Highly exciting and full of possible readingsVanishing (2024)
Contemporary drama about family, trauma and the abuse of power
Vanishing is a story about the relationship between parents and children, the
position of minors within the education system, the world of adults who neglect them and, above all, about child abuse. The play is set in the intellectual upper middle class of Croatian civil society, in which university professors, artists, scientific researchers, police – almost all representatives of the society – participate in the network of intimate relationships and legal offences implied in the abuse of children. The story follows two families in parallel, the family of the victim and the family of the abuser, thus building a dynamic dramatic plot, rich in strong characters and conflicts, unexpected turns and heightened emotions.
Tomislav Zajec is one of the most prominent contemporary Croatian playwrights and
dramatists whose plays have won multiple awards and have been performed in Croatia and abroad. Zajec is a professor at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb and an associate playwright at the Zagreb Youth Theatre. He is a six-time winner of the Marin Držić award for drama, as well as a two-time winner of the Marul award.
Vanishing will be the first time a work of this author is performed in Serbia. The
Croatian premiere of Vanishing took place recently, in January of this year, on the main stage of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.
Sanja Mitrović is a theatre director, author and performer from Brussels whose work is internationally recognised for its sensitive, sharp and compelling exploration of the social, political and cultural realities of our times. Her projects have been presented and awarded at numerous international theatres and festivals in Europe and America. She is the recipient of the prestigious BNG Nieuwe Theatermakers Prijs awarded by Theatre Instituut Nederland for her production Will You Ever Be Happy Again?, which she was also nominated for the Prix D’Jardin Europe. Mitrović teaches drama at the theatre directing department at the Royal Institute for Theatre, Cinema and Sound in Brussels.
Cast And Credits
CREDITS:
Text: Tomislav Zajec / Director: Sanja MItrović / Dramaturgy: Dimitrije Kokanov / Stage design: Jasmina Holbus / Costume design: Boris Čakširan / Composer: Marija Balubdžić / Executive producer: Boško Radonjić / Stage speech coach:
dr Dijana Marojević, Stage manager and promptress: Marina Vujević Light design: Igor Milenković, Sound design: Dragan Stevanović Bagzi, Make up: Dubravka Bušatlija, Photograper: Boško Đor, Art direction: Miloš Ilić, design and art direction: Tara Ilić, Company: TT9 / Production: Atelje 212
CAST:
Karlo – Svetozar Cvetković / Vera – Dubravka Mijatović / Tea – Natalija Stepanović /
Marko – Dejan Dedić / Ana – Jelena Ilić / Alisa – Milica Janevski / Grandmother & landlady – Branka Petrić / Policeman & guy from the screen – Đuro Brstina
Press
- The director thoughtfully selected theatrical means through which to preserve the peculiarity of the story and the mimicry which the characters skilfully enact by avoiding the truth.
Radar (in Serbian), 09.05.2024
- Sanja Mitrović’s directorial approach is quite atypical for theatre here, highly exciting and full of possible readings.
Vreme (in Serbian), 09.05.2024
- Vanishing brings us closer not as much to difficult political issues as to ourselves and our own responsibilities.
NIN (in Serbian), 08.05.2024
