Rehearsals for the Play “The Humour Headquarters” Have Started

Rehearsals for the play “The Humour Headquarters” have started at the National Theatre in Belgrade. The play, written by Đorđe Kosić and directed by Olja Đorđević, is set to premiere on March 22 on the “Raša Plaović” Stage.  

Kosić’s new play is based on documentary material. “The Humour Headquarters” was the name of a theatre troupe that performed vaudevilles, sketches, humorous, and vocal acts for sheer audience entertainment before and during the occupation of Belgrade in World War II and as a result, its members stood trial in November 1944. Hard times create dilemmas for every human being, and the delicate actor’s soul raises even harder questions in such periods. 
  
The characters in this play are the actors of the National Theatre from that time: Aleksandar Cvetković, Jovan Tanić, Ljubinka Bobić, Žanka Stokić, Nikola Popović, and Mirko Milisavljević.  

The artistic team behind this theatrical work consists of dramaturge Jefimija Sekulović, costume designer Marija Marković Milojev, set designer Ljubica Popović /assistant set designer Jasna Saramandić, composer Irena Popović Dragović, choreographer Andreja Kulešević, lighting designer Nikola Zavišić, and Ljiljana Mrkić Popović, who will shape the stage speech. The cast members are Radovan Vujović as Aleksandar Cvetković, Miloš Đorđević as Jovan Tanić, Jovan Jovanović as Nikola Popović, Vanja Milačić as Žanka Stokić, Pavle Jerinić as Mirko Milisavljević, and Suzana Lukić as Ljubinka Bobić.

“In the intertwining of wartime and theatrical reality, the question arises - what is condemnable in circumstances where living is life-threatening, and who has the right to pass judgment at all? “The Humour Headquarters” is inspired by true events and real people, and in their case, the verdict was swift and without the right to defence and for some, it meant death. In our play, the figures who performed on the National Theatre stage in the mid-20th century reappear on it once more - this time, of course, as imagined dramatic characters, the products of the author’s fiction – each of them to defend their own position”, the author of the play, Đorđe Kosić, says.  

“Even today, we can debate about whether it was right to play in theatre during the occupation. Even today, the all-present rigidness and intolerance and a strong conviction in one’s own righteousness blind us to such level that we see no problem in easily turning against those who were close to us just yesterday. It is time that we rehabilitate Cvetković and Tanić, but it is also time for a complete rehabilitation of our collective consciousness”, Olja Đorđević says, who will have her directorial debut at the National Theatre in Belgrade.