The last premiere in 2024 is "Saint George Kills the Dragon" by Dušan Kovačević at the Yugoslav Drama Theater, a drama that director Milan Nešković says is "perhaps the most beautifully written melodrama in the Serbian language."
This theater year in Belgrade ends with the premiere of an important piece of our literature, the play "Saint George Kills the Dragon" by Dušan Kovačević, on Friday at the Yugoslav Drama Theater.
The director of the new installation is Milan Nešković. The adaptation of Kovačević's piece was written by the director Milan Nešković and Jelena Mijović, and the author of the lyrics is Julija Petković (Duda Buržujka).
Nešković did not move the story of a love triangle at the beginning of the First World War in a small town in Serbia to the present time, he only presents it from a contemporary point of view.
A love story
Nešković believes that it is "perhaps the most beautifully written melodrama in the Serbian language."
"It is a melodrama, a love story of George, Gavrilo and Katarina, to which the war gives context. In melodramatic plots between three characters there is usually one who is the villain. Here, at Kovačević's, we absolutely understand all three characters, we even justify their actions based on that understanding. It's fascinating to me. "Three people in conflict and suspense, that's what we focused on," Nešković told reporters before the premiere.
Academician Dušan Kovačević told the media that the play "is moving into the 21st century with new technology, a new reading and a new visual perception of that story", written 40 years ago.
"I watched the dress rehearsal. The play is approaching a generation that did not have the opportunity, and that will be 90 percent of the people in the hall, to watch those from 40 years ago," said Kovačević, recalling that at that time there were two premieres one after the other - at Atelier 212, directed by Ljubomir Muci Draškić and in the Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad under the direction of Egon Savin, and both of them strictly adhered to the time and setting of the classic story, dramaturgy and acting in a well-known the way of those years. 
"What my dear actor friends have done now is to approach this time. Unfortunately, it works to their advantage that we watch war every day. The story of the war is so current that the mixture of some almost punk and rock music with those terrible events of 1914 acts as a sublimation of our chaos and the life in which we live. You watch a live broadcast of death from Gaza or Ukraine on television, and after that fun music plays. That mix is unbearable, but one gets used to everything," said Kovačević.
A tragic ending that encourages
When asked about the end of the play, Nešković replied that "they remained faithful to the author and the first Allied victory in the First World War."
"The victory happened on Cer. However, they all perished. But the tragic ending does not mean that the story does not encourage us. It encourages you to question yourself and be, perhaps, more noble," said Nešković.
Gavrila is played by Milan Marić, Đorđe by Nikola Rakočević, Katarina by Jovana Belović, and Aleksej Bjelogrlić by Aleksey Bjelogrić.
The ensemble also includes Srđan Timarov and Zoran Cvijanović (teacher Mićun), who during their careers played several characters from "St. George" in different settings (Timarov even from the age of six when he was Vane the orphan, and now he is Doctor Konstanin Grk) . Also playing are Nebojša Ljubišić, Marko Janketić, Anđelika Simić, Aleksandar Đurica, Joakim Tasić, Ognjen Nikola Radulović, Teodor Vinčić, Miloš Samolov, Lazar Đukić, Luka Antonijević and Lazar Nikolic.
Set designer is Gorčin Stojanović, costume designer is Biljana Grgur, composer is Vladimir Pejković. The choreographer is Andreja Kulešević, who also designed the stage movement, and Dr. Dijana Marojević designed the stage speech.
"Saint George Kills the Dragon" is the third work of Dušan Kovačević in the repertoire of that theater, it was preceded by "Balkan Spy" and "Limunacija".
Source: SEEcult
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