| A report on Spotlight Croatia: New Voices in Croatian Drama The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center - May 13th 2010 6.30pm (information here) By Virginia Wilhelm The room where the event took place was small, but just about every seat was taken. I assume there were some Croatian people there as well as Americans. The microphones were very inadequate I thought. Added to that all the speakers had Croatian accents and even with microphones they spoke softly. First a man gave a kind of introduction to Croatian drama of the past couple of decades. He related it to theatre in England, especially the Royal Court. . He mentioned the play Alan Rickman directed, My Name is Rachel Corrie. The New York Theatre Workshop cancelled the New York production of My Name is Rachel Corrie due to "the current political climate.”He also mentioned David Hare's Stuff Happens which was done here but I didn't see it. Anyway, he talked about periods when Croatian drama was more or less political. He also talked about number of theatres in Croatia -- they have a large number of children's theatres -- also a bit about funding -- he said now about 50% of the plays done there are Croatian. Then we had very brief excerpts from two plays performed in English -- one by Tena and one by Ivana Sajko Ivana’s was a monologue for a woman -- the actress's face was projected on a screen behind her as she was performing. She looked much better on screen, maybe she should get into movies! Tena's excerpt was with a woman and two men -- however most of the dialogue was by one of the men who was complaining about being depressed and how awful he felt, but he kept saying how good life was, including the fact that he lived in London. Then two very short videos by each woman were shown in Croatian – Ivana’s was with a rock band of some kind. Tena's was with an older man and woman sitting somewhere maybe an airport -- it was in Croatian but looked like it might be funny if you knew the language. It was called Fireflies, the scene with three actors was from Tena’s new play Invisible. When the discussion and Q&A took place I could hear almost nothing anyone said. Some people asked questions, but the microphone was so bad I could not hear them. Tena spoke softly -- I did hear her say she had lived in England six years and a man asked about her process and she seemed to be saying that being a playwright is very instinctive, you just have a sense of the structure of a play, etc. At the very end a woman asked a question I could hear because she spoke up more and her back was not to me -- she asked about the possibility of seeing a production of their plays and also about translations. Neither seemed to feel any productions were in the offing, but Tena said she was hoping to make some contacts on the trip -- I think that's what she said. She also said (I think) that she writes in English so no need for a translator for America. I am sorry I didn't get more out of the program, but have reported the best I could. I have some observations. First of all, I realize I am quite a conservative person, meaning that I tend to a stodgy Anglophile and I like literature and plays that are traditional -- Jane Austen being a good example. I felt inadequate last night that I know so little about Croatia and certainly almost zero about the theatre there. I felt that Tena's work was more accessible than Ivana's and I wonder if that is partly because she lives in England, has gone to school there and works with British theatres. She must be very bright, I am impressed with her resume and all she has achieved -- if she does write in English, I am in awe of that. I can't manage to learn another language. After the program, I spoke to Tena. When I went up to her, she was very friendly, she smiles and laughs easily. After telling her that I enjoyed seeing her work, I asked her about her visit to NYC. She told me this is her first visit. She said she loves being here and is amazed at everything she is seeing. I told her that the building we were in was once a famous department store -- I said she could see the old facade on 5th Avenue -- it's beautiful with almost Art Nouveau glass canopies. Tena is a very interesting woman. I was glad I went to the event. It made me think I should probably broaden my horizons a little -- certainly if Tena ever gets a production of one of her plays here in NYC, I will go. |
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| Ivan Talijancic, Ivana Sajko, Tena Stivicic, and Jasen Boko |
| INVISIBLE : Michael Patrick Flanagan Smith as Felix |
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