To date they have organized eight international festivals. Annually they produce on average 20 to 40 theatre, literature, art, and film contents, performances and other activities. They “revived” diverse town spaces and settings with performances and managed to create nucleus of theatre audience. Furthermore, they gave unemployed artists, artists without engagement, the opportunity to work unhindered and earn. The town itself, thanks to their vigorous work, was presented at large number of guest appearances and festivals in the region, and four awards from 2022 international festivals, which they brought to Kolašin, speak volumes about the significance of this group of people.
What is the independent theatre scene? If you type this question to a Google search engine in English, it will offer you a very interesting generic answer: “Independent theatre is the backbone of the acting industry.” The vast majority of great theatre actors started thus in order to advance their skills. It’s a great place to make bold decisions while you are on the stage…” Keep scrolling and you’ll immediately get a few more answers to the most common questions that Google users ask about this topic. Thus, from the omnipresent Wikipedia, you will learn that it is essentially focused on “performances that have more literary and artistic than commercial value”. Also, from first click you will learn that “the independent theatre movement in Europe had a primary formative influence on modern dramatic literature and theatrical modernism – small independent theatres are dedicated to liberating theatre and drama from the constraints of prevailing conventions, commercial aspirations or censorship”.
There is nothing to object to these statements, they are correct. One can only search further for professional literature in order to find, perhaps, more precise definitions, and more vivid descriptions. Their common characteristic is that they exist parallel with institutional theatre production, as a result of artists’ organizing or self-organizing with the aim of realizing their own artistic ideas and practices, which they fail (or do not want) to implement within the institutional system of culture. Initial reliance on one’s own strengths and capabilities is primary. The existence of a bulky theatre apparatus in the background, characteristic of institutional theatres – regular finances, salaries, ensemble, space, stage, theatre technique – is not a necessity. The play, along with the audience, will turn every space into a theatre. Financial independence is on one side production limiting, but on the other it enables freedom.
Well-known “freelance” director in Montenegro Zoran Rakočević agrees with this. He is a founder of NGO Korifej and Executive Director of the international alternative theatre festival of the same name established in Kolašin. He believes that independent production is extremely important because it is able to explore more, to experiment and to improvise. “It owes nothing to anyone and can continue to exist in the worse conditions from which it was created.” Independent production is important for a society and that cannot be understood here, in Montenegro. The same as music is important for a society. Imagine if our popular music was created only by, let’s say, the pop-department of the Music Centre or some music editors of the national television, without independent bands appearing with their authentic contributions, views, philosophies, directions… Or for example, if reports on the work of some state institutions were reviewed only by the State Audit Institution, and not MANS (Network for the Affirmation of the NGO Sector). Imagine that civil sector is not present in the public discourse…” Although he has been working on the affirmation – firstly amateur, and then independent, theatre production for more than a decade – when asked how much the independent scene in Montenegro has contributed to the improvement of cultural and artistic freedoms, the affirmation of free expression, social engagement, Rakočević answers: “Not at all. Even today, artistic freedoms depend on individuals from the political establishment or managers of institutions close to them. Last year, a play by the prominent director Zlatko Paković was banned in Montenegro. In the end, Korifej theatre embraced it because no one else wanted to. We believed for a moment that it was possible to fight for the freedom of artistic expression, but that is not the case. I can imagine that tomorrow, in 2023, someone will do the same thing and nothing will change. Only a few will fight. We are under the delusion that artists in Montenegro need artistic freedom, it turns out that they still need the gentle hand of the government, a regular salary and the applause of the elite. In Paković’s case, or rather in the case of Podgorica mayor Ivan Vuković, only a few colleagues stood by us. If similar censorship happened in another country, Serbia, Croatia or Bosnia and Herzegovina, for example, then they would stand up and react fiercely, Facebook would be full of reactions. There they don’t have a salary and the favour of the regime.” However, this does not mean that their work is meaningless. On the contrary! Their contribution to the local community, the maintenance of theatre life and cultural events is significant. The facts prove them right. To date they have organized eight international festivals. Annually they produce on average 20 to 40 theatre, literature, art, and film contents, performances and other activities. They “revived” diverse town spaces and settings with performances and managed to create nucleus of theatre audience. Furthermore, they gave unemployed artists, artists without engagement, the opportunity to work unhindered and earn. The town itself, thanks to their vigorous work, was presented at large number of guest appearances and festivals in the region, and four awards from 2022 international festivals, which they brought to Kolašin, speak volumes about the significance of this group of people.
Their idea – to rise up as a “theatre town” in a small environment – is still being shaped and developed. After a long struggle, fellow citizens are finally beginning to perceive them in that way, having in mind that they are also creating a domestic repertoire. They are still slightly misunderstood regarding this activity since they haven’t managed yet to obtain a separate budged line for professional theatre production. However, recently they have gained support and reached an agreement with the local self-government. Once a year, through Secretariat for Social Affairs under whose authority is culture, it will apply to the Ministry of Culture’s call for proposals on cultural and artistic creation (which recognises theatre production as one of the areas for support). This is important since Korifej as an NGO does not have the right to apply. In the past years funds were mostly obtained through that call, while local self-government financed an additional, smaller part. “And that’s significant,” Rakočević noted in an interview given to Portal Kombinat last year, “because when we founded the theatre, ten years before the festival, in 2004, they changed the locks on the buildings so that we could not access them even physically.”
What he sees as an additional significant contribution of Korifej Theatre is work with young people – they were showcased how a lot can be achieved in their community in a relatively short time. “I think that Korifej Theatre has opened new perspectives for some young people, it enabled them to open up personally and to understand that there are no limits.” Some of them took their first professional steps with us. Several close colleagues, although they were employed in theatre ensembles, after Korifej Theatre, continued their engagement in the independent scene, creating small-scale but significant projects. We had several plays which were shown in clubs, cafes, apartments, on rooftops, ambient spaces, and almost always one of those persons was involved in the events.”
Korifej Theatre is an NGO that was founded in Kolašin by a few drama artists, with the aim of establishing a continuous professional theatre production and realization of an international theatre festival. Most of them were previously gathered in the amateur theatre group KLAP from Kolašin, which as a group of young people without formal drama education, was very active and successful on the domestic and regional amateur drama scene. They functioned in a very similar formation at the amateur level for about a decade and a half, and during that time they participated at a large number of festivals in Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Romania and Macedonia, and won over 50 awards.
In the meantime, they decided to complete drama art studies, so they made up about 25% of the students at the Faculty of Drama Arts Cetinje (FDA Cetinje) during one academic year. They believe that they are the authentic brand of Kolašin. They are currently the only organization of this type in Northern Montenegro and there are only a few of them in the country. The audience had the opportunity to see their performances, with the hallmark of the theatre from Kolašin, at festivals in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Germany. So far they have significant production: “Guilt” (Krivica) based on the text of Nebojša Romčević, (collective creation); “The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband”, about the treatment of women as dispensable material and her traditionally understood role as a servile housewife, based on the text of Debbie Isitt (collective creation); “Letters” based on the text of Gilles Costaz (collective creation); “Encyclopaedia of the Dead” (Enciklopedija mrtvih) based on the work of Danilo Kiš, in co-production with FDA Cetinje (directed by Ferid Karajica); “Nastasya Filippovna” based on Dostoyevsky in co-production with FDA Cetinje (playwriting by Anđelija Rondović, directed by Ferid Karajica); “Silly Clowns” (Luckasti klovnovi) by Tode Nikoletić (collective creation); “Little Tesla – How to Invent Yourself” (Mali Tesla – kako izumiti sebe) in co-production with the Drama Studio “Empty Space” (Prazan prostor) from Podgorica and Cultural Informative Centre Zeta – Golubovci (playwright Ilija Gajević, director Petar Pejaković); “Iphigenia” based on Euripides’s script in a co-production with Centre for Culture Kolašin and Centre for Culture Bijelo Polje (directed and adapted by Zoran Rakočević); “Pier Paolo Pasolini Directs the Last Judgement” (Pjer Paolo Pazolini režira Strašni sud), written and directed by Zlatko Paković; “Sunset in the Maple Garden” (Suton u javorovom vrtu) based on the text of Montenegrin author Vasko Raičević (directed by Zoran Rakočević). Most of the plays had a significant number of performances, with “Iphigenia” (2021) being the most successful so far. Side by side with the biggest productions from the region, the play was performed at a significant number of festivals.
The international (initially regional) festival of alternative theatre “Korifej” started in 2014 and has been organized eight times so far. The first two editions presented exclusively amateur performances from the region, later also from Europe. Gradually the festival grew into a display of significant professional achievements, giving priority to the independent scene, student performances, and rare institutional productions. It is important to note that the budget of the festival is extremely small, although they managed to co-finance it with the funds of the Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Kolašin. In the budget for 2023, the municipality planned 17,500 euros for the festival. This includes funds that will be transferred from the Ministry of Culture and Media through budget line planned for the Development of culture in Northern Montenegro. It is expected that the Ministry will allocate 7 to 10 thousand euros and the municipality will provide the rest. Korifej emphasized the significant support of the local Tourist Organization, considering that so far theatre groups from various countries have performed at the festival: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia, Croatia, Kosovo, Slovenia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, France, Sweden, Spain, Bulgaria, Russia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Though, they have recently managed to secure financial support from public funds, i.e. from the state and local administration, they proudly emphasize that this did not in any way affect their mission and determination to be socially engaged through art and affirm free artistic expression. The successful guest plays, recognized in the region as essential theatre reading, showed at Korifej, make their confidence and belief in this determination justified. Thus, Kolašin audience had the opportunity to watch “Jami District ” (Jami district) a play by Bitef Theatre and Cultural Centre Tivat, directed by Kokan Mladenović, with several smaller co-producers from Serbia and Hungary. This theatre performance provokes all forms of political conformism in the region. Then they presented to the audience “Merlinka’s Confession” (Merlinkina ispovest) by Pulse Theatre from Lazarevac, directed by Stevan Bodroža, which talks about the first known transgender person in the region and which provokes fascist, chauvinist and neo-clerical structures. “Concrete Neighborhood” (Beton mahala) is a play created by Rifat Rifatović and Bane Trifunović with young people from Novi Pazar. It speaks about inter-religious and inter-ethnic hatred that exists in that town, but also in all environments in the region, and which actually corresponds to the structures of the authorities. After its first performance, the play was banned in Novi Pazar, but because of that, it resonated throughout the region. The aforementioned makes Korifej an important theatre festival on the international map. Looking back, the growth of this festival is evident.
Although the festival is not competitive and thus the criteria for the selection are widely set, the last year’s eighth edition of the festival also tackled with some of the current events. The slogan of the festival was “In the neighbourhood” (U kraju), with a clear association with Ukraine and support for that country which was militarily attacked by Russia. As stated by the festival Art Director, Zoran Rakočević, “whatever we think about various imperialisms, it is our duty to stand by the burning country, whose schools, hospitals, parks, apartment blocks, entire cities are disappearing”.
Last year’s edition of the festival, according to the organizers, was the most serious, the most organized, and with the most plentiful repertoire so far. The commitment to independent production is something that does not change, so a complete independent theatre production from the country, which generally lacks space, understanding and funds, was presented. In addition to the Korifej Theater, the Youth Theatre and the Drama Studio “Empty Space” (Prazan prostor) performed and presented two plays, “Atomic Flowers” (Atomsko cvijeće) and “Golf 4″. According to the organizers these plays were “guerrilla made, without any sign of production”, and were created by young actresses Jelena Đukić, Maja Stojanović, Anđelija Rondović, Marija Đurić and Maša Labudović.
What was also particularly characteristic of last year’s edition of the festival was the affirmation of non-specific settings for plays’ performances – yet specific for an independent production. In addition to the Culture Centre, the plays were performed on streets, town square, the old elementary school building… Certainly the most impressive opening of the festival was the graduation performance of the students of FDA Cetinje “Hassan-Aga’s Wife” (Hasanaginica) based on Ljubomir Simović’s text. It took place in Biogradska gora National Park. According to Rakočević, moving the theatre to our only rainforest was not at all accidental or unintentional.
We can already expect that the ninth Korifej Festival will be interesting, based on its theme and slogan – “No Censorship” (Bez cenzure). According to its Art Director, various theatre and other relevant projects will be viewed from that aspect, which in general can belong to different theatre genres and can be diverse. Mainly, as before, the program, which will prevail, will be composed of shows considered as community guerrilla.
“PIER PAOLO PASOLINI DIRECTS THE LAST JUDGEMENT” or “This is not what we agreed to”
Perhaps one of the most interesting “cultural events” in 2022 was the play “Pier Paolo Pasolini Directs the Last Judgment”, directed by Zlatko Paković, which was not actually performed. The Montenegrin public is more informed about this cultural event than any other that was realized on the stages of institutional theatres, which speaks for itself.
The Secretariat for Culture and Sports of the Capital City agreed with Paković to create a theatre play “which relates to the themes of misogyny, European intellectual left, chauvinism”. The Secretariat was a producer. Director Zlatko Pakovića and the Montenegrin cast prepared the play. Rehearsals went smoothly until the period before the premiere, when the play was suddenly cancelled by the producer (the Capital). In the official announcement of the Secretariat, which was sent to the authors, it was stated that the work on the play is suspended. According to their explanation, there were two reasons for that: the director did not fulfil the thematic obligations “determined by the contract” and the content of the text “is not considered adequate for the objectives and values promoted by the Client”. No other cultural institution in Montenegro offered them its space. Thanks to the NGO Korifej, which took over the “production” (and the NGO Empty Space, in whose premises the so-called “dress rehearsal” was held in the presence of about twenty spectators) the performance was broadcasted live on Korifej’s YouTube channel. Those who watched it could easily understand that the announcement of the Secretariat was an “ordinary performance”, and that Paković’s work was a subversive political work that was subject to an open censorship.
Paković, however, did not resist placing the topic in the current Montenegrin political context. Thus, the destructive role of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Porfirije, Metropolitan Joanikije, but also – which seems to be the most controversial – the current President of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović, is actualized in the play. The Patriarch and the President are the main characters who are subject to criticism. In the play, strongly resisting it, they are exposed to the “last judgment” about the acquired power and privileges by innocent victims and “those in transition”.
Biljana RADOVIĆ
The article is part of the project “Gaining Freedom – Cultural corrective from an individual to a collective action” supported through small-grants program. The program is part of the national project “Diagnosis and therapy on freedom of expression, hate speech and ethnic tensions” which is a joint initiative of Montenegro Media Institute, Center for Democracy and Human Rights and Portal UL Info aimed at strengthening and advocating for freedom of expression, combating hate speech and reducing ethnic tensions in Montenegro. The project is financed by the European Union through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) and co-financed by the Ministry of Public Administration of Montenegro. The content of this article is sole responsibility of the author and in no way reflects the views of the donors.