FINAL ACT Monodrama

Friday, July 26
Church of St. Nicholas Franciscan Monastery, Prčanj, 9:30 p.m.
FINAL ACT
Monodrama

Lucija Barišić, author, director, performer
Artistic collaborators and directorial and dramaturgical assistance: Petra Veber, Damir Klemenić, Adriana Josipović, Ana Prolić, Mala Kline, Jadran Grubišić
Music: Luka Žužić, Tomi Novak, Matija Antolić
Lightning design: Marino Frankola
Poster design: Ivor Tomljanović

The play Final Act, a monodrama by actress and author Lucija Barišić, delves into and questions the delicate and intricate threads of life that precede it, from the perspective of death as the ultimate final act. The author explores the intimate history of the act of dying on a personal basis and raises numerous questions about the societal aspect and collective fear of death. The play opens up and maps out the cards of memory, places of postponement, and waiting for the final act. It strongly juxtaposes life and death, reality and imagination, theatrical performance and funeral ceremony, as well as serene silence and a concert celebrating life. In a lucid, humorous, open, and poetic manner, the play raises questions on topics that are often avoided in everyday life and in facing the act of death: what happens at the moment of departure? What is life from the perspective of death? How do people envision death? How would they like to die? Why do people build high fences and small tables around which they gather in life? The musical accompaniment interpreted by Luka Žužić, Tomi Novak, and Matija Antolić is deeply resonant and imbues the play with musical synergy, inviting the audience to a large communal table alongside the author, and taking them through all the nuances of the final act and what precedes it.

Partners of the program:

Lucija Barišić, an actress, graduated in Acting and Puppetry from the Academy of Arts in Osijek. She furthered her education through numerous workshops and participated in artistic residencies and projects dedicated to exploring various methodologies in acting, voice, and movement in Croatia and abroad, under the guidance of artists and educators such as Tomi Janežić, Mala Kline, Thomas Richards, Nhandan Chirco, Janez and Andrej Vajevac, Scott Fielding, Velimir Velev, Slobodan Beštić, and Zijah Sokolović. As an actress, Lucija Barišić has collaborated on theater projects at the Croatian National Theatre in Osijek, En Knap, Kerempuh, Mala Scena, the Ulysses Theater, ZKM, the ITD Theater, and the Gavella Theater. In 2015, she directed her first original play, Crno i Bijelo, at the KNAP Theater. She also collaborates on film projects, primarily with emerging generations of film directors, and her latest role was in the debut feature film Pelican by Filip Heraković. Currently, Lucija Barišić can be seen in the new original play Final Act at the Zagreb Youth Theater.