SPECTACULAR CONCERT BY URBAN & 4

PREMIERE OF OTHELLO

PREMIERE OF OTHELLO ANNOUNCED AT PRESS CONFERENCE

Today, a press conference was held on the Brijuni Islands to mark the premiere of the play “Othello” by W. Shakespeare, directed by Ukrainian director Oksana Dmitriieva. The premiere will take place on Saturday, July 22nd at the Minor Fortress on Mali Brijun.

All members of the creative team and the cast, as well as the director of Ulysses Theatre, Duško Ljuština, the director of SARTR, Maja Salkić, Lenka Udovički, and Rade Šerbedžija, spoke at the conference.

The play “Othello” is announced as one of the most terrifying yet tender Shakespearean tragedies.

Lenka Udovički, the artistic director and collaborator on the project, emphasised that the production was a collaboration between SARTR, the Sarajevo War Theatre, and Ukrainian artists. She highlighted that this season of Ulysses Theatre is dedicated to Ukrainian artists.

She added that the creative team includes other Ukrainian artists such as the set designer and costume designer Mykhaylo Nikolyev, composer Kateryna Palachova, and choreographer Inna Falkova.

“Ulysses Theatre opened its doors to the people of Ukraine during the Russian invasion, and last year, with the intention of providing a safe and peaceful haven, it organised two multi-day camps for Ukrainian artists, families, and children,” Udovički stated.

She added that the artistic activities and collaborations that emerged from those camps continued, and in that spirit, the theatre invited director Oksana Dmitriieva and the entire creative team of “Othello”.

According to her, the significance of the collaboration between Ulysses and Ukrainian artists with SARTR lies in the fact that the theatre was founded and has survived in times of war, fighting for justice, peace, and freedom.

“SARTR, as a theatre established during the siege, is a testimony to the phenomenon of spiritual resistance to aggression,” Udovički stated, emphasising the importance of exchanging experiences and the support that artists can provide to each other at this moment.

Director Oksana Dmitriieva emphasised that the focus of the play is on envy, jealousy, trust, betrayal, and most importantly, love.

“In this important theme, we will explore the context of a war veteran who returns home as a hero after having witnessed the darkest depths of the human soul. War brings the community, as well as the individual, to the realisation that there are only two categories – black and white, friend or foe, good or bad. The shades of grey disappear,” Dmitriieva stated.

Asserting that through its productions, Ulysses Theatre aims to always be a relevant actor, and the founder of the theatre, Rade Šerbedžija, expressed his satisfaction that, as he said, “all of this has taken on the meaning and form of the theatre he dreamed of, which is to become an international theatre.”

Opening of the 23rd Season

Announcing the 23rd Season of Ulysses Theatre

Announcing this year’s 23rd season of the Ulysses Theatre, Duško Ljuština said at today’s press conference that the central event is the premiere of Shakespeare’s “Othello”, in co-production with Sarajevo War Theater SART and Ukrainian artists. The season starts on July 14 with a concert by Darko Rundek, and ends on August 31 with a concert by Rade Šerbedžija and Zapadni kolodvor.

The premiere of “Othello”, directed by Oksana Dmitrieva, will take place on July 22 at the Minor Fortress on Mali Brijun, and the play will be performed seven times. From Sarajevo, where the rehearsals are ongoing, the Ukrainian director and actor Ermin Bravo, among others, joined via video link, who said that “Othello” is a play made jointly by artists from three countries that were affected by the war that is still going on in Ukraine. “So our “Othello” is more than a theatre play,” said the famous Sarajevo actor who is preparing the title role, while Oksana Dmitrieva thanked for the hospitality and expressed gratitude that the Ukrainian creative team is working on the play.

The artistic director of Ulysses, Lenka Udovički, announced that many of the theatre’s previous successful plays will be performed this season, such as “King Lear”, “Rhinocerous”, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”, with Rade Šerbedžija playing King Lear again this year. “I’ve been playing that role since the beginning of Ulysses, and I’m especially looking forward to playing it this year as well,” said Šerbedžija, and the actor Bojan Dimitrijević, who will appear in “King Lear” in addition to his role in “Rhinoceros”, joined via video from Belgrade.

This summer, many prominent musicians will perform on Brijuni: Darko Rundek, Damir Urban, Vlatko Stefanovski with guest Dado Topić, Vlado Kreslin, Pips, Chips & Videoclips, and the regional union of theatre RUTA will be held, with the participation of theatres from the region.

Press Conference for the start of rehearsals of Othello

Today, a press conference was held at the Sarajevo War Theatre for the start of work on the play “Othello”, a co-production project of the Sarajevo War Theatre and the Ulysess Theatre. The play “Othello” by William Shakespeare will be directed by Oksana Dmitriieva, and the creative team includes Ukrainian authors, scenographer and costume designer Mykhayl Nikolyev, composer Kateryna Palachova and choreographer Inna Falkova.
Dramaturge of the play is Nejra Babić, and collaborators on the project are Rade Šerbedžija and Lenka Udovički.
The play features members of the Sarajevo War Theatre SARTR: Alban Ukaj, Snežana Bogićević, Jasenko Pašić, Maja Salkić, Davor Sabo, Adnan Kreso, three guest actors Ermin Bravo, Mehmed Porča and Mak Čengić, as well as Croatian actress Ana Marija Brđanović.

Today’s press conference was given by the director of the play Oksana Dmitriieva, Rade Šerbedžija and Lenka Udovički as co-producers, dramaturg Nejra Babić and the acting ensemble of the play.
Maja Salkić, the director of the Sarajevo War Theatre, addressed those present at the press conference, expressing her great satisfaction with the fact that SARTR provided shelter to Ukrainian artists with this project, and that this project is therefore bigger than the play itself. She also expressed satisfaction that for the first time a play based on the text of the great William Shakespeare is being performed, expressing her great gratitude to Rade Šerbedžija and Lenka Udovički, who with their experience are a great support for the project and who came forward with the idea of cooperation with Ukrainian artists only a few days after that she herself tried to find contacts of Ukrainian artists for cooperation. She emphasised that the SARTR ensemble already had the opportunity to meet the creative team from Ukraine led by director Oksana Dmitriieva in February, when the workshops were held.

Lenka Udovički pointed out that this is already the third co-production of Ulysess Theatre with a theatre from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the first with SARTR, which was a logical choice as a theatre that was created during the war. She pointed out that the Ulysess Theatre was also created as an artistic response to the war events 30 years ago, and that they, last year when the invasion of Ukraine began, started making contacts with artists from Ukraine, and that’s how they got to know Oksana, and that’s how the collaboration began and finally the beginning of the realisation of the play “Othello”.

The director Oksana Dmitriieva expressed great gratitude for being a guest in Sarajevo, gratitude for showing interest in what is currently happening in Ukraine, gratitude for the warmth and friendly hand in the moments when she was lost and when she had to learn how to live and work in wartime. She expressed her great satisfaction that this project brings together a large team from several countries and hopes that it will achieve success and push the boundaries.

Rade Šerbedžija described this project with a quote “When something has to happen, it happens at the behest of time.” He pointed out that we live in difficult times, in a terrible vortex, and that it is of crucial importance when war trumpets are the only music we hear, that the artistic trumpets should be even louder. He emphasised that this project is so accurate and correct, through which experiences are exchanged, and that it represents the urgent order of time and a tribute to the theatre where it takes place.

Actor Ermin Bravo pointed out that, like most artists in Sarajevo, he felt the need and responsibility to show the people of Ukraine that they are not alone, because the people of Sarajevo remember how important it was to them during the war. He pointed out that this project is bigger than the play itself, especially because “Othello” is a piece that talks about warriors returning from war and how they manage in peacetime conditions. Considering that Ukraine is currently at war, and our experience of war has already passed, the story of this piece is somewhere in between.

Rehearsals on the SARTR stage will last until July 8. then the process of creation continues in Brijuni from 8.7. until 21.7.2023. when is the planned premiere and 7 shows in the Minor Fortress on Mali Brijun. The premiere on the stage of the Sarajevo War Theatre is planned for the fall of 2023. The performance “Othello” will be in the regular repertoire of SARTR from September 2023.

Rehearsals for Othello start

The upcoming 23rd season of the Ulysses Theatre is dedicated to Ukrainian artists, and the premiere title in co-production with Sarajevo War Theatre SARTR will be Shakespeare’s play Othello, directed by Ukrainian director Oksana Dmitriieva. The creative team includes Ukrainian creatives, scenographer and costume designer Mykhayl Nikolyev, composer Kateryna Palachova and choreographer Inna Falkova. The title role is played by Ermin Bravo, an actor who joined the Ulysses ensemble a few seasons ago in the role of Haemon in the play Antigone – 2000 years later.

The importance of the collaboration of Ulysses and Ukrainian artists with the Sarajevo War Theatre SARTR is reflected in the fact that this theatre was created and survived in wartime conditions, fighting for justice, peace and freedom. SARTR, as a theatre founded during the period of siege, is testimony to the phenomenon of spiritual resistance to aggression. SARTR not only preserves the memory of that period, but even today strives to strongly affirm universal values: the richness of diversity, the sanctity of peace, activism, internationalisation, compassion for all those who suffer injustices around the world.

At the end of February, the first activities of the project were held, where the author’s team together with the producers from Ulysses visited Sarajevo and the SARTR theatre. Workshops were held with the actors, scenography and costumes were discussed as having an important role in the play, and puppetry elements from the Ukrainian theatre tradition will be used.

Rehearsals have just started in Sarajevo, and at the beginning of July the project team will move to Brijuni, where final preparations will begin for the premiere, which will take place on July 22, followed by 5 more shows (see schedule at www.ulysses.hr).

Photos from the rehearsal
Photo author: Dženat Dreković