NEODUSTAJANJE [Not Giving Up]

Thursday, July 25
Church of St. Nicholas Franciscan Monastery, Prčanj, 9:30 p.m.
NEODUSTAJANJE [Not Giving Up]
Monodrama

Marija Medenica, author of the play
Text and direction collaborators: Divna Stojanov and Maja Grgić
Composer: Irena Popović Dragović
Costume designer: Marina Sremac
Lighting designer: Igor Ljubić
Sound designer: Sofija Paskoski
Poster designer: Milica Rakonjac
Photographs: Srđan Doroški
Stage movement collaborator: Igor Greksa
Video material production collaborator: Srđan Radaković

The monodrama Neodustajanje addresses the phenomenon of theater from a backstage perspective and in a way represents a “peek through the keyhole” into the intimate space of an actress. Her coming of age in the artistic world is filled with numerous challenges and dilemmas, and the most important decision she has to make is whether to give up on theater.

“In the process of working with actress Marija Medenica, I tried to create music that would be her partner. It is the layer of text that is never written or spoken. The complexity of Marija’s artistic being is so rich that it was actually rather simple for me to contemplate and compose music that would help her ‘not give up’ on the most sincere idea of creating an artistic piece. She speaks on behalf of all of us who are on the path of truth or at least trying to be, persisting and not giving up. The voice in the song is Marija’s plea and her sincere, pure confession about where theater stands for us, her sung monologue warning and admonishing us about where we all are in today’s world. I am grateful for this process.”
Irena Popović Dragović, composer

Partners of the program:

Marija Medenica, actress, after completing high school in Obrenovac and three years of study in Serbian Language and Literature at the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade, enrolled in Acting at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, under Professor Boris Isaković. She has been employed at the Serbian National Theater since May 2008. Marija Medenica has also performed in productions of numerous other theaters and in film. For fifteen years, she led the drama studio Ćoše in Obrenovac, where, in addition to teaching, she was also involved in directing. She earned her doctorate at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad in 2022. In addition to her role in the play The Gospel According to F. M. Dostoyevsky (directed by Jernej Lorenci), her recent roles at the Serbian National Theater include Frida (in Kafka Machine, directed by Veljko Mićunović), Kapo (in More than I Love my Life by David Grossman, directed by Dino Mustafić), and Dita and Maria (in The Berlin Wall, written and directed by Željko Hubač).