Ivan Cankar
The King of Betajnova
Yugoslav Drama Theatre, Belgrade, Serbia
Crew
Translator: Roksanda Nјeguš
Director: Milan Nešković
Author of adaptation and dramaturg: Maja Todorović
Stage designer: Vesna Popović
Costume designer: Bilјana Grgur
Composer and vocalist: Anja Đorđević
Language consultant: Ljilјana Mrkić Popović
Video: SuperDot
Lighting designer: Dejan Draganov
Assistant director: Stefan Gajić
Assistant stage designer: Mia Medenica
Assistant costume designer: Margareta Marinković
Cast
Jožef Kantor: Nenad Jezdić
Parish Priest: Vojin Ćetković
Francka: Milena Živanović
Hana: Anđelika Simić
Supervisor: Nebojša Milovanović
Maks: Nikola Rakočević
Krnec: Mihailo Janketić
Lužarica: Jasmina Avramović
Nina: Mina Obradović
Franc Bernot: Vučić Perović
Pepček: Stefan Timotej Kalezić
Assistant: Đorđe Teodosić
About the performance
Milan Nešković, director: I believe every society has the government it deserves. Power structures are certainly the reflection of the society. I also believe that everything people do, they do for self-promotion. Everything is marketing. Maks Krnec is not led by conviction. The idea of dissent – to oppose the government, has been destroyed. Only verbal opposition still exists. Usually for personal gain. Maks Krnec tries to convince himself that all his acts are for the benefit of the community and are thus important. The injustice he suffered is truly painful, but it is for personal reasons only. Kantor destroyed his father. He destroyed his life, he destroyed any possibility for him to become important, to study, to earn money. Personal reasons hide behind the common good.
In today’s world there is no empathy, an individual is self-focused. We live in the world of hypocrisy, as we hide the need for revenge, but we hide it because it’s petty if this need is ours and personal. We masquerade revenge as the common good or general censorship.