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William Shakespeare
JULIUS CAESAR
The Budva Theatre City, Centre for Culture Svilajnac and the National Theatre Sombor, Montenegro/Serbia

Adapted and directed by Kokan Mladenović
Costume Design: Tatjana Radišić
Set Design: Marija Kalabić
Composer: Irena Popović
Choreography: Andreja Kulešević

Cast: Sergej Trifunović, Saša Torlaković, Branislav Trifunović, Jelena Minić, Marko Marković, Irena Popović

Running time: 100 minutes


The tragedy Julius Caesar is one of the most significant plays in the history of dramatic literature, and its main motif – revolution and coup d'état, which, eventually, get compromised by their own impotence, thus stripping the phenomenon of genuine democracy of any sense – unfortunately, has not lost its relevance since this play was initially written to this day. Writing about the murder of Julius Caesar in the Roman Senate in 44BC, Shakespeare actually writes a sad story about the collapse of lofty revolutionary aspirations, which, in a collision with the personal interests, power hunger and greed of the revolutionaries, turns into their deviant opposite. The heroes of Ancient Rome become, fifteen centuries later, Shakespeare’s contemporaries, immersed in plots and conspiracies of the Elizabethan court, as well as contemporaries of our own historical moment where it is possible to observe the last decades of our contemporary history through a prism of characters and relationships from Julius Caesar.
Will we believe in revolution after seeing this play, or we will conclude that it is a mere swop of social elites? Will it become clear to us that it is the same people, be them in the abundant position of power or snug position of opposition, who have been governing our lives, over and over again, for the last twenty years or so, changing their places on the power ladder and going up and down, as if on a village merry-go-round. Will they again sell us their grand words, give passionate speeches and incite us to yet another revolution that ends up with the “struggle for high causes” turning into their personal gain? Can we stop believing in democracy if it laughs in our faces? Can we put up with the autocratic authority only because we know that one usurper will be superseded by another? Can we accept the societies we live in if we know they are founded on lies? Can we fight against lies if we no longer know what the truth is?
Kokan Mladenović

The building of the Theatre in Sombor hosted its first play ever on 25th November 1882. The edifice was built at the initiative of the Shareholders’ Association of the Sombor Theatre, formed in 1879, consisting of the people of Sombor. Ever since that time, the Theatre in Sombor has been continuously working. The standing professional theatre has been active since 1946, and in 1952 it became the National Theatre. 
Leading directors of their respective generations have made their plays in Sombor. The Theatre stage has seen the major national and international theatre classics, as well as new and avant-garde dramatic texts.  

In the last two decades, the National Theatre Sombor has been one of the most mobile in Serbia, having staged its productions in Hungary, Austria, Macedonia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Slovenia, Russia, Ukraine, Montenegro, Croatia, Canada and Romania. In the last couple of years, due to the number of awards, festival participation and positive reviews, the following plays have gained prominence: Black Comedy (directed by: Olja Djordjević), Paradox (directed by: Egon Savin), The Liar and the Arch-Liar (directed by: Gorčin Stojanović), The Wedding (directed by: Ana Djordjević), The Wizard (directed by: Boris Liješević), Mrs. Olga (directed by: Gorčin Stojanović), Dr Nušić (Kokan Mladenović), Heimathbuch (directed by: Gorčin Stojanović), Gogoland (directed by: András Urbán), among others.