Belgrade Drama Theatre has announced its programme for 2024, including work by Dimitrije Kokanov and Tijana Grumić.
In 2024, Belgrade Drama Theatre will present nine premieres on its main and small stages as well as two new shows on its summer stage, it was announced at a press conference at the theatre in December.
On 20th February, the theatre will premiere Gideon’s Knot, a two hander by US playwright Johnna Admas, directed by Jana Maričić and starring Mirjana Karanović and Jana Milosavljević. The play takes the form of a dialogue between a parent and a teacher following a young student’s death by suicide.
Ana Đorđević’s stage adaptation of Child’s Pose, the acclaimed film of writer Razvan Radulescu and director Calin Peter Necer will open on 2nd March.
Selma Spahić’s production of Tijana Grumić’s play The World Deserves the End of the World will open on 6th April in a major new co-production between BDP, ZKM in Zagreb “Borštnikova srečenia” festival will open as in Maribor, as part of the “Shadow Pandemic” project, supported by Creative Europe.
Later in May, Kokan Mladenović will direct playwright and dramaturg Dimitrije Kokanov’s play The Elephant Man, based on the book by British surgeon Sir Frederic Treves about the life of Joseph Merrick, which was also the basis of David Lynch’s 1980 film. A co-production with the Tivat Cultural Centre, it will premiere in Belgrade on 25th May.
On the small stage in June there will be an opportunity to see Slobodan Skerlić’s production based on Kramer vs Kramer, Avery Corman’s 1977 novel about the fallout from a bitter divorce, today best known as the basis for the movie starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep.
The autumn season opens with Charlotte Castelli, based on Miroslav Krleža’s play Gospoda Glembayjevi, adapted and directed by Branislav Mićunović and starring Isidora Simijonović in the title role. The premiere is scheduled for 28th September. A further production directed by Nikola Ljuca has been announced for October, with more details to be released later in the year.
In December, BITEF artistic director Nikita Milivojević will direct Charlie Chaplin – City Lights, in a co-production with National Theatre of Greece in Athens starring Greek actor Prokopis Agatokleus in the title role alongside members of the BDP ensemble.
During August, there will be two premieres on the summer stage: Rake by the young writer Sofija Dimitrijević, directed by Dajana Josipović and Birdcage by Nikola Stanišić, directed by Slobodan Stanković. There will also be a summer programme of film screenings.
For further information, visit: BDP.rs
Further reading: review of The Future at Belgrade Drama Theatre
Further reading: review of Yankee Rose at Belgrade Drama Theatre
Natasha Tripney is a writer, editor and critic based in London and Belgrade. She is the international editor for The Stage, the newspaper of the UK theatre industry. In 2011, she co-founded Exeunt, an online theatre magazine, which she edited until 2016. She is a contributor to the Guardian, Evening Standard, the BBC, Tortoise and Kosovo 2.0
