MY TRAINEESHIP IN VARAŽDIN: Ana Marković

Ana Marković
University of Arts in Belgrade, Faculty of Dramatic Arts

Erasmus+ Mobility for Traineeship at:

Croatian National Theatre in Varaždin

When the opportunity for an Erasmus+ mobility came up, there was no hesitation. I truly wanted to try my hand at dramaturgy in another country, but in a language I knew well, so Croatia was the logical choice.

The Croatian National Theatre in Varaždin welcomed me as if I had always worked there. From the key people—Vesna Đikanović, the artistic director, and Senka Bulić, the general manager, to the entire creative team, especially director Livija Pandur and the writer of the text, Lada Kaštelan, to the phenomenal cast led by Nina Violić and Dea Presečki, and all the technical and production staff, it was truly a pleasure to work with and learn from them, especially in a role of the assistant director.

The play we worked on, “Waiting for Orestes,” was a very big and demanding challenge.

The text for the play was written by the great Croatian playwright Lada Kaštelan (based on motifs from Sophocles’ “Electra”), and the premiere took place at the end of June in Varaždinske Toplice, directed by Livija Pandur, with many poetic images, in an innovative and completely different way. The play tells a story in which everyone can recognize themselves.

Eternally opposed—Clytemnestra and Electra—mother and daughter, in one of the greatest and most terrible conflicts the world remembers, try to fight each other, sticking to their principles.

Is death paid with death? And if so, who has the right to kill at all? These are just some of the questions that haunt the main characters during long nights and even longer days, driving them to terrifying thoughts that speak from within them and around them.

In the new version of the myth of Electra, the ancient chorus has been replaced by “#Followers”, representing the reflection of modern society that, instead of suppressing crime, does the exact opposite, pushing the conflict to the brink of an abyss, and reason along with it.

#BLOOD FOR BLOOD and #DEATH FOR DEATH—Does revenge make sense? And if it is carried out, does it bring peace, or perhaps an even worse misfortune? These are the questions our play successfully posed to the audience at the premiere after a long, intense, and quite exhausting process.

“Waiting for Orestes” continued its summer theatre life—first in Rijeka, then in Dubrovnik, and in the fall, it will be staged at the Croatian National Theatre.

From Varaždin, I take away a wonderful professional and theatrical experience, but also the warmth of the people there with whom I would truly love to continue working one day. I learned a lot, saw even more, traveled, and took advantage of every possible moment of this wonderful Erasmus mobility.