Rehearsals began at the Yugoslav Drama Theatre of Ronald Harwood’s The Dresser, directed by Paolo Magelli.
Dramaturgy by Željka Udovičić Pleština, set design by Darko Nedeljković, costume design Lana Cvijanović, video footage by Ivan Marušić Klif, original music score by KOIKOI band with speech coaching by Ljiljana Mrkić Popović.
The cast includes Vojislav Brajović, Miki Manojlović, Sloboda Mićalović, Branka Petrić, Nikola Rakočević, Miloš Samolov and Marta Bogosavljević.
Dealing with eternal topics of inter-personal relations in the theatre, in a space of simultaneous exchange of most intimate details and the harsh reality of the existence of clear hierarchy in public affairs depending on the level of success of individuals, Harwood brings us face to face with those extreme situations where vanity and its excessive display, or somewhat hypocritical attempts to hide it, begin to impact the overarching topic of both modern and past times which is that of domination and submission, glaringly present and painfully evident in the everyday lives of societies worldwide. The secret of the success of this piece lies in its irresistible humour which does not only serve to spice up the dramatic side of certain situations but represents the very essence of life in the theatre and even of a certain „theatre in life“. The fact that there is a war going on and the omnipresent shade of Shakespeare over the different eddies of the story unfolding before our eyes, make The Dresser not only an ode to theatre but a story of existential truth of the ephemeral nature of human life.
Italian theatre director Paolo Magelli left an important mark on the theatre life of Belgrade in the 1970s and 1980s directing productions at the National Theatre, Atelje 212, Belgrade Drama Theatre and the Yugoslav Drama Theatre. He has also directed productions in Germany, Italy, Hungary, Venezuela, Mexico, Switzerland, Columbia, Belgium, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Montenegro…
At the Yugoslav Drama Theatre, Magelli directed productions of The Holiday Trilogy by Carlo Goldoni (1978), King Lear by William Shakespeare (1979), Don Juan Comes Back from the War by Ödön von Horváth (1980), Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen (1986), Italian Night by Ödön von Horváth (2004) and The Lower Depths by Maxim Gorky (2007).
