The Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad and the National Theatre in Belgrade have announced a programme to honour the memory of the director Igor Vuk Torbica
Theatres in Serbia have announced plans to celebrate the work of the director Igor Vuk Torbica. The Serbian National Theater in Novi Sad announced that it would be staging a series of his productions to honour the talented young director who died in 2020 in a programme entitled Igorovih dana (Igor’s Days). The National Theatre in Belgrade duly announced that it would also join in this tribute.
From 24th-28th January, the SNP will give audience the opportunity to see a number of Torbica’s productions, starting with the National Theatre of Belgrade’s production of Tolstoy’s Kingdom of Darkness. The theatre will also present Torbica’s productions of Lorca’s Blood Wedding, a co-production between the SNP and Budva City Theater; the National Theatre production of Don Juan; Tosa Jovanovic from Zrenjanin, of the National Theater of Bitola production of Euripides’ The Bacchae (Bakhe), as well his production of Moliere’s Tartuffe for the SNP and the National Theater of Sombor, a perceptive reframing of the play as a critique of authoritarian regimes starring Saša Torlaković and Hana Selimović. It was presented at the 2019 edition of the BITEF festival where it won the audience award
In Belgrade, audiences will be able to watch a series of Torbica’s plays starting on 26th January with Blood Wedding, with Bakhe, Taruffe and Don Juan following on 28th, 29th and 30th January.
Born in 1987, Torbica studied directing at the Faculty of Drama Arts in Belgrade, His exam performance, The Deceased by Branislav Nušić was named the best performance at Nušićevi Dani festival in Smederevo and entered the repertory of the Yugoslav Drama Theatre.
He won numerous awards across the region. In 2016, he received the Ardalion Award at the Yugoslav Theatre Festival for the best director for the play Hinkemann, which was also named the best play of the festival. Hinkemann also won at the Gavella Evening Festival and won the Croatian Theater Award for best play.
He is generally regarded as one of the most talented directors of his generations in Serbia and he leaves a rich body of work behind.
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
