National Theatre of Subotica, premiere 11th October 2023 (Presented as part of Sterijino Pozorje Festival)
The performance hasn’t started yet, but we hear some voices echoing through the hall – descriptions of photographs of refugees (photographs by Jelena Vlahović). At the entrance to the theatre, the audience can take a bilingual (Serbian and Hungarian) transcript. People are still entering, chatting, drying off from the rain that fell that evening. How appropriate! People are going on about their lives, and like background noise, they may casually notice refugees, the ones forced to leave their homes.
The play Poor Mileva, an orphan from Bosnia in our civilization in 1878, co-produced by the National Theater in Subotica, Youth Theatre Subotica, and Rural Cultural Center Markovac, and directed by Anđelka Nikolić, is based on a text by Albina Podgradska (1858–1880) and features 41 actors. The text is the first printed preserved drama in Serbian signed by a woman. Her dramatic work was published in 1880 but had never been performed. Albina wrote the play in five languages – Serbian, Hungarian, Polish, Slovak, and Romani.
It is worth noting that the performance was preceded by a public reading of the play, a format that Nikolić fostered to present the text to a broader audience and test it for future staging. The performance involved collaboration between the Serbian and Hungarian language Drama departments at the National Theater in Subotica, which is a rare occurrence. Additionally, there was cooperation with girls from the Drama Club of the Children’s Theater Subotica, mentored by Uroš Mladenović, and amateur actors of Roma nationality. The story that highlights the importance of community was performed by the community itself. The director clearly has the ability to bring together people of different nationalities, acting experiences (amateurs and professionals), ages, and perspectives on theatre. They all work together to portray the 19th-century Vojvodina community, which bears many similarities to today’s society.
Poor Mileva, an orphan from Bosnia in our civilization in 1878. Photo: Igor Preradovic
The plot of the drama is quite simple. Mileva and her mother flee from Turkish oppression in Bosnia after her father and sister were killed. They arrive in present-day Serbia, specifically Vojvodina, a former part of the southern Austro-Hungarian state. At that time, Serbia symbolizes a land of opportunity and hope. Mileva and her mother struggle to make ends meet due to a lack of financial resources.
Throughout the play, they face various scenes depicting their encounters with poverty. It is clear that there is a lack of state support for the most vulnerable, so their only assistance comes from women. Initially, it’s Mileva’s classmates who organize to help them, convincing their mothers to have their dresses made exclusively by Mileva’s mother. Later, other mothers provide surplus food, and a neighbor brings customers to Mileva’s mother for dressmaking. The neighbor also helps them pawn earrings at the jeweler’s. The care that women show towards other women is almost archetypal, and for me, the most powerful image of this performance. Women have been caring for each other for centuries in these regions, helping even when the system ignored them, silenced them, denied their suffering, and exploited them because they lacked male protection. Women were there for each other. Gender transcends nationality, religion, and language for women. Even without understanding each other’s language or knowing each other, women know what it’s like to be a woman in a patriarchal world.
During the performance, various interruptions of the story occur with questions directed towards the audience that are relevant to the context of the play. For instance, after mentioning that Albina Podgradska requested the proceeds from the sale of her booklet to be used for a cross on her grave, the question is asked: to whom would you donate the proceeds from this performance? Following a religious education class attended by the girls, we are asked whether religious education should be a mandatory subject in schools. We are also asked whether we believe that money in the country is unevenly distributed between the capital and other cities in Serbia. In addition to voting by raising hands, we are invited to justify our answer and if anyone has changed their mind after hearing the arguments. Therefore, the director, apart from selecting a story that emphasizes the importance of community, creates a community not only from the selection of a large ensemble of individuals who do not normally collaborate but also from the audience.
The play features dialogue in all five languages that Albina wrote in, adding an exciting and engaging element to the viewing experience. This is especially important in Vojvodina, a multi-ethnic and multilingual environment, where having an authentic representation of this diversity on stage holds great value. The play naturally embodies multiculturalism and inclusivity, reflecting the region where the story takes place. In addition to language, the use of sound is enhanced by a choir positioned in the audience, delivering short vocal songs and using their bodies as instruments. The stage serves as a theatrical platform facing the audience, underlining the equal importance of actors and the audience in the theatre. This space can also be seen as a podium around which the audience gathers, allowing for a thoughtful analysis of society, the raising of questions, and the search for solutions.
Photo: Srđan Doroški.
Sanja Moravčić delivers a remarkable performance as the Mother, portraying her emotions with depth and subtlety. Without exaggeration in pathos, but very emotionally and gradually, she articulates the suffering, and helplessness felt by the refugees. I would especially like to commend the girls from the Drama Club from Youth Theatre. The two of them (Nika Vizin and Petra Mijailović) alternate in playing Mileva as a girl to show the passage of time, while the oldest Mileva (the excellent Dina Tomić Dedović) appears at the moment when the sexual harassment occurs. As Nikolić explained in the discussion after the performance, the decision to use a professional actress for this part, rather than exposing the younger girls to such a sensitive topic, was a thoughtful choice. The end of the play hints that restless days lie ahead for Mileva, prompting us to question the kind of civilization we live in.
Mileva was poor in our civilization, but other women and the community did not allow her to be alone. Albina Podgradska was invisible as a writer, but the director, through this performance, did not allow her to be forgotten.
Credits
Author: Albina Podgradska//Directed by: Anđelka Nikolić // Dramaturg and translation to Hungarian: Brestyánszki B. Rozi //Set Design: Anđelka Nikolić, Radivoje Dinulović // Costume design: Marko Marosiuk // Composer: Kucsera Géza // Stage movement: Isidora Stanišić
Cast: Nika Vizin, Petra Mijailović, Dedovity Tomity Dina, Sanja Moravčić, Suzana Vuković, Sofia Živanović, Kira Terteli, Elena Budimir, Kalina Bibin, Nevena Moravčić, Tara Vukmirica, Sofija Molnar, Teodora Marković, Lena Mijailović, Danka Savin, Miloš Stanković, Kristina Jakovljević, Erdélyi Hermina, Kovács Nemes Andor, Budinčević Krisztián, Ljubiša Ristović, Milan Vejnović, Dimitrije Dinić, Baráth Attila, Uroš Mladenović, Ralbovszki Csaba, Miroslav Fabri, Muhamet Bunjaku, Ambrus Richárd, Vesna Kljajić Ristović, Monja Medaković Vuksanović, Sabina Šećiri, Florensija Kajtaz, Elmedina Sulejmani, Igor Greksa, Miloš Macura, Magyar Zsófia, Vladimir Grbić, Csernik Árpád, Pámer Csilla, Srđan Sekulić
For more information, visit: suteater.org
Further reading: Anđelka Nikolić: “We need to give a chance to authors overlooked by history”
Divna Stojanov is a dramaturg and playwright. She writes mainly for children and young people.
