Welcome to the World of Theater Illusions
Two Saturdays a month the National Theater in Belgrade, like many of its counterparts in Europe and the rest of the world, opens its doors to anyone interested in taking a look behind the stage, thus revealing the secret of theater illusions.
By Ivana Kladarin Panić
Photo by Milan Melka
Like every other story, this one takes us back to the past, to the beginning, when there was the word, to be joined a little later by song and dance and, of course, musical accompaniment.
The National Theater in Belgrade was made after the European model of like institutions created at the time of the forming of nation states in the 18th and 19th centuries. This theater, modeled after the example established by enlightened European rulers, was conceived after the idea of Prince Mihailo Obrenović who invited Jovan Djordjević, the Director of the Serb National Theater in Novi Sad, to come to Belgrade and create a national theater house.
When the decision was made in 1868 to found the Theater, the best know architect of that time, Aleksandar Bugarski, made the design inspired by the Milan Scala. The theater house was built in record time and by 1869 the first play was already staged, namely "Posthumous Glory of Prince Mihailo".
Initially, plays by national authors were staged, such as those by Jovan Sterija Popović, Kosta Trifković, and Laza Kostić but soon the repertoire was broadened to include theater classics such as Shakespeare, Moliere, Goethe, and Chekhov.
Towards the end of the 19th century the repertoire of the National Theater had already fallen in step with major European theaters, staging full-length operas and ballets. Separate ensembles for the Opera and the Ballet were formed only after World War I, with the arrival of many Russian immigrant artists. In 1920, the newly-formed Opera ensemble performed its first full-length opera "Madame Butterfuly" by Giacomo Puccini, while the first performance of the newly-formed Ballet "The Nutcracker" by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was staged in 1923. The theater house that had been destroyed during World War I was restored in 1922 and given its present-day appearance.
Today this is the largest theater house in the region, with two theater stages where drama, ballet and opera programs are performed, and with a museum. It is practically the only place where old theater crafts are still practiced in the theater’s dressmakers’, shoemakers’, milliners’, and wig-makers’ workshops.
In an hour-long, well-organized tour entitled "Open door", the theater curator, Milovan Zdravković tells visitors about the history of this national cultural institution and shows them various work processes, wardrobes, workshops…
In the main hall, I show visitors the sculpture of Prince Mihailo. Then I take the group to the second gallery, to see the panel with the names of donators, from parliament members to judges, erudites, attorneys, policemen, to ordinary craftsmen who supported the Prince’s initiative and helped build this theater house. The theater and halls are luxuriously, perhaps even a little ostentatiously decorated, to prepare the public for entering the world of theater illusion. In the words of Stanislavski "we are engulfed in another world", says theater connoisseur Milovan Zdravković.
There are three sculptures here. The first one is of Ilija Stanojević, an actor who also sang opera arias. He is known for having directed and acted in the first full-length movie about Karadjordje in 1911. Supposedly, his house, which stood near the Stambol Gate, was demolished so the theater house could be built and, in his own words, "he had to move into his second home – the theater". Across from his, stands the sculpture of the doyen of Serbian acting, Ljubinka Bobić, the famous "Madam Minister" who headed this theater’s acting crew in the last century. The third is the sculpture of choreographer and ballet dancer, Dimitrije Parlić, who brought contemporary ballet to the National Theater and whose choreographies are still performed today.
From there, visitors are led to the distinctive second gallery of the Great Hall, which has always had a cultural, educational, and sociological significance. The second gallery has always been occupied by important national figures, princes and kings of the Obrenović and Karadjordjević dynasties, by Comrade Tito, important people from abroad… each of whom contributed to the development of this house.
The great hall accommodates approximately 700 viewers, with its ground floor and three galleries. In the back of the stage stands the seal of Prince Mihailo, while the ceiling is decorated by two frescoes, the Bacchae and Thalia, painted by Stjepan Kolesnikov in the restored building after World War I. At the same time, the ceiling of Belgrade’s main theater was painted by a famous Russian artist, just like many years later Mark Chagall would decorate the ceiling of the Paris Opera.
I explain to visitors that the Stage Manager is the one who guides the play along, connected by microphone to every part of the theater. That the whisperer is important for the performers’ self-assurance. When before World War II the National Theater performed in Dubrovnik with "The Merchant of Venice", Dobrica Milutinović who played Shylock said that he wouldn’t have gone on stage if he had known that the Opera book had been taken along by mistake instead of the Drama book. From the stage visitors can see the stage set, the "hole in the stage" where actors "fall through", the flying mechanisms, etc. revealing to them the secrets behind the theatric world of imagination. Then we proceed to the salon where the artists are. Here opera singers try out their voices, ballet dancers do their final stretching exercises before going on stage, actors practice their replicas with one another. Next we enter the makeup room, where artists are given their stage appearance by makeup artists and wigmakers, and we proceed to the wardrobes to witness the final stages of the actors’ transformation, says Mr. Zdravković.
In this journey through the past, after having touched the present once again, it behooves us to take a glimpse at the future. The premier season ended with a performance of Shakespeare’s "Henry VI" directed by Nikita Milivojević on the "boards" of the famous Globe Theater, which was presented to the Belgrade public on 9 June.
– We are happy that the Serb language was heard for the first time in Shakespeare‘s four centuries old theater during the Culture Olympics. A part of this is also an exhibition at the Theater Museum of works by artistic photographer Vladimir Marković by author Zorica Janković. The season will close with the traditional opera concert, and next season will open to a premier performance of the ballet "Peter Pan" with the choreography of Ballet Director Bruce Steivel, we were told by the Director of the National Theater, Božidar Djurović.
This will be followed by a vintage performance of the work by Dušan Kovačević under the working title "The History of a Street" and will be continued by negotiations with Miloš Forman regarding the directing of an opera and many other things, possibilities permitting.
We hope that at the close of this season we will again surpass the figure of 150,000 viewers. Our theater house, as the central theater institution in this region and in Southeast Europe, is behind Belgrade’s initiative to form a network of opera and ballet national theaters. We are a theater that makes investments, over a year ago we established the Theater Museum which has been visited by 30,000 people so far, last year we restored the Raša Plaović scene, and I hope that next year we will open a third stage with the approval of the Board and the Ministry of Culture. That stage would feature a different artistic profile and would provide an opportunity for young actors, explains Božidar Djurović.
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The men’s tailor shop is the only one of its kind in the country and with 11 employees working on the costume designers’ models, and decorating and coloring fabrics, it is an important factor in this world of imagination. Costumer makers Drena Drinić and Jela Bošković stand next to the just finished costumes designed by Marina Medenica for "Henry VI".
Milliner Radica Komazec makes the illusion complete with the different items she makes, caps, hats, jewelry, mascots, body props, etc. Herself an artist she found working with Olja Ivanjicki on the masks for Strauss’ "The Bat" unforgettable and she enjoyed herself immensely when she worked on costume designer Angelina Atlagić’ models making items for "Midsummer Night’s Dream".
The theater’s shoemaker workshop is working full speed. Recetly, the six shoemakers working there made over 180 pairs of shoes in 20 days for the premier of "Carmen". Working behind the just finished shoes for "Henry VI", shoemaker Mirjana Milošević embarks on a new story – "The Misanthrope".