević and Fedor Šili explained to our portal as follows: "This period will be remembered as a great crisis of the National Theater, and the perpetrators of that crisis as a national shame. The National Theater has produced fantastic results in previous years. Excellent young actresses and actors were accepted, exceptional performances took place, and extraordinary successes were achieved. The Second Book of Migrations it was meant as a continuation and crown of that period. And now everything was destroyed overnight. Unfortunately, it is not an atmosphere in which work is possible. The administration that insults and belittles the actors and the previous administration is not the address to communicate with." Material damage There is no official information on what kind of financial damage the National Theater suffered because it was closed, but it would be easy to calculate the sum of the unsold tickets during those two months, the fee paid to Sergei Polunin, then the fee to Jose Martinez the choreographer Don Quixote, the cost of moving performances to other stages in order to maintain the appearance that the National Theater is working, and so on. It is believed that the sum would not be less than 20 million dinars. It was an extremely expensive attempt to achieve what the Discipline Ordinance, punishments and threats had failed to achieve. [caption id="attachment_4999936" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]

Darko Tomović[/caption] Actor Darko Tomović, president of the Singlus trade union, he told "Vreme" that "it's just a material loss. And what about the reputation of the house? People don't know if someone will close the building again tomorrow, and there is also the rumor that our warning strikes are actually a work stoppage, which is not true. We are not stopping work, but quite the opposite: we demand to work. We demanded to work for those two months. It is extremely important for us that people know that warning strikes do not mean the cancellation of the show." Pressures, cancellations Since Dragoslav Bokan has been running the National Theater, there have been countless of them, and he himself said on regime television that if necessary, he would change the entire Drama ensemble, but he would establish peace. [caption id="attachment_4999939" align="aligncenter" width="750"]

Protest in front of the building of the National Theater [/caption] One of his first moves in that direction was the Rulebook on work discipline, which he expanded with a point according to which anyone who "in performing the work of the Theater, publicly, verbally, with symbols and gestures, expresses his political or other commitment that is not related to the performance of the Theater's work, then calls for activities that have a political character or are not related to the performance of the Theater's work, or points out symbols or features whose emphasis is prohibited by law." Of course it didn't help. Just as the subsequent provisions according to which the security may not allow anyone to express a political position on the stage did not help either. Direct threats to individuals are most pronounced in the management of the Opera - they are also not. The Singlus union submitted a request to the Constitutional Court to review the constitutionality of the aforementioned Rulebook. Zoran Stefanović, the newly elected artistic director of Drama, sent a public letter to Darko Tomović and informed him that "the use of the stage of the National Theater in Belgrade for propaganda or anything else that is not an integral and approved part of the performance as a work of art will not be tolerated." A new systematization was made, according to which some jobs were abolished, and some were open but not artistic. Although there are 11 vacancies for actors in Drama, they are not filled with multi-year lump sums. Among them is Vanja Milačić, who has been on a flat-rate contract for 16 years. The young actor was invited to an interview with Zoran Stefanović. He said that he felt like he was in front of an investigative body and that the conversation lasted 2,5 hours. Opera's debutante, dramatic mezzo-soprano Sanja Anastasia told the media about the problems she faces at work and was fired. Everyone in the theater is saying that Ljubica Vraneš, the artistic director of the Opera, actually had personal reasons to remove her colleague from the ensemble. The list of what happened at the National Theater during "Bokan's year", as they call the past season in the jargon, is endless. All shame to shame. But, of course, everything is in vain. Real journalism costs money, and we will not be bought by tycoons and corporations. Support us with a one-time or monthly donation. The time for it is now! ', 'pageDate': '2026-06-12 21:13:12', 'pageAuthor': authors, 'visitorType': visitor_type, }); console.log(post_id); console.log('Pushed'); });