A performance of Oedipus by Sophocles, directed by Vito Taufer, officially closed the Small Scene Theatre Festival in Rijeka on Sunday, 12th May. This year saw the 29th edition of the festival which opened on 6th May.
The jury comprised of Helena Buljan, actress from Zagreb, Bojan Munjin, theatre critic and Katerina Kocevska, actress from Skopje, selected the production of Oedipus as the recipient of the Nenad Šegvić award for best production of the festival. The jury justified their decision with these words: More than anything else, this production of Oedipus, with brilliant performances from its actors, blends the drama of modern day and age with the tragedy of the ancient times in a very exciting way.
The Veljko Maričić award for best male actor went to Milan Marić for his portrayal of Oedipus. Marić adopted a very modern and highly energetic approach to a tragic character from the corpus of ancient Greek plays – said the jury.
The Nenad Šegvić award for best upcoming actor went to Joakim Tasić for his portrayal of Court Messenger. The jury said: Tasić uses very minute and concentrated, almost minimal, means to breathe life, almost touchingly, a character of a witness of a great tragedy.
The audience members used their tickets as ballots in selecting the recipient of the Dalibor Foretić audience award. This year, a total of three productions received the same average mark in audience votes – 4.81. Among them was the Yugoslav Drama Theatre production of Oedipus.
