The great Serbian author Dragoslav Mihailović, member of the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences, has left us.
His play When Pumpkins Blossomed premièred at the Yugoslav Drama Theatre during the season of 1969/1970. The play is based on the eponymous cult novel, one of the most important works of prose in Serbia and Yugoslavia, and was directed by Boro Drašković with Miša Janketić portraying the lead character of Ljubo Vrapče.The play became famous for the artistic achievements of team behind it but, unfortunately, even more (in)famous because of the fate that befell it.
Upon the initiative of the “faithful” party members at the heart of YDT, the then president of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito intervened and the production was removed from the repertoire. The director took a long leave from the theatre and turned to film and the YDT general manager Bojan Stupica died soon after. Dragoslav Mihailović remained for a long time under the watchful eye of the regime.
In December of 1984, the adaptation of a short story by Dragoslav Mihailović – The Third Spring of Sveta Petronijević premièred on our Bojan Stupica stage, directed by Nikola Jeftić with Žarko Laušević in the lead.
Dragoslav Mihailović served as member of the Yugoslav Drama Theatre steering committee between 2005 and 2008.
We say our farewells to Dragoslav Mihailović with deep sorrow but his presence will remain strong in our literature and in our culture.