The second festival day was held yesterday at Theatre “Carte Blanche“. Actress Biljana Đurović announced the plays in the theatre’s foayer, and after that the audience settled in the theatre’s hall for the beginning of the programme.

 

The opening play of the second night was Gogol’s “Diary of a Madman”, performed by Ozren Grabarić. The basis for this mono-opera is the exceptional and opulent music by Marjan Nećak. The music is multifaceted and complex, it overlaps with the text and directing and poses a hard task of fighting a unique and different concept in front of the equally superb Ozren Grabarić, nonetheless yielding a powerful finale. Along with numerous ‘pearl’ details, compelling singing and acting to ‘the very end’ the audience responded with a rapturous applause and shouts of ‘bravo’!

 

The second play in the competition programme was an audio-visual performance called “No ECOment” by Robert Rutonjić, as the title implies it is about the lack of ecological awareness making us destroy, consume and demand, with no regard to the consequences of our actions. Paired with well-chosen video and audio materials, this performance both asks and answers for us where it will all end if we follow the same path.

 

The third play of the second day was the monodrama “Olly Olly Oxen Free” by Jelena Puzić! It is a biographical monodrama based on the diary of Diana Budisavljević. It speaks of Diana’s heroic actions which saved between 8 000 and 10 000 children from the ustaša concentration camps in the Independent Republic of Croatia. As well as many other stories concerning the Second World War, this one is also a sad tale with a heartbreaking end. By the time the performance came to an end the audience was in tears, and the young actress received shouts of bravo. This play closed the second day of competition at the 42nd Festival of Monodrama and Mime.